It tried for years to make a cheesesteak as good as the take our sub shops of Southeastern Massachusetts. I think these are about as close as you can come at home. Freezing the steak the day before makes it easy to cut into very thin slices.
INGREDIENTS (for 1 servings):
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 medium onion, sliced
- 4 large fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1/4 green bell pepper, sliced into long strips
- 1 (1/2 pound) well-marbled beef steak of any type, sliced as thinly as possible
- 3 tablespoons chopped pickled hot peppers
- 1 teaspoon Hot pepper sauce
- 2 slices sharp Cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 French baguette, cut in half lengthwise
PREPARATION:
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion; cook and stir until tender. Push onion to the side of the pan, and add the mushrooms. Cook and stir until softened, then add the bell pepper and cook just until tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
Add the remaining butter to the skillet. No need to clean the pan, just let it heat up a little bit. Place the steak in the skillet along with the pickled peppers. Season with salt and pepper. The steak cooks really fast, just a couple of minutes. Once the steak is mostly browned, return the onion and pepper to the pan. Cook until heated through.
Turn off the heat, and place the slices of cheese over the top of the pile so they can melt. Scoop the whole pile into the awaiting bread, making sure to pour some of the juices onto that wonderful sandwich.
Tips:When shopping for steak sandwich steak, I advise you pay more attention to the way the meat looks than the cut. You can't go wrong with a nice tender 'New York', but I tend to look for the cheap steaks with some nice marbles (fat).
If you have time, freeze the steak. Then, with your sharpest knife, slice the frozen steak as thin as you can. That is the hardest part.