Italian Gravy or juice for beef sandwiches

Made a sirloin steak roast on the grill. 4 lbs on a Weber charcoal. Never tried before. Absolutely delicious.
Want to make beef sandwiches with the balance of the meat. Ant where to buy a little juice, a QT. max.
Wally Wade

Anyone ever roast heirlooms for pasta sauce? Taste great, but expensive. Worth the effort??

Wally Wade

Jewel will frequently carry Vienna Italian beef in the deli and offer gravy to go with it. I would bet they'd sell the gravy separately.

It's not the "effort" that makes roasting heirlooms not worth it--it's that, in my opinion, it's a waste to use them that way. The only time I'd use heirlooms in sauce is if they're getting past their prime for eating raw.

As for your other question, while you may be able to find some juice someplace (try asking any beef place that you like--I'm sure they'd be happy to give you some if you ask nicely), you can also make an approximation by getting a few beef bones and making a quick and easy stock (roast on high in the oven or brown on the stove with some onions and a bit of olive oil until they are well-carmelized, then add water and your herb(s) of choice and roast or simmer on the stove top until you reduce by 1/3. Season with S&P and you have stock. Pretty easy to do. Not, obviously, as easy as buying from a restaurant

I have seen the Vienna Beef IB jus only (without the meat)--pretty sure it was Vienna Beef brand--in the deli section of Lewis Market on Grand Avenue in Waukegan, and I've bought a couple of bags whenever I saw it there. Haven't seen it anywhere else around here. Odd that they don't sell it at the factory store.

I really like Romas for roasting. They have more meat for their size, and the flavor concentrates nicely. They freeze well after roasting, too. Cool them down, slip off the skins, pack them into freezer bags (or leave the skins on and remove later). When you want to make your pasta sauce, or anything else (I make soup) just pull out a bag and you've got summer right there.

I got this at Dominic's and it was pretty good.

So it's French Dip Au Jus - i.e. with juice - but with no French Dip?

Since you have no residual juice from the cooked beef, a simple approach would be as follows.

Take a quart of beef stock, add one tablespoon of beef base, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, basil, thyme, parsley, and a whole bulb of garlic either thru a press or processed. Bring to boil and simmer for 1 hour. This will thicken it and give it a good taste for the sangwich.

walter wade wrote:Made a sirloin steak roast on the grill. 4 lbs on a Weber charcoal. Never tried before. Absolutely delicious.
Want to make beef sandwiches with the balance of the meat. Ant where to buy a little juice, a QT. max.
Wally Wade

If you are anywhere near Tony's Deli on NW Highway in the Edison Park neighborhood of Chicago, that's where I would get it. Portillo's might also cough up what you need.

I'm sure any beef joint (with the possible exception of Johnnie's) would either sell or give you some juice upon request. Jay's on Narragansett is my go to for such things, but that's only because it's the best place near my house.

Jay's Beef
4418 N Narragansett Ave
Harwood Heights, IL 60706
(708) 867-6733

Johnnie's Beef
7500 W North Ave
Elmwood Park, IL 60707
(708) 452-6000

Johnnie's Beef
1935 S Arlington Heights Rd
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(847) 357-8100

Got some Italian beef at Jewel recently. A 16 ounce bag of Vienna gravy is included with each pound of meat. They will sell additional bags for 99 cents each.

The woman behind the counter also told me they only have Vienna IB gravy available regardless of the brand of beef you buy.

My experience is that one 16 ounce bag is a little light for one pound of meat because we like our sandwiches dipped. I'd recommend an extra bag of juice for those going the same route.