Mahony’s Beef Po’ Boys
Published November 10, 2009
Theresa Cassagne for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 3 hours 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
Salt
freshly ground black pepper
7 pounds beef chuck roll, sliced into 2-inch-thick portions
½ cup vegetable oil, or as needed
6 to 7 stalks celery, cut into ¾-inch dice
2 yellow onions, peeled and cut into ¾-inch dice
2 green bell peppers, cored and cut into ¾-inch dice
2 jumbo carrots, peeled and cut into ¾-inch dice
1 cup peeled garlic cloves, each clove halved lengthwise
7 cups dry red wine
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
2 tablespoons dried thyme
1 bay leaf
⅓ cup chopped parsley leaves
5 loaves French or Italian bread
Mayonnaise
shredded lettuce
sliced tomatoes
sliced pickles to dress sandwiches
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place flour in a large, wide bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Add beef, dust well on all sides and shake off excess.
- Step 2
Place a large, heavy Dutch oven or roasting pan with a lid over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to cover the bottom and heat until shimmering. Working in batches, add beef and sear well on all sides. Transfer beef to a platter and set aside.
- Step 3
Add celery, onions, peppers, carrots and garlic to pan; if necessary, add more oil. Sauté until vegetables are tender and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add wine and 3 cups water. Stir, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and parsley. Stir well, add beef, and stir again to mix well.
- Step 4
Cover, and transfer to oven. Cook until beef is very tender, about three hours. Transfer beef to a deep platter and keep warm. Remove and discard bay leaf. Using a hand-held immersion blender or stand blender, purée vegetables and any remaining bits of meat in pan juices to make sauce. Cut beef into slices. Slice each bread loaf in half lengthwise and crosswise, spread one side with mayonnaise, thickly layer in meat, wet with gravy, and top with lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.
Extra beef and sauce can be refrigerated or frozen.
Private Notes
Comments
What is a beef “chuck roll”? Also, scaling this recipe down would be helpful.
If only Mr. Wicks also provided a recipe for the bread, which is essential to a good Po'Boy.
A roast beef po’boy with debris at Mother’s in New Orleans many years ago remains the best sandwich I have ever eaten.
Typically the best bakeries in France used to make their baguettes out of 4 simple ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast – without additives or enhancers. They called this process "baguette tradition". Sadly, I have not been there for a few years, but many great French Cookbooks such as Larousse's Gastronomique have recipes for baguettes. It should be crispy outside so it "cracks" when snapped, but pillowy inside.
New Orleans po-boy bread is slightly different from our French. It’s undercooked just a tad because you are supposed to toast it. First, it’s sliced in half, then the outside is lightly toasted. Next step is to butter the insides and let them toast. Finally, you put the meat or seafood on and dress it.
Our local Publix chain carries a Cuban loaf that is close to (but of course not exactly like) the bread used in New Orleans. Soft and light inside, crackly crust… works pretty well.