SERVING 4

Raising cattle for meat only is a rather recent addition to Icelandic farming. Formerly Icelandic farmers kept cattle, then mostly cows, mainly for the milk, which was thought to be a very necessary part of everyday fare. Not too many years ago some meat producing cattle was brought to Iceland, and nowadays several farmers specialize in meat production offering prime beef, which is very highly esteemed by both chefs and the general public.

The beef
21 oz / 600 gr cut off a rib eye (or as 3 steaks)
Salt and pepper
2 tbs vegetable oil

Season the pieces of meat with salt and pepper, rubbing in the seasoning a bit. Pour the vegetable oil onto a hot pan and cook the meat for a minute and a half on each side, or until it is medium rare. Take care, though, not to over-cook it. Take the meat off the pan and let it rest for a while for the juices inside to settle.

The vegetables
1 avocado
½ cup green olives
2 tbs chopped chives
½ a red chili pepper

Cut the avocado in half, remove the seed and then spoon out the meat taking care no to break it. Cut the avocado meat into slices and put them into a shallow bowl. Chop up the green olives and the chives and add these to the avocado. Chop up finely some red chili and add it to the ingredients in the bowl. Toss the contents of bowl some and the vegetables are ready.

The sandwich
1 baguette bread
½ cup / 120 ml sun-dried tomatoes
9 oz / 255 gr camembert cheese
9 oz / 255 gr 1 brie cheese
3 fresh tomatoes

Open up the baguette by cutting it lengthwise. First put a line of sun-dried tomatoes into the open baguette. Then spoon the avocado mixture on top of the dried tomatoes. Cut the camembert cheese and the brie cheese into rather thick slices. Arrange the brie slices on the line of mixture. Now thinly slice the cooked beef and place it on top of the brie cheese. Slice the tomatoes thinly and add the slices to the sandwich finishing it off by placing the slices of camembert on top of the fresh tomatoes. Now close the sandwich, wrap it up in some tin foil and bake it in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees centigrade for about 10 minutes. When the sandwich is done, stick some skewers in it to hold it together. Then cut the sandwich into lengths appropriate for serving. This sandwich should be eaten hot to really enjoy the taste of the meat, the vegetable filling and, not the least, the warm, melted cheeses.