Cowboy Cheese Steaks
This is another of my long winded recipes/history lessons. (I’m working on a book on cooking for ren-actors and a lot of these are part of my drafts, I’ve got some friends who have been wanting to know how to cook these items they’ve ate in camp. The book is most likely a couple years out and will be a fairly hefty book of reference as well as a cook book.)
I’m sitting here writing and I have Pandora on with cordless headphones and good western music (not country) and am ignoring the rest of the world.
Yes that picture is on a plastic plate, the first time I tried this there was no one around be me, my helper, a friend who came up from Dallas to eat my food and the staff of Ft Hartsuff who we invited to eat, it saved doing dishes.
The pictures are all taken there, but part was taken in 2008 and part in 2009 as you can see from the weather and what it was being cooked in. (I need someone to keep their hands out of the cooking and just take pictures.)
The cheese steak sandwich is credited with being invented by two brothers in Philadelphia in the 1930’s, hence the name Philly Cheese Steak. So in a sense this is not a correct dish for the late 19th Century. However the idea of cutting food up in small pieces and cooking it in a hot pan or on a hot grill is not very new, stir frying in a wok is a good example.
What this dish is good for is a quick camp meal or a quick meal at home. (I keep shaved beef in the freezer) I have no doubt in my mind some cook in some camp needed food quick and shaved some steak up and if and onion or two found it’s way into it, so what, most would have not had cheese, but I often do, I don’t do it in camp with mushrooms, but canned mushrooms although expensive were around. (I won’t touch the wild mushroom idea with a 10 foot pole.) Toss the results on a biscuit and you have what my friends have named cowboy cheesesteaks.
You can prepare this ahead of time, although I most often just take a hunk beef and shave it up in camp for effect. The concept is basic and there is no need to worry about exact amounts but I will give approximate amounts.
Shave beef, I just do it with a butcher knife and make my pieces between penny to quarter sized and about that thick to about twice as thick. You can also buy it this way but it adds to expense.
For every 2 pounds or so of beef use 1-2 onions and about a half pound of cheese, shredded is nice but chunk can be cut up and used, this would be more in staying with looking historical. I use cheddar cheese, most often sharp. Green peppers and mushrooms (canned or fresh) can be added but I don’t in camp.
At home I use a 15 inch skillet, in camp I most often use my 20 inch skillet or for small amounts a 14 inch shallow dutch oven. The ironware needs to be well seasoned but you don’t want to add any extra oil or grease.
I get everything ready while I’m pre-heating the iron, I get the cooking vessel hot enough to be smoking or so a drop of water will dance. (At home I pre-heat the skillet in the oven at 550F and then put it on top and turn the burner up on high.)
When everything is hot enough, toss in everything but the cheese and stir it around just enough to cook even and keep it from scorching.
When everything is cooked, toss the cheese in on top, remove from the heat and stir till the cheese melts.
Traditional bread for a cheese steak is a hoagie bun, but in my camps you are going to get a biscuit or more likely several to put it on. These can either be baking powder type or sour dough, perhaps even buttermilk type if there are some ladies churning butter who are willing to deal. I get lucky once in a while.
In this recipe I use canned milk, I keep it in the grub box, I don’t always have fresh milk on hand but fresh milk will work fine. Water can be used also; if you use water and no sweetener and bake it as a loaf you can call it Bannock.
Either recipe will be right for a 14 inch shallow dutch oven or at home in a 15 inch skillet.
Basic Baking Powder Biscuits
4 cups all-purpose flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
1-2 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/2 cup lard
1 12 oz. can of milk
Mix dry ingredients and cut in the lard. I just cut it in by working in with my hands till there are no clumps of the lard.
Mix the milk in and knead just enough to make a sticky dough. Pat or roll to about 1/2 thick and cut with a biscuit cutter, empty can or just pinch off and make them by hand. Bake in a “Hot Oven” (400-450F) oven for 10-12 minutes or till golden brown.
Butter milk biscuits
Take above recipe and use buttermilk instead of the canned and use 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of baking soda instead of the baking powder.
Sourdough Biscuits
4-5 handfuls of flour a pinch of salt
2-3 pinches saleratus (baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3)
Add some sweetener if desired. (Sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses or sorghum syrup)
1 lump of lard or bacon drippings about the size of a medium egg.
Mix dry ingredients and cut in the lard, mix till mealy
.
Add enough sour dough starter to make a slightly sticky dough, kneading slightly. (Amount will vary with how thick your starter is.)
Flatten dough by hand on cutting board, cut with tin biscuit cutter, a tin can with an end removed or hand form
Place in pre-heated 14 inch shallow dutch oven, let rise about 5 minutes and bake about 15 minutes in a hot oven (bout 400 degrees) till nice and brown.
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