This is my preferred (read: adulterated) version of Marlboro Man's favorite sandwich. Peppers, mushrooms, and sherry make it extra yummy.

Cut cube steak into strips against the grain. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over high heat. As soon as it's melted (but before it burns) brown strips of cube steak in two or three batches, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Remove meat to a clean plate when brown. Set aside. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add onions, garlic, green peppers, and red peppers and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until relatively soft (but not flimsy.) Remove to a clean plate. Set aside. Melt 2 add'l tablespoons butter to the skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and stir. Pour in sherry, then add Worcestershire and Tabasco. Cook over medium-high heat for five minutes, or until liquid has reduced by about a third. Add in meat and vegetables, stirring to combine. Cook for just a few minutes to heat everything up, adding more sherry and Worcestershire (and Tabasco) as needed. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter at the end. Keep hot. Toast halved deli rolls in plenty of butter until golden brown and crisp. Spoon meat/veggie mixture on the lower half of the bun, then spoon one or two tablespoons of pan sauce over the meat (it will soak into the bun.) Drizzle a little sauce on the underside of the top bun, too, for extra flavor and moisture. Top with cheese and broil for a minute or two, until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

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whole Deli Rolls (the Crustier The Better)

8 whole Deli Rolls (the Crustier The Better)

1 1/2 c. Sherry (regular Or Cooking Sherry Is Fine)

Before I begin, let me state for the record that Marlboro Man would not touch this adulterated version of his beloved favorite sandwich with a ten foot pole. He asked me to state that unequivocally, for it is his ardent contention that his beloved favorite sandwich—which appears not only in the earliest days of this website, but also in my cookbook—is perfect as is and needs no adornments.

Thus endeth my disclaimer.

My side of the story is this: I love the Marlboro Man Sandwich and all. I do, I promise. I do. But the truth is, I need more things going on in my sandwiches. I need this and that and some of that stuff over there. I need soft, and I need crunchy. I need tangy, and I need spicy. I need cheese, and I need…well, cheese.

I have needs, is what I’m saying. And I have to be me! I have to fly…to shine…to make the sandwiches I want to eat!

I’ll stop talking now.





The Cast of Characters: cube steak, butter (duh), onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms, sherry, Worcestershire, garlic, and deli rolls.

Ooops. Tabasco, too. The world of my Cast of Characters photos is an imperfect place.





This is cube steak. It’s tenderized round steak that’s been extra tenderized, and I use it for chicken fried steak, too.

Why do I have storebought beef when I live on a cattle ranch? Two reasons:

1. We aren’t on “that end” of the cattle business. We raise cows and calves, as well as yearlings, and do not slaughter our own cattle. Occasionally we do get a whole beef for our freezer, but we also buy beef in the grocery store regularly.

2. I like to show the packaging so that the majority of people reading will be able to see what it looks like in the meat aisle.

3. Amen.

Begin by slicing up some green bell peppers: lop off the top and bottom, pull out the innards, then cut the hollowed-out pepper into rings.





Do the same with the red peppers…





Then slice up some onions. Mince some garlic, too.





Next up, rinse/wash/wipe (whatever’s your poison) a bunch of white ‘shrooms.





Then slice ’em up. Not too thin, not too perfect.





Finally, slice up the cube steak into strips across the grain, then sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.





Melt some butter in a skillet over high heat.

High, because we want to sear the heck out of the meat without cooking the heck out of it.





In two or three batches, cook the meat.





Cook it for about a minute or so on both sides—just until it’s nice and brown.





Remove the meat to a separate plate and set it aside.





Keep the pan hot, then throw in the veggies and garlic.





Stir them around and cook them for a few minutes until they’re soft but not flimsy…





Then throw ’em on a separate plate.





By now, the pan is getting dark. That’s a good thing.





Throw in a little more butter, for rebellion’s (and moisture’s) sake.





Throw in the mushrooms…





And stir them around a little bit.





Pour in a cup-and-a-half of sherry. I used cooking sherry—the stuff that’s sold in the vinegar aisle of supermarkets. But if you have some of the good stuff, all the better.

But if you don’t, that’s fine.

But if you do, that’s awesome.

But if you don’t, don’t worry about it.

But if you do, great.

Add some Worcestershire, some Tabasco, and a little salt, then stir and cook the mushrooms around for several minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by half.





Try with all your might not to eat these right this very minute.

I love mushrooms more than life itself. And cooked in butter and any form of wine? I’m toast.





Throw in the meat…





Then throw in the veggies.





Add more of whatever it needs: more sherry if it needs liquid, more Tabasco if it needs more heat…





Or more Worcestershire if it needs a little oomph. Let it cook and bubble up and get hot for a couple of minutes. Be sure to taste the meat and the juice! You want it to be rich, rich, rich…add a little more salt if it needs it.





Throw in a couple of tablespoons of butter at the end, for three important reasons:

1. It’ll add richness

2. It’ll add dreaminess

3. It’s naughty

Melt some butter in a separate skillet…





Then brown the deli rolls until crisp and golden brown.





Place some of the meat and vegetable mixture on the bottom half of the rolls.





Then—this is important…





Do this. You want a little juice to soak into the bottom bun and keep everything nice and moist.

Go ahead and drizzle a little on the underside of the top bun, too.





Next, lay a big slice of cheese over each of the sandwiches. I used provolone, but Swiss, Pepper Jack, or any cheese will do!

Heck, I think Cheese Whiz would be sublime.

But that’s just me.





Throw the sandwiches under the broiler just long enough for the cheese to melt—about a minute.





Then add a couple more peppers and onions, place the top half of the bun on top…and start getting excited!





Now this is my kind of sandwich. Lots of different things going on, the flavors of butter, garlic, and sherry…all the good things in life.

Even if Marlboro Man thinks it’s a sacrilege!

Enjoy, my friends.