Gourmet Cheese Steak Sammies!

My immediate apologizes to any readers who are offended by my statement “I’m not a huge football fan”. In fact I’m not a football fan at all; not even a little. So when a good friend of mine asked if I wanted to hang out for the Super Bowl, I enthusiastically replied with “Of course!!” (As if to say “who wouldn’t want to hang out for a football game?”). Our plan was to spend the day cooking up a meal that represented both teams and then watch the game! Well when the question came my way of “what are you thinking in terms of representative foods”… I quickly responded with “I don’t want to rush this decision, let me think about it. I’ll get back to you”.

What does this really translate to?… 

“I have no idea who is playing, and therefore I have no idea what foods would be appropriate!”  Like I said, Sorry.

With very little research I figured out who the two teams were and the first foods that came to mind were: Cheese, Mushrooms, and Philly Cheesesteaks (yeah, I know, it was Pittsburg… but it is in the same state!)

Once the idea of a more refined cheesesteak was brought into the picture, our brainstorming was complete. Homemade flatbread, pan seared thin cut sirloin, grilled fresh pepper, onions, and mushrooms topped with a new favorite…le gruyere cheese.

First we washed and sliced all of the fresh peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Then dropped them in the frying pans to sauté.

Once the veggies were doing their thing we got the flatbread dough cooking! I made several changes to recipe found here at the Smitten Kitchen. Her recipe calls for rosemary but we voted on oregano instead (better choice for what we were cooking), as well the recipe called for rolling the dough very thin. I knew this would result in a fairly crispy bread/ cracker and that was not our goal. So instead I left the dough about a 1/4 inch thick and only cooked for 8 minutes.

We absolutely loved LOVED this flat bread. With the added bonus of not waiting around for the bread to rise! Honestly the prep time for this was less than 7 minutes and then it immediately cooked for 8 minutes on 450. I will definitely be using this recipe again, and you can easily switch up what seasoning you want to use. We used oregano instead of rosemary, but you also could easily add a a sprinkle of cheese, olives, spinach or even just leave it with a light salted topping. The quick version of instructions and ingredients are below, but if you want the original description and pictures of the process in its entirety check out the Smitten Kitchen page for more info.

With the bread out of the oven, the peppers, onions, and mushrooms ready, the beef seared, the cheese sliced, it was time to turn on the broiler!

 

A wildly successful meal leaving both cooks with a smile and rubbing their belly. This will definitely be one recipe that I will make again!

To be honest, in the end we didn’t really end up watching the game. I came to find out that she too was not a football fan and was mostly only interested in the commercials and half time show! All the same, we had a really great Super Bowl Sunday, and the TV was on in the back round!

 

Bertie’s rendition of the Smitten Kitchen’s Flatbread:

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
*1/2 Tablespoon of oregano flakes
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil

* Again, experiment with different spices/ ingredients with this bread. As long as the ingredients do not add any significant liquid to the dough, you should be fine.

Mix all of your dry ingredients in medium sized mixing bowl. Create a well into the flour mixture and then add the water and oil. Working the flour from the outsides, fold it into the wet ingredients. Do no over work the dough.

Roll the dough to your desired thickness and then bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Posted in: savory