Pepper Steak by Barbara Allen - from "Phillies' Fillies Cookbook" (1976)

 

RECIPE

1 lb. top of the round steak

1 lb. mushrooms

3 bell peppers

3 med. onions

1 clove of garlic

salt and pepper

Saute mushrooms, peppers and onions. Remove from pan. Cut top of round into 2" squares. Add steak and clove of garlic to pan, and brown on both sides. Then add mushrooms, peppers and onions, and simmer for approximately ten minutes.

This might be one of the baseball cookbook recipes I have made more than any other.  It's simple, it's comforting, and it's very filling.  I can imagine Dick Allen sitting down to dinner with a mountain of beef and veggies on the plate before him.  He pounds down the entire dish, then works some of it off by going outside and bench pressing his neighbour's house or something.

Dick Allen passed away earlier this month. He was one of my baseball heroes. As a young man he excelled in many sports, ultimately deciding on baseball as his career goal. In the early sixties he was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies, a team notable for dragging its feet when it came to integrating black players. He was assigned to their minor league affiliate in Arkansas and went through hell in the deep south, dealing with racism and personal threats on a regular basis when all he wanted to do was play baseball.

He made it to the majors and became a beloved figure in more than one city. Rookie of the Year in Philadelphia. MVP in Chicago.  I have lost track of how many times I have read someone recount a memory of a Dick Allen home run.  How he came to the plate carrying a 40-ounce bat that looked like a tree trunk.  How he would study pitchers and know exactly when to pounce. How his home runs would start off as line drives, blazing over the infield, over the outfield, and continuing to rise as they soared into space. He hit home runs into the no man's land of centerfield in Comiskey Park.  He hit home runs over the roof of Comiskey Park.  He hit home runs of such velocity that they cleared the outfield fence, went through one of the windows at the back of Comiskey Park, and ended up in a field across the street from the stadium.

That Dick was excluded from the Hall of Fame while alive was just one more injustice he had to face. He didn't kiss enough asses to earn a Hall of Fame invitation while still alive, but that was his style. He never railed, never moaned. Wherever he went he let his bat and his record to all the talking.

Back to this recipe. Like I said, it's simple. After sauteeing the veggies and removing them from the pan, I crank the heat up a couple of notches, add a few more drops of oil and then sear the hell out of the steak on both sides.  After dumping the veggies back in, I give it a quick stir and it's done. If you like your steak rare or medium, there's no need to let it sit there for 10 minutes.  It's done.  Enjoy!