Homemade Mississippi Roast Beef Po'Boy with Gravy Parasol's Way

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From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish



I prefer the eye of round because rather than shredding, it slices well, and slices nice and thin also. You may have seen the cheater pulled pork that I boil - I know. Don't freak out! I do this roast for po'boys the same way, after seeing a segment on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives featuring Parasols, a New Orleans restaurant famous for it's roast beef po'boys. I wouldn't have believed it till I tried it, but I like it much better this way now. It does actually go into the oven in a nice, hot tub of yummy gravy where it gets more tender, and infused with wonderful flavor, so don't be scared by it's paleness when it comes out of the boiling water - just have faith and hang in there. If it's good enough for Parasols, it's good enough for us.

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Ingredients

  • The Bread
  • The Roast
  • 1 1 1 (2-3 pound) beef eye of round roast
  • to to cover, do not discard
  • The Gravy
  • 4 4 4 cups of the reserved broth from the roast, plus extra as needed
  • 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
  • 1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama, or your favorite, Cajun seasoning
  • 1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon of onion salt
  • 1/2 1/2 1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder
  • 1 1 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
  • 12 12 12 turns of the pepper grinder
  • 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup of canola oil
  • 2 2 2 teaspoons of Kitchen Bouquet
  • Couple sprigs of fresh thyme

Preparation

Step 1

Transfer 4 cups of the stock from the roast into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile stir together the flour, Cajun seasoning, onion salt, garlic powder, salt and pepper until well blended. Stir in the oil and Kitchen Bouquet to form a thick paste.




Once the water is at a full rolling boil, quickly whisk in the paste and continue whisking until well incorporated. Reduce heat, add thyme, and low simmer the gravy uncovered, for 30 minutes, adding more of the broth water to reach the desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.




Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. While the gravy is simmering, remove the roast from the refrigerator and slice it into very thin slices. Set aside approximately 1 cup of the gravy. Place one layer of roast beef into a 9 x 9 inch baking dish and top with a scoop of the gravy. Add another layer of roast beef, another scoop of the gravy, and continue layering until all has been put into the pan. Be sure to pan all of the bits and imperfect pieces from cutting. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour, turning occasionally, or until meat is tender.



Building the Po'Boy




French Bread
Mayonnaise
Sliced Tomato
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sliced dill pickles, optional
Shredded Iceberg lettuce




Divide the French bread into halves or the size needed, and slice each piece lengthwise. Try to leave a flat edge "hinge" intact if possible. It sort of helps to hold everything in. If you cut through or it opens up anyway, no big deal! Heat a large cast iron or skillet, open the bread up and toast each serving on the inside.




Add mayonnaise to both sides of the inside of the French bread for each serving. Add roast beef to the bottom half of the bread. Top with sliced tomatoes; add salt and pepper. Add pickles, if desired. Top with shredded lettuce, and place other half of the French bread on top. Place back into the skillet, and using a wide spatula, press down while heating. You can also use a press, if you can control the pressure, or you can put a heavy skillet on top. I prefer to just press with a wide spatula so not to squeeze out too much of the gravy! Carefully turn the po'boy over and repeat on the other side, toasting while pressing.




Transfer the po'boy to a cutting board and slice in half. Open and add some of the reserved gravy if desired. Wrap tightly in several sheets of white butcher paper, and serve with a side of Zapp's potato chips, an ice cold, bottled Barq's root beer and a lot of napkins! Now that's genuine! Course if you don't have access to those two amazing sides, we won't mind at all if you substitute. Barq's in a bottle have gotten kinda hard to come by even here sometimes and we didn't have any Zapp's in the house for this po'boy round.

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