The first Monday of Fall......

Cheering on the marathoners! 

As much as I'd love to tell you all about the weekend and the marathon and all that went with it, it will have to wait.
Things are looking mighty grim this morning.  
I am running on empty and dealing with a hair crisis.
My darling Granddog took a liking to my perfect styling brush......so, he ate it.
That brush has been with me through good hair cuts and bad hair cuts, through thick and thin.....
I have bought other brushes but I always returned to that brush.
So, believe me when I tell you.....it's not a good Monday morning here in Judiland.
God only knows what my hair will look like.....
And, did I mention that I left my facial make up (foundation) at my son's.....which is four hours away?  And, I didn't realize it until I unpacked late last night.....when Macy's was surely closed.
My Granddog might have eaten that by now, who knows......


With all these beauty problems and the fact that summer is over and it's Monday.... it's best that I share something yummy instead of something vulgar (there are some awful cuss words going through my mind right now....).....

COMFORT FOOD........




 FOOTBALL-WATCHING  SANDWICHES
 I whipped up this  manly, hearty recipe for the day-after-the-marathon when all three of us were completely wiped out and every bone on our bodies ached (marathon spectating is not as easy as it looks, trust me!) and we were entertaining a few of my son's neighbors (what possessed us to consider inviting people over the day after the marathon is beyond me!).  In any case...this dish and the menu went perfectly with football and was super easy to pull together for our small group. It is definitely something I will make again during football season....

This recipe uses cube steak.  Remember cube steak?  My mother used to make something called "chicken fried steak" using this type of meat.  To be quite honest, I don't think I ever bought cube steak in my life.  When I was thinking about menus for this coming weekend,  I originally thought I would either bring my cousin's homemade sausage that I could grill up with peppers and onions or make a huge pot of chili and then bring it with me to serve for Sunday.  But, after rolling over 300 meatballs and making enough sauce for 5 lbs of pasta and making over 50 chicken piccata cutlets the weekend before the marathon (my son was hosting his running group right after the marathon and he promised his mom's homemade Italian food!), I just didn't have it in me to think about any more cooking and figuring out how to transport more food.   I was this close to deciding that I would throw together a salad and we would call out for pizza on Sunday when my son's neighbors came over to watch some football.  But, fate intervened.  Late last week, I went to lunch with a few old friends and the conversation turned to cooking.  One friend just happens to be what she calls a "forced meat and potato cook" because she lives with 5 men--her husband and four sons.  She affectionately calls them "meat heads" because they won't eat a meal without a huge portion of red meat and they are all sports junkies.  The other friend---who is an on and off again vegetarian--asked how she manages to change up everything she serves so it doesn't get boring and she wondered how she could afford to serve that much meat!  "Cube steak!"  was her answer.  She declared herself the world's authority on making cube steak taste different 15 days out of 30.  She highly recommended this recipe.  And, she was right.......

Anyway....here's the recipe....I cooked it for the first time on Sunday.....I got lucky that it was excellent!  I served it with small "football" shaped buns and sliced pepper jack cheese for sandwiches.  To round out the menu, I decided on coleslaw that I purchased at a  wonderful local market--Dorothy Lane,  I made a good old fashioned hash brown casserole, and I bought a decadent assortment of blondies and brownies at Dorothy Lane.   We picked up a few bottles of this excellent football watching wine at the same market and my son tapped his homebrewed English light ale (which just won an award at a local brew contest!) for the occasion.  And, we dined and drank using disposable dishes,napkins, cups and utensils from the local party store. 
Easy, unfussy and relaxing for everyone......even for me....the chief cook and bottle washer!

2 pounds cube steak (available in the meat section/coolers)
Salt and pepper (for steak)
1 stick of butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole large yellow onion, halved and sliced thick
1 16-ounce package white mushrooms, sliced 
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 green pepper, cut into strips
Salt and pepper
1½ cup sherry (regular or cooking sherry)
4 tablespoons (additional) butter
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (more to taste)
5 dashes Tabasco (more to taste)

Preparation

Cut the cube steak against the grain into strips and season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Melt the stick of butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, add the garlic, onions, mushrooms, peppers and salt and pepper, cook for several minutes, then add the sherry and cook until the liquid has reduced by about a third. Remove to a separate bowl.
Add the additional 4 tablespoons of butter to the skillet, melting over high heat. Add the strips of cube steak in two or three batches at a time until browned (adding more butter as needed). When all the meat is browned, add the onion, mushroom, sherry mixture and stir to combine. Add the Worcestershire and Tabasco and cook over medium-high heat for five minutes, stirring in 2 tablespoons of butter at the end. Keep hot.

 Happy Monday.

Happy Fall.