Cheesesteak Sandwiches, January 27, 2016

I'm not typically very interested in making things like cheesesteak sandwiches, but I do like them every great now and again, so when I found a recipe in a Cat Cora cookbook (Cooking From The Hip), I decided to give them a try. My wife liked hers a great deal more than I liked mine. I guess I should always get them from cheesesteak places, with the ultra-thin meat. These were okay, to me, but not what I hope to eat when I eat cheesesteak. I am actually not posting Cat Cora's recipe because I deviated from it for the sandwiches and stuck to it exactly for the homemade provolone cheese sauce and the sauce was a complete disaster, refusing to thicken and tasting rather like paste. So, here's what I did. I served them with romaine salad, kettle chips, and lime jello with mango chunks.

Cheesesteak Sandwiches

1 green pepper, very thinly sliced

1 orange pepper, very thinly sliced

1 large onion, very thinly sliced

A big pinch of oregano

Salt & pepper

1 1/2 lb. steak, the best you can buy (My wife picked up Delmonicos for this), about an inch thick

4 nice hoagie rolls

Thinly-sliced mozzarella (luckily, we had a pack of pre-sliced in the fridge)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Heat a large skillet that's been coated with cooking spray (you can also use olive oil here). Sauté peppers until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add onion and sauté another several minutes. I like mine just starting to brown at the edges of the slices. Place veggies on a plate and keep warm in the oven. Re-spray the skillet or add more oil. Toss in the oregano, salt, & pepper, cooking for about 30 seconds. Add steaks and cook 5-7 minutes per side for medium rare to medium. Remove from the pan and allow to rest on a cutting board for 5-10 minutes. Slice thinly, then place on bottom halves of hoagie rolls. Top with peppers and onions. Lay a couple slices of cheese across each sandwich. Leaving them open-faced, broil until cheese has melted and buns have begin to brown. Serves 4.