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Photo from Keefer's Kaffe.

Some people consider Beef on Weck - thinly sliced rare roast beef (piled high as 6 inches) on a freshly baked kummelweck roll - the best roast beef sandwich in America. This sandwich is a staple of Buffalo, New York. Few, if any, restaurants outside the Buffalo area serve this sandwich or even know what it is. Also called Beef on Wick, an alternative spelling usually used by older people from Buffalo and eastern suburbanites. It is a roast beef sandwich on a salty kimmelweck roll. In fact, it is this roll that makes the sandwich unique.

Check out the History of Beef on Weck Sandwiches.

Check out Linda's Sandwich Recipes.

1 (3- to 4-pound) beef roast (tenderloin, Prime Rib, or eye of round)
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper
Cornstarch Glaze (recipe follows)
8 Kimmelweck or Kaiser rolls
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons coarse salt
Prepared horseradish

* Kimmelweck roll is a salty roll that is similar to a Kaiser roll.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Rub roast with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place roast on rack in a shallow baking pan, tucking the thin end under to make it as thick as the rest of the roast. Bake, uncovered, 40 to 45 minutes or until thermometer registers 135 degrees F. Remove from oven and transfer to a cutting board; let stand 15 minutes before carving. Reserve meat juice, and carve meat into very thin slices.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Brush the prepared Cornstarch Glaze on the top of each kimmelweck or Kaiser roll; sprinkle equal amounts of caraway seeds and heat in the oven for 3 minutes or until tops of the rolls get crusty and the caraway seeds and salt begin to stick. Remove from oven and cut rolls in half.

To assemble sandwiches, divide sliced beef on the bottom half of each roll; spoon with reserved beef juice. Serve open-faced with horseradish on the side.

Makes 8 sandwiches.

Cornstarch Glaze:
1/2 cup cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together water and cornstarch. Heat mixture to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low, and stir until mixture thickens and is translucent. Remove from heat and let cool.