My stepfather is from Buffalo, and I spent most of my childhood and well into my adulthood going up there at least once a year to visit my grandparents and eat amazing food. Everyone knows about the chicken wings. They went from fairly niche when I was a kid to pretty much a requirement on the appetizer list of every mid-range restaurant in North America nowadays. I’ll probably post my chicken wing recipes at some point, but today I’m here to talk about the lesser-known Buffalo specialty, the 3rd W in the restaurant formerly known as BW3, the Beef on Weck.
“What’s a weck?” It’s short for kimmelweck, the name of the roll that the Beef on Weck is known for. It’s a crusty kaiser roll topped with caraway seeds and a ton of kosher salt. That roll is piled with thinly sliced fresh roast beef, dipped in au jus, and served with a bunch of horseradish. It was sold in bars in Buffalo in the early 1900s, and thanks to the delicious salty sandwiches, they’d sell a LOT more beer. Genius, really, when you think about it. If you’re ever in Buffalo, stop by Schwabl’s for the best beef on weck in the city, in my opinion.
Being keto, I figured that Beef on Weck was lost to me. I tried a version with cloud bread, but it didn’t hold up well to the au jus. I considered one with a fathead roll, but it just seemed like it would be too dense. When the chaffle trend exploded, it occurred to me that I could actually make a kimmelweck out of a chaffle. A chaffleweck, so to speak. And when those gears start turning in my brain, I only have one real option.
If you want to make these for your non-keto family too, get some plain kaiser rolls, brush the tops with egg white, sprinkle a hefty pinch each of kosher salt and caraway seeds on top, and put them in a 300 degree oven for about 8 minutes, until the tops are no longer shiny. But you’re probably reading this for yourself, so here’s how you make this sandwich keto.
First you’ll want to start with the au jus. Pour a cup of beef broth into a small saucepan, and add a beef bouillon cube (I use Better than Bouillon because, well, it is. For the teaspoon you’d use in this recipe, it only adds one net carb to the whole pot of au jus, which is enough for four sandwiches. Add a half teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, then bring it to a simmer. Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon of xanthan gum on top and whisk it in. You don’t want this to hit Thanksgiving gravy levels of thickness, but you definitely want it to coat a spoon a bit. Once it’s thickened, reduce the heat to as low as it can go and let it rest while you make the buns.
For the buns, you’ll need the Dash mini-waffle maker. I’d imagine you already have one if you’re reading this, but if you don’t, get one. There are a billion different chaffle recipes floating around out there, and I keep going all chaffle evil genius, so I’ll keep you in recipes if you’re worried about it. This one uses the standard chaffle base with one beaten egg and 1/4 cup of shredded cheese per two waffles, plus a hefty pinch of kosher salt and caraway seeds sprinkled on the iron before you put in any of the rest of the stuff, for the top chaffle only. I used Swiss cheese for this one, but if you don’t like Swiss, provolone would work just fine. Heat up your chaffle iron, sprinkle it with the caraway seeds and salt, and then add a tablespoon of the shredded cheese. Let that brown for a few seconds, then pour on half of the egg, then another tablespoon of the cheese. Close the chaffle iron and let it cook for about three minutes. When it’s golden brown and holds its own shape, carefully remove it from the waffle iron with a fork, place it on a plate with the caraway seeds down, and spread horseradish on the other side. Repeat with the remaining cheese and half an egg, but don’t use the caraway seeds and salt on the bottom bun.
While the bottom bun is cooking, put 1/4 pound of high quality deli-sliced roast beef into the au jus and swirl it around to warm it up and get it all juicy. You’ll definitely want it more thinly sliced than I have it in the picture here, but I wasn’t the one who shopped for it, so I get what I get and I don’t throw a fit. You don’t want to heat it up too terribly much or it’ll lose the yummy rareness. Pile the roast beef onto the bottom bun and top it with the top bun (funny how that works) and serve it with lots of napkins. If you are dirty keto, this would be fantastic with a low-carb beer on a football Sunday. I can only hope your team is better than mine. I got the Buffalo food, but I also got the Buffalo sports teams. You take the good, you take the bad…
Beef on Chaffleweck
Equipment
- Dash mini-waffle iron
Ingredients
For the Au Jus
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 beef bouillon cube see notes above
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
For the Sandwiches
- 1 lb thinly-sliced deli roast beef
- 1 tsp caraway seeds or more to taste
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 4 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup shredded Swiss or provolone cheese
- 4 tsp prepared horseradish or more to taste
Instructions
For the Au Jus
- Combine the beef broth, bouillon, and Worcestershire sauce in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. Sprinkle the xanthan gum over the surface and whisk in until there are no more clumps and the au jus thickens. Reduce the heat to as low as possible and keep at a bare simmer as you make the rest of the ingredients.
For the Sandwich
- Heat up the Dash until the light turns off. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon each of caraway seeds and salt evenly over the waffle iron. Add 1 tablespoon of the shredded cheese, about 2 tablespoons of the egg, and top with another tablespoon of cheese. Close the lid and cook until the waffle is crispy and holds its own shape, about 3 minutes. Repeat 3 more times, then do the bottom buns the same way only without the caraway seeds and salt. If you want, you can keep the buns in the oven on warm as you make them.
- When you're making the last set of buns, put the roast beef into the au jus and turn it to coat, allowing the beef to warm up a bit but not cook. Put 1/4 pound of beef on each bottom bun, top with a teaspoon or so of horseradish, then the top bun. Serve immediately.
- Macros per serving: 309 calories, 1 gram net carbs, 38 grams protein, 17 grams fat.
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