French Dip Loaf

I love that food is associated with our memories. Often while I'm cooking a meal, I usually have moments in my life jump into my mind. The French dip sandwich is very special to me for this reason. One of my most memorable memories was when I had my first baby. You know how your not allowed to eat anything and then you are basically starved to death after pushing a baby out for over 2 hours? Well after I had Damien, I was starving!! My first meal was the French Dip and it tasted like gold. It was so yummy and after having it in the hospital after Damien's delivery, I started making French dips for my family.

On Saturday, Andrew was making sandwiches for lunch and noticed that the roast beef was almost expired. He then suggested that we make French Dip sandwiches for our Sunday dinner. I thought it was a brilliant plan. Sunday morning rolled around and I soon realized that I didn't have any hoagie buns for the sandwiches. So I started thinking of what I would need to make my own hoagies, and I came up with the loaf instead and I am so glad I did! This loaf is so simple and it's way fun to eat. So here is what you need.

1 Recipe of Our Best Bites Bread Sticks

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 TBS sugar
1 TBS yeast
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 1/2 cups flour

In a large bowl or mixer, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit until bubbly and then add salt and flour. With flour, slowly add until the bread pulls away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your fingers. Spray non stick spray in a large bowl and cover with saran warp, set aside, and let double in size.

Then you will need

1-2 tsp butter
1 medium onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. deli cut roast beef
3-4 slices of Swiss cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
1 packet of Au Jus mix

In a skillet, melt butter. Slice onion in half and then into strips. Add  onions to butter with garlic and saute until onions are caramelized.

Cut roast beef into strips and then add to the skillet and cook together for 5 minutes.

When dough is done rising, spray counter with non stick spray and roll the dough out on the counter into a rectangle. Put the roast beef and onions in the middle of dough, leaving dough around the edges. Lay your slices of Swiss cheese on top of meat and onions.

Slice 1 inch strips into the dough, all around the dough except for the ends. and then fold over the ends first and then alternate the middle strips until the all the dough is folded over.

Place loaf onto a cookie sheet, lined with tinfoil(easy cleanup) and then brush with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake in oven at 350 for 20 minutes. I usually turn the broil on the last 2 minutes to brown the top of the loaf. While the loaf is baking, make your Aujus mix. If you have never seen these at your store, look in the gravy/mix section. I have noticed that some wal-marts don't carry them. When the loaf is done, remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes. Slice into desired size and serve with your Aujus dip.

Enjoy!