A Steak Sandwich Party

Now that Food52's Managing Editor Brette Warshaw has stocked her First Kitchen, she's ready to throw parties in it: no-stress weeknight parties for anyone, anytime, and (almost) every kitchen. You're invited.

Today: Move over, hamburger. There's a new sandwich in town.

These days, when the grills are hot and the sun is out and the beer is cold, there's a lot of talk about burgers. 

We talk about burgers, we obsess about burgers, we wax poetic about burgers -- and we forget. We forget about the glory and the beauty and the ridiculous-amazingness that is The Steak Sandwich.

And unlike all that shaping and tending and à-la-minute-ing that burgers demand, a steak sandwich is friendly, easy, and adaptable. Sear off your steak before your friends come over -- and have them do the sandwich-prepping for you. That leaves room for you to make creamless creamed corn and peach salad and plum cake.

It's time to obsess over steak sandwiches, especially this one.

The Menu:

Crook's Corner's Green Peach Salad
Flank Steak on Texas Toast with Chimichurri
Kevin Gillespie's Creamless Creamed Corn with Mushrooms and Lemon
Late Summer Plum Cake

Two nights before: Make your chimichurri -- and while you're at it, your chimichirri aioli.

The night before: Get your flank steak marinating in the chimichurri. Make the Late Summer Plum Cake. 

When you get home from work: Take out your steak from the fridge; you want it to be room temperature when you sear it. Prep your Green Peach Salad; peel and slice your peaches, make your dressing. After all that's done, sear off your steak, leaving it covered and at room temperature.

Right before your guests arrive: Get that creamed corn ready to go: sauté your shallot and shiitake mushrooms, leaving them on the stove in their pan. Get your corn and corn milk ready. The final dish will come together in three minutes once your guests arrive. 

When it's time to eat dinner: Get your friends together and make a sandwich assembly line -- someone toasts the bread, someone spreads it with aioli, someone layers on the slices of steak, another layers on tomatoes -- while you get that creamed corn all shiny and pretty on the stove. Toss together the Green Peach Salad, and bring it all out to the table.

Time for dessert: Bring out that plum cake, and if you're feeling like an overachiever, whip up some cream. Pretend fall isn't coming -- because right now, nothing else matters.