I tried Gordon Ramsay’s 10-minute steak sandwich recipe and it took me an hour

Gathering the ingredients was surprisingly difficult, as Ramsay didn’t always specify in his video how much of each ingredient was needed.

I ended up buying a pound of steak, one large red onion (I used two small ones in the video), and two large portobello mushrooms.

I used bavette cuts instead of the similar flank steak and arugula instead of watercress, but kept the rest of the ingredients the same.

We also looked at the cookware and kitchen supplies we needed: We didn’t have a grill pan for the stove, so we used two cast iron skillets instead.

I drizzled the bread with plenty of olive oil and sprinkled it generously with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Meanwhile, I heated both cast iron skillets and placed half the bread in each pan (because the bread was too big to fit in one pan), mimicking Ramsay’s technique and using a bowl to press down on the bread to help brown it.

I followed Ramsay’s advice and prepared the flank steak by seasoning it a little more than I thought it would need, sprinkling it generously with salt and pepper.

I love steak but don’t usually make it at home because I’m scared of overcooking it. But it turns out I have to worry about overcooking other ingredients, too.

I turned around to remove the sandwich bread from the cast iron skillet and noticed that one side was slightly burnt in places while the other was a perfect golden brown and I was angry at myself for not looking sooner, but I was busy preparing the steaks.

Once I had my steaks seasoned to perfection, I added a little oil to the pan and started to sear the beef.

While the steak is cooking on the stove, add the portobello mushrooms and thickly sliced ​​onion to the other skillet.

We began developing a glazing sauce made by mixing Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce.

Using a brush, I applied the mixture to the steaks and vegetables and began creating a glaze.

For the second sauce, which is used for drizzling or spreading, Ramsay said he mixes two teaspoons of mayonnaise, one teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, but in the video he adds one heaped spoonful of each ingredient.

At first I tried measuring the ingredients with teaspoons and tablespoons, but the resulting mixture ended up looking and tasting similar to Worcestershire sauce.

I tried Ramsay’s more casual method and added mayonnaise until it resembled the sauce he made in the video.

but, The instructions said to assemble the sandwich next, but the steak looked like it was already done, so I went ahead and added a Guinness to both the steak and veggies.

Ramsay didn’t specify how much Guinness to add, but he probably added too much, as the liquid didn’t burn off quickly.

After braising in the beer for about 5 minutes, I removed the steak and veggies from the stove and let them rest.

I followed Ramsay’s advice and spread mayonnaise on my sandwich, layered it with tangy arugula and crunchy lettuce, and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

I then cut the steak against the grain and, although it wasn’t the pink colour I usually like, it wasn’t dry either so I was pleased.

To test Ramsay’s layering technique, I poured on more sauce, added whole portobello mushrooms and topped it with sliced ​​steak.

After pouring some more sauce over it and sprinkling some blue cheese on top, I topped it with the sandwich toppings, cut it in half and it was ready to serve.

It was my first time making a steak sandwich and I was pleased that it wasn’t hard or chewy when I bit into it.

Every ingredient was truly intentional and complemented each other: the Worcestershire sauce, chunks of blue cheese, and Dijon were a great pairing with the grilled meats and mushrooms, and the fresh, tangy greens added some crunch to the sandwich.

I love red onion so if I made it again I would probably add more because it would have been a pain to get all the ingredients in with every bite.

The unexpected star of the dish were the red pepper flakes on the bread, which added a delicious, subtle heat to the meal.

This recipe can be quite laborious and stressful as it requires all the ingredients to be cooked in a specific order, sometimes even at the same time, and if any one step takes too long the ingredients can end up overcooked.

Additionally, Ramsay didn’t tell us the exact time for each step, making it hard to know when it was “done.” While more experienced cooks might have a better idea of ​​the timing, inexperienced people are advised to avoid multitasking so you can keep a close eye on the food while it cooks.

Ramsay initially stressed the importance of resting the meat (I usually do this for 10 minutes), but I didn’t see him do this in the video, so I had a feeling some steps weren’t shown on camera due to time constraints.

In the end, it took me 50 minutes to make this sandwich instead of 10, but I was still really happy with the final product.

Each ingredient in Ramsay’s steak sandwich adds delicious flavor, and it wasn’t as expensive as I expected to make at home: It cost me just under $50 to get all the ingredients, but I still had enough left over to try some more.

One sandwich was more than enough for two people, and I would definitely make this dish again, although I hope I can get the steak and bread a little better next time.