French Dip Sandwiches

These are my favorite. Really simple, but really good.

Hoagie buns (one for each person who's gonna be eating.)
1/2 lb roast beef (this makes about 4 sandwiches, if you're stingy.)
1/2 lb of some sort of white cheese (no I'm not racist. if you're feeling really gourmet, buy the deli havarti cheese for 8 bucks a pound)
some butter
1 packet au jus (we find this in the same aisle as the taco seasoning and all of those other little packets with the strange powders. (no thats not a drug reference, although maybe those strange poweders could cure this migraine that I've had for two days.))
2 cups water

Preheat oven to 400. Slice the hoagies and butter each side. Layer roast beef and non-racist cheese on one side of each hoagie. Stick them in the oven for about 7 minutes, or until the cheese is melty and the butter is melted.

Mix the water and the au jus powder in a sauce pan. Really, just follow the directions on the packet. No reason for me to type them out here.

Serve everything hot. Cut sandwiches into smaller pieces for those with smaller hands. If I'm feeling extra healthy (and really, I always should do this to balance out the havarti cheese) I'll steam some green beans and they taste pretty good dipped in the au jus as well.

Why is it called 'french dip' anyway? Did the french invent them? Or is it a fake out, like calling my primary instrument a 'french horn.' (its originally German, after all.) What makes this sort of thing french? Is this one of those mysteries of God that will only be answered after we die?

Can you tell I'm tired?