I grew up in a fairly large city in the Mid Atlantic. Since it was NOT Philadelphia, the eponymous cheesesteak from that city was not normally on the menu. We had a whole bunch of little sub shops (mostly owned and operated by Greek immigrants) where one could get such delights as Souvlaki, Gyros and my personal favorite, the steak and cheese sub. Though similar in ingredients and preparation, the steak and cheese didn't have all the silly "rules" imposed on it like our neighbors to the north. You ordered it how you wanted it, and no one judged you for it. My standing order was provolone, grilled onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, mayo and hot peppers.
Fast forward to a few days ago, and I had a package of beef shanks sitting in the refrigerator waiting their turn for the dinner table. Our local grocery regularly has them for $3.99/lb, so I'd been getting them fairly regularly. I'd done all the usuals, braised for Osso Bucco, beef stew and simply served with gravy over noodles. Frankly I was a little stumped. Then it dawned on me that I hadn't smoked any beef shanks recently, and also that I really wanted a steak and cheese sub. And I wasn't about to pay $15/lb for ribeye.
I rubbed them down with salt and coarse black pepper the night before:
Next day I put them on the WSM over cherry for about 3 hours of smoke:
At this point they looked pretty ugly but they were gonna be pulled, so I wasn't concerned. I put them in a foil pan with some beef broth and onion to braise for another 3 hours. Didn't get any photos of that step. In fact, the only reason I took photos at all was to send to a friend of mine. Hadn't really planned on posting anything.
Anyway, after the braise, the meat pulled pretty easily.
Then I fired up the griddle and sauteed some mushrooms and pickled red onion. The pickled onion gave a really nice hint of brightness and spice.
Then I tossed the meat on to warm it up basically and give it a little crust, then assembled the sandwiches. All I had on hand was Swiss cheese, but all in all they were pretty good sandwiches!
Fast forward to a few days ago, and I had a package of beef shanks sitting in the refrigerator waiting their turn for the dinner table. Our local grocery regularly has them for $3.99/lb, so I'd been getting them fairly regularly. I'd done all the usuals, braised for Osso Bucco, beef stew and simply served with gravy over noodles. Frankly I was a little stumped. Then it dawned on me that I hadn't smoked any beef shanks recently, and also that I really wanted a steak and cheese sub. And I wasn't about to pay $15/lb for ribeye.
I rubbed them down with salt and coarse black pepper the night before:
Next day I put them on the WSM over cherry for about 3 hours of smoke:
At this point they looked pretty ugly but they were gonna be pulled, so I wasn't concerned. I put them in a foil pan with some beef broth and onion to braise for another 3 hours. Didn't get any photos of that step. In fact, the only reason I took photos at all was to send to a friend of mine. Hadn't really planned on posting anything.
Anyway, after the braise, the meat pulled pretty easily.
Then I fired up the griddle and sauteed some mushrooms and pickled red onion. The pickled onion gave a really nice hint of brightness and spice.
Then I tossed the meat on to warm it up basically and give it a little crust, then assembled the sandwiches. All I had on hand was Swiss cheese, but all in all they were pretty good sandwiches!
