Philly Cheese Steak

Philly cheese steaks, baby! A new Friday night favorite. It all started a couple years ago after Ang and Michael got back from a trip from New Hampshire. On their way home, they stopped in Philadelphia specifically to have an authentic Philly cheese steak sandwich. After hearing of their plans, I asked them to bring me one, and they obliged. Even reheated, it was really tasty, and I wanted to recreate it at home.

I did some research online and found that most people use top round or ribeye for the meat. I first used top round because it was cheaper, but found it too be a bit tough for my liking. The ribeye has a lot better flavor, and is much more tender. I start off by freezing the ribeyes and then use the slicing attachment of my food processor to get the meat in thin strips. This method works really well and is such a wonderful time saver.

If it's nice outside, I'll grill the meat by putting my cast iron griddle directly on the coals. This gets the griddle extremely hot and I get a good sear on the meat. If I'm cooking indoors, I just use my 12 inch cast iron skillet to cook the meat. I do prefer the outside grilling method, though.

I also make a provolone cheese sauce for the sandwiches. I start off with a béchamel sauce and then add a boat load of provolone. The cheese sauce is absolutely awesome! I also use sliced green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and onion, and cook them with the meat. All of these components make for a delicious sandwich. They certainly know what they're doing in Philadelphia.

I've finally got a method down that produces consistently good results, and I think if Michael had his way, we would have these every Friday night!