Cheese Steak with Calabrian Cheese Sauce
We tend to buy beef tenderloin whole since it’s far more cost effective than buying individual fillets. But the main prize of buying the tenderloin whole is actually all the other off cuts that you get - the wing, tips, and chain. We usually put the wing and tips to use in Beef Stroganoff or fajitas. The chain, on the other hand, is almost always destined for cheesy goodness in the form of cheese steak sandwiches. We like a little heat around this house, so we’ve swapped out the bell pepper for poblano peppers and added a few Calabrian chili peppers to the cheese sauce. This recipe is super fast and we suspect it’ll find it’s way into your dinner rotation! Break out your cast iron skillet and get cooking!
Yield: about 4 servings
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Ingredients
For the sandwiches:
1 lb. beef tenderloin chain, trimmed and very thinly sliced*
1 medium white or yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons canola or sunflower oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
4 hoagie rolls or 1-2 large baguettes
For the cheese sauce:
1/2 lb. white american cheese, shredded or cut into small pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream, plus about 2 tablespoons extra
3-5 Calabrian chili peppers, finely chopped
Instructions
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is beginning to shimmer, add the onion to the skillet. Toss to coat with oil and cook for about 3 minutes, until the onion just starts to soften. Add the poblano to the skillet and toss to combine. Season with a small pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook the peppers and onion until tender and slightly browned, about 10 minutes. A little char on the vegetables is a good thing.
While the vegetables are cooking, begin making the cheese sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, add 1/3 cup heavy cream. Stir occasionally while the cream warms up. Once it just begins to steam, reduce the heat to low and add a handful of the cheese. Whisk fairly constantly to melt the cheese. Continue adding portions of the cheese once each addition has melted. Whisk in another tablespoon or two of heavy cream if need to slightly thin the cheese sauce (for the cheese steak, you want a fairly thick sauce so that it doesn’t get too messy). Once all the cheese is incorporated into the sauce, whisk in the Calabrian chili peppers. Remove from heat and set aside. The sauce will likely begin to cool and thicken a bit, but it can be returned to its saucy state very quickly over low heat.
When the vegetables are fully cooked, remove them from the skillet and set aside in a bowl or plate. With the skillet still hot, over medium high heat, begin cooking the steak. Cook the steak in batches (you don’t want to crowd the pan and steam the steak), about 1 minute per side. Season the steak with a bit of salt and pepper once it hits the pan. Remove the cooked steak to a bowl or plate.
Set your oven to broil. Slice the hoagie rolls in half to open them up (or portion out the baguette and slice to open). Scoop out a bit of the bread on the top half of the roll - it’ll make for a nicer bread/meat ratio overall (thanks for the tip, Bobby Flay). Place the opened rolls on a baking sheet and set under the broiler for about 1 minute, just to warm the bread and very slightly toast. Begin to reheat the cheese sauce over low heat, if needed.
Remove the bread from the oven and top with the steak, onions, and peppers. Spoon the cheese sauce over the top. Enjoy!
Notes
*If you don’t have any beef chain, you can also use skirt steak or ribeye. You want a cut of steak that is tender, quick cooking, and full of marbling. In order to make it easier to thinly slice the steak, pop it into the freezer for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.
