Rare T-Bone Steak Ciabatta with Caramelised Onion, Smokey Herb Mayo & Pickles
Healthy and delicious, and easy to make!
I make a steak sandwich quite regularly as it’s easy to put together, especially if you have some steak leftovers from a braai. I recently got a set of soshida knives and there is no better way to use them (and show them off) than creating a new Roasted Dad recipe.
I love cooking outdoors and the nice thing about this recipe is that everything can be prepared outside. Of course I cooked the T-bone on the fire, but I also used a cast iron skillet frying pan to caramelise the onions and I toasted the inside of the ciabatta bread on the grid.
Ingredients to make this steak sandwich
1 large T-bone steak (around 500-700 grams)
2 ciabatta rolls
Butter lettuce
½ cup mayonnaise
2 large onions
3 garlic cloves
10 g fresh thyme or rosemary
10 g fresh parsley
10 g fresh coriander
3 tbsp chilli crunch
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
4 pickles
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Dijon mustard
a splash of balsamic vinegar
1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
How to prepare a steak sandwich
Lightly toast the inside of your ciabatta bread. It should be crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside
Take the steak out the fridge and allow it to get to room temperature. Season generously with salt and freshly ground pepper or your favourite braai salt.
Light a few logs of wood to a big fire. While waiting for the logs to turn to hot coals to braai your T-bone to a perfect rare, you can make the caramelised onions and smokey herb mayo so long:
To make the smokey herb mayo, mix the following ingredients in a bowl:
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
6 tbsp fresh parsley and coriander, chopped.
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Taste the smokey herb mayo and add more lemon or salt if needed. Leave the mayo in the fridge until assembly.
For the caramelised onions, heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat.
Slice the two large onions in thin slices (rings) and add this to the pan, with a pinch of salt.
Cook slowly for 20 - 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When the onions have changed colour to a deep golden, add a splash of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar.
Cook the onions for another 2–3 minutes until jammy, then set aside for assembly later.
Now it’s time to cook the T-bone. To get to a rare T-bone steak, you only need to braai it for about 2 to 3 minutes per side (depending on thickness).
Add a tablespoon of softened butter, two crushed garlic cloves and a few sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary to a braai dish. Place the steak in the braai dish for basting for the final minute.
Rest the steak for 5 to ten minutes, then slice against the grain.
Slice your ciabatta bread in half and a bit of butter, then lightly toast the cut sides on the remaining coals. It should be crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside.
Now it’s time to assemble your T-bone steak sandwich:
Spread smoky herb mayo on both sides of the ciabatta.
Add some large butter lettuce leaves.
Layer sliced steak.
Add caramelised onions (I mixed the steak and caramelised together).
Top with pickles and 3 tablespoons of chilli crunch.
Close and press gently.
Enjoy! Please tag me on Instagram if you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to see it!
To see how I made it, watch the reel below:
More braai recipes
Below the newsletter block, you will find some more braai recipes.
There are a lot of different types of meats you can cook on the braai. How about this Prime Rib Roast with Exotic Mushroom Sauce and Pak Choy? You can also make a Leg of Lamb on the braai or a Lemon & Herb Peri-Peri and Rosemary Deboned Leg of Lamb. I’ve also made Ostrich Fillet Kebabs with Nectarine and Rosemaryon the braai.
Other than meat, South Africans also love to put seafood on the braai. This braaied snoek recipe with plum jam is a winner.
If you’re looking for a side on the braai, you can either make this pull bread with pesto, mozzarella and Hellmann’s mayonnaise or make traditional braai broodjies(keep an eye out for my secret ingredient). If you have leftover gammon, these gammon braai broodjiesare also to die for.
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).
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This smoked snoek on the Weber with cherry glaze and grilled peaches is a delicious recipe to prepare on Christmas Day.