Coyote Creek Roast Beef Sandwich

Carl's Jr. had an excellent sandwich in the late 1970's, possibly the early '80's called a California Roast Beef Sandwich. It was a hot sandwich on a bun with roast beef, green chiles, swiss (or maybe Jack?) cheese, tomato and some kind of mayonnaise-based spicy secret sauce. I think the Santa Fe chicken sandwich, which is still available, has that same sauce. The California Roast Beef came back for a limited run in 2008, but it's not a regular item any more.

This sandwich doesn't come even close to the soft bun, spicy, cheesybeefy nirvana that the California Roast Beef was, but it was still pretty good. I set out to make the Carl's version, but when I realized the only two basics I had that were true to Carl Karcher's beefy sandwich were the deli beef and the green chiles, I had to improvise.  This sandwich is great, with just the right ratio of juiciness to meatiness. Grilling melted the cheese a bit and warmed the roast beef, moving this sandwich into comfort food territory. A juicy tomato dictates you will need to eat this over your plate!

Coyote Creek Roast Beef Sandwich

2 slices bread-I used pumpernickel rye, but sourdough would be good, too
1 T mayonnaise
1-2 roasted green chiles, chopped, or 2 T canned or frozen green chile
2 oz sliced cheese, cheddar, American, or Monterey Jack
2 slices deli roast beef
sliced tomato(if you can't see the tomato in my photo, it's because it's a yellow one)
butter or margarine

Spread mayo on each bread slice. Layer in this order: cheese, chile, tomato, roast beef, cheese. You want cheese next to the bread because you are going to grill it.

Spread butter on the outside of your sandwich. Grill low and slow in a nonstick pan, checking for browning bread and melting cheese. Carefully flip your sandwich over when the cheese is melted on the pan side. Grill the next side, watching to be sure you don't burn your bread like I almost did with the pumpernickel in the photo.

When everything looks melty and browned to your liking, it's done.  Enjoy!