Cold weather brings out the snugglebunny in me. And a must is warm food to take the chill off.

Isn’t this steak sandwich/tomato soup combo to die for?

Winter weather means lots of homemade meals and sharing good food with people you love.

Oh, and it means lots and lots of leftovers. This sandwich makes great use of your steaky leftovers — and creates a whole new meal!

Grilled Steak Sandwich

2 tsps vegetable oil

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

salt to taste (optional)

2 slices bread, buttered on one side (I like the sourdough)

1-2 slices cheese (I like the Swiss)

leftover steak, sliced thin

In a medium sauté pan, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent and golden (about 5-10 minutes depending on the heat and how impatient you are). Add a little salt if desired. Remove from heat and set aside. You can either use the same pan (cleared of onions) or another flat-bottomed pan and place a slice of bread, buttered-side down on medium heat. Layer the cheese evenly on the non-buttered side of the bread. Then layer the steak over the cheese. Top with onions and set the second slice of bread non-buttered side down on the sandwich. The cheese will begin to melt in a few minutes. Watch that the base bread doesn’t burn during the cheese-melting phase. When the bread is crisp and golden, flip the sandwich to brown the other side and then serve. Makes one great sandwich.

Photo and recipe courtesy of UseRealButter.com.

You can take the headline of this post to mean a few things:  Rose has a hero who is a steak, Rose’s recipe for a steak hero sandwich or, well, that’s all I got.

We’ll go with number 2.

Check out this magnificent way to present some scrumptious beef steak . . .

Rose’s Steak Hero

Caramelized Onions:
5 oz. butter
3 lbs. onions, sliced
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
2 Tbsps. balsamic vinegar

Creole Mustard Aioli (Yield: 3 cups):
2 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup creole-style mustard
2 tTbsps. garlic, minced
7 1/2 lbs. beef flank steak
1-2 tsps. salt
1-2 tsps. pepepr
24 individual ciabatta breads, split
1 1/2 lbs. blue cheese, crumbled
6 oz. spinach leaves

1. TO MAKE CARAMELIZED ONIONS: In rondo over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and sautè until caramelized, stirring often. Add garlic and sautè 1 minute. Stir in vinegar. Cool and cover. (Yield: about 1 lb., 8 oz.)
2. FOR CREOLE MUSTARD AIOLI: In bowl, mix mayonnaise, Creole-style mustard and garlic. Cover and refrigerate.
3. FOR EACH SERVING, TO ORDER: Grill 1 steak to medium. Season with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Slice 4 oz. steak thinly at an angle across the grain. Cover and reserve the remaining steak.
4. Spread 1 Tbsp. Creole mustard aioli on each cut side of bread. Top bottom bread half with 1 oz. blue cheese, the warm steak slices, 1 oz. caramelized onions, 1/4 oz. spinach leaves and other bread half. Plate and serve.

Recipe and photo above courtesy the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef.

Last week, I wrote a post asking you what to do with a leftover steak. Check it out here.

I got a really great response with some fantastic ideas and I wanted to make sure you saw it. I’ve included the “meat” of the comment here (yes, pun intended!): 

A leftover piece of steak like that wouldn’t be all that much trouble to warm back up, but it’s really more fun to think outside of the box. From your photo I see a couple of quick and easy dishes.

1.) Steak fajitas – warm the steak back up while sauteing onions and peppers
2.) Steak salad with some sort of blue cheese, chipotle, southwestern, name your favorite dressing
3.) If it’s a tender cut, you could slice it very thin and place it into some beef gravy or drippings, warming it back up and placing it into a sandwich. French dip? Hot beef sandwich?
4.) Steak and eggs?
5.) Steak quesadilla
6.) Hash

So, thank you, friend! I LOVE these ideas — especially the steak quesadilla and hash. Good thoughts!

Check out Wolfgang Puck’s steak quesadillas here . . .

Don’t these look exquisite? Wolfgang apparently thinks you’re on to something here.

Keep your ideas coming and I’ll share them with EVERYONE!

Photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.com.