I've never been to Philadelphia and I've never had a real Philly cheesesteak sandwich, so I had some research to do before making this attempt. I surfed around the net to get some ideas, but wasn't keen on any one recipe. For starters I knew my cheesesteaks were going to be born from a leftover bison chuck roast, not very Philly cheesesteak like, so I named them Calgary cheesesteaks instead.
I thinly sliced the roast and then made an au jus for the meat. I know the au jus is also very unauthentic, but I changed the name, so that should be acceptable enough. To a large saute pan I added 2 tbsp of olive olive oil, 1/2 a medium chopped onion and 2 cloves of chopped garlic. When the onion was lightly browned I deglazed the pan with a splash of red wine and then added 1/2 a cup of beef stock, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp tomato paste and 1 tsp brown sugar. After a few tastes I seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper and added the sliced meat and one sliced portabello mushroom. I let the meat simmer for about 1 hour - only because my dinner date was late - and then made a batch of sauteed sliced onion and green pepper.
Then after a few more additions of stock to keep the meat from drying out, Jason finally arrived! I served the bison piled high on a toasted slice of sourdough, added a big scoop of sauteed onion and green pepper and then layered the sandwich with mozzarella and a gruesome smothering of melted cheese whiz. Philly-shmilly...



I must try this. I stumbled upon your blog today and took a browse through. Impressive.
Posted by: And Miles To Go.... | June 13, 2007 at 04:36 PM
Why thanks! *blush* Stop by anytime :)
Posted by: Liz | June 14, 2007 at 09:24 AM
Since I'm from Calgary and I LOVE Philly Cheese Steak, then I'm definitely giving this one a go!
Posted by: Helen | June 25, 2007 at 12:15 PM
Hey Helen,
It's great to hear from a fellow Calgarian. Thanks for stopping by!
Posted by: Liz | June 25, 2007 at 05:39 PM