Steak sandwich with creamed spinach, pickled chilies and fried shallots

Dry brine the steak: coat generously with salt, more for a thicker steak, and pepper both sides.

Rest at room temperature at least 40 minutes and up to two hours, or overnight in the fridge uncovered; moisture is drawn out and reabsorbed.

Cut the top off a whole head of garlic so every clove is exposed; keep the scraps.

Set the garlic on aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, season with kosher salt and pepper, and wrap tightly so no oil leaks.

Roast in an oven preheated to 400F for about an hour.

Wearing gloves, slice the Fresno chilies thin but not wafer thin.

Put the chilies in a heatproof bowl with the garlic scraps and one shallot sliced lengthwise, salted.

Make the pickling liquid: about equal parts apple cider vinegar and water, about a tablespoon and a half of salt, coriander seed, mustard seed and a third of a cup of honey.

Bring the liquid to a boil and cook briefly, stirring, to reduce it a little and dissolve everything.

Peel the remaining shallots, keeping them whole, setting one aside for the creamed spinach.

Slice the shallots on a mandolin, wearing a cut-resistant glove, not too thin so they do not burn, and separate the rings.

Pour the hot liquid over the chilies, mix so all are submerged, cover with a plate and leave at least 20 minutes, ideally about an hour.

Put the shallots in the pan cold and add vegetable oil just to cover; never drop moist shallots into hot oil.

Bring to a solid bubble and fry until golden brown, stirring so the ones at the edges do not burn; pick out any that burn early.

Trim the rinds and grate the Comte and smoked Gouda together.

Lift the shallots out with a skimmer onto a paper towel lined plate; they crisp as they cool. Save the shallot oil.

Finely mince one small shallot and chop the garlic.

Melt two tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium heat.

Sweat the shallot one to three minutes without browning, until just translucent.

Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.

Add about a tablespoon of flour and stir into a paste coating the vegetables.

Add about a cup of half and half; it thickens without lumps to about the consistency of heavy cream. Grate in nutmeg.

Add the thawed frozen spinach and simmer at least 10 minutes and up to an hour.

Turn the heat way down; season with about a teaspoon of kosher salt and pepper, taste, and add more half and half and salt.

Keep on low heat, cooking down, adding half and half if it gets too thick.

Cut the bread with a straight-edged knife, using a rimmed quarter sheet propped up as a guide, so the cut faces are perfectly flat for pan toasting; store cut side down.

After about 40 minutes, taste the chilies, then strain them, saving the pickling liquid.

Stir in about one and a half to two ounces of Parmesan at the end.

Pat the steak with a paper towel.

Preheat the cast iron slowly over a medium flame until wisps of smoke rise, with neutral oil spread over it with a paper towel.

Add a little more oil, lay in the steak and press it down with a chef weight; raise the heat to medium-high.

Flip when gray creeps up the side; turn and press the steak into the fat to even out a patchy crust.

Baste the steak with the hot oil.

Take the steak off, wrap it in aluminum foil and rest it.

Toast the bread cut side down in the rendered beef fat, adding olive oil on bald spots and pressing the soft centres into the pan, until crusted.

Check the steak's temperature: 130.

Scoop the roasted garlic out of its skins onto the bread and mash it into an even spread.

Spread a generous layer of creamed spinach on the bottom like a condiment, then the pickled chilies and the thin pickled shallots.

Carve the steak thin on a bias across the grain; toss the slices in their juices.

Lay the eye slices down, scatter the fatty cap over top, then top with as many crispy shallots as fit.

Pack the grated Comte and smoked Gouda on in a flat layer and melt it with a torch, from the bottom where it stuck to the top bun.