White Dog Café's Philly Cheese Steak

Locale: USA []

Source: Betty Fussell, Raising Steaks [p. 324] [link]

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
• 2 large Portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 lb flank steak, trimmed, sliced as thinly as possible
• 0.5 tsp black pepper
• 1.5 c grated pepper-jack cheese
• 2 soft-crusted baguettes, or 4 Italian-style hoagie rolls

Steps

1. Heat oven to 400F.

2. Heat oil in large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and 1 tsp salt and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add flank steak and remaining ½ tsp salt, pepper, and sauté until meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Remove pan from heat. Sprinkle cheese over top. Cover pan and set aside until cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, slice baguettes lengthwise. Place, cut side down, on a baking sheet and toast in oven until crisp, 4-5 minutes.

5. Fill baguettes with meat and cheese. Cut each in two portions. Serve immediately.

Notes

1. First time I made this I wound up making various minor substitutions: used baby portabellos instead of the big ones, sirloin instead of flank steak, fontina instead of pepper-jack, 1 baguette instead of two (had some meat left over). Baguette was one of those you finish baking, so it came out freshly toasted. I split it, spread a little butter on the inside, and partly toasted it face down on a griddle. Kept thinking that recipe should have called for garlic; wound up sprinkling some powdered garlic along with the black pepper. Needless to say, none of these substitutions undermined the meal.