Who Likes Philly Cheese Steak?

[gnubee]

That looks so darn good that I am on my way out the door to get some provolone, rib eyes, and the rest of the ingredients. I will make sure to get a bag of really nice rolls.

I plan to do them exactly the way you have done, perhaps with some fresh garlic added to the saute'd onions. I will try one with some wiz just to see if I like it better that way.

PS ask for a Philly Cheese steak out this way and all you get is a really strange look from the waitress. We don't even have bad ones.

 

[erain]

have some leftover prime rib from one i smoked this past w/e... gonna have to try and make some sammys like those you made. they look great!!!

 

[downstatesmoker]

Great looking chow.

 

[Bearcarver]

Everything shellbellc said is exactly true. The "cheeze whiz twins" (Genos & Pats) have their little war trying to say they have the best cheesesteaks. Meanwhile just about every steak sandwich joint & pizza shop withing 60 miles of Philly beats them both hands down!

Also those same places make a cheesesteak hoagie, which is similar to a Weber.

shellbellc,
Your pretty close to the place that still makes the perfect Weber. Next time you get to Quakertown, stop at "The Pub" in the shopping center behind "Boston Market". Order a Weber. They make them exactly the same as they did in the 60s. I know they are similar to a cheesesteak hoagie, but there is something in them that makes them much better. They won't say what it is. I thought it was "Miracle Whip" instead of Mayo, but they said that wasn't it. Do yourself a favor & stop there & try one. Then do me a favor & tell me why it is so much better than a cheesesteak hoagie----Thanks!


Maybe The Pub is using "Ribeye" like these pictures show, because I'll bet they were better than ANYBODY sells anywhere !


Bearcarver

 

[benjaminr]

That looks so darn good I am going to have to make them this weekend!

 

[hhookk]

Hey you guys in Pennsylvania, whats the deal with this other sandwich I saw on "Man vs. Food" the other night. The one with roasted pork, broccoli raab, and a kind of cheese which I forget right now? Looked like a real tasty sammich. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

 

[fire it up]

The cheese was fresh sliced, aged provolone.
I'm 45 minutes from Philly and I've never heard of it until I saw the show, maybe I have been missing out on something great?

 

[downstatesmoker]

best cheesesteak place we used to have around here was called Mr. Philly's. They had crappy cheesesteaks but they were open till 4AM every day. Used cheesewiz and steakums (yeah I said they were crappy cheesesteaks) but the bread was something else. Covered in butter and baked just right.

Again, open till 4AM when I was in my out all night drinking days, was the best thing ever.

Now we have a place that just opened in my town (with cheese please) and they use real steak chopped fine, good bread, and real cheese.

Love mine with jalapeno's, bacon, raw onions, and american cheese.

Yours looks like it beats these anyday!

 

[Bearcarver]

Hmmm, never saw or heard of it, but I don't get out & about much any more. Maybe it's from our more primitive western half.

;-)

Bearcarver

 

[Bearcarver]

Downstate,
I remember those days. After an all nighter, anything tasted good, as long as it stayed down.

I'm betting none of the sammy joints sold anything as good as "TxBigRed's" sammies in these pictures.

 

[shellbellc]

The Italian roast pork sammiches are really gaining in popularity...now ask a true Philadelphian and they'll let you know that they've been around forever. Just as it was described above, except I like without the broccoli rabe. Has to be aged/extra sharp provolone...a little extra juice, OMG. They are awesome. We've had hot pork sammies around here forever, it's the broc rabe that to me is the newer addition. There is a place in Philly called John's that's supposed to have one of the best, but Reading Terminal Market ranks right up there. When done right the pork is melt in your mouth tender...like pulled pork, but sliced!!

BTW, having cheesesteak for lunch! I've been thinking about one since this post last week! I'm sabisfied!

 

[the dude abides]

I remember seeing this post a few days ago, and after seeing Throwdown with Bobby Flay last night on the Food Network, I just had to stop back in here. It was with Tony Luke's in Philadelphia. He said that their most popular cheesesteak is thinly sliced Ribeye steak, chopped onions lightly grilled in a little oil and cheeze whiz. But seeing this thread let's us all know for sure that just about anything goes.

When he was doing his (Tony Luke) sandwiches as described above and Bobby Showed up, he immediately called the resturant and had them bring over some extra ingredients. Including sliced provalone cheese, Italian peppers, and that broccoli rabb (I'm still not sure what that is. It looked like steamed then chopped up broccoli) So apparently even though he has a "best seller" that's just the main stuff described in the first paragraph, even he knows that if he's competing, he'll add a few extras to make it special.

But everyone was unanimous that the bread can make or break the sandwich.

Now I gotta try this.

 

[chisoxjim]

broccoli raab is rapini sauteed in oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper

I made some for some roasted pork sandwiches I did a while back, and it is pretty good.

 

[txbigred]

I saw that on man vs food last night, thinnly sliced, aged provalone and broccoli raab. Any thing sauteed in oil,garlic, and crushed red pepper has to be good!

Dave

 

[txbigred]

As Ed McMahn used to say "you are correct sir!"
Needs to be crusty IMHO.

Dave

 

[chisoxjim]

I agree with that statement 100%, especially when there is some ribeye involved.

 

[psychobrew]

I'm from Philly, or at least the burbs (don't live there any more, but I still visit), and yeah, those look good. Pat's and Geno's use cheese whiz, but many in the area think they are more for tourists now. Not bad at all, but they don't win the "best cheese steak" awards (then again, the people who give those awards are usually from other areas).

The most popular cheeses are cheese whiz, provalone, and American. Mozzerella is rarely done and the rolls are rarely toasted. The rolls make a huge difference too -- people in the area do not like soft or soggy bread (I do like soft bread for brisket though). The rolls really need to have a nice crust.

 

[psychobrew]

You have to make them yourselves. I no longer live in the area, and I really miss those cheesestakes and Italian Hoagies. I always make sure I bring a few whole (whole hoagies are 2 foot long in the Philly area) Italian and cheesesteak hoagies home with me whenever I visit. Nobody around here does it right, though I don't live in the mid west. The hardest part is going to be finding the right rolls. You want firm Italian rolls with a nice crust. I make my own italian hoagies now whenever I have the urge, but unfortunately the Capicola ham in this area went way downhill. When you can find it, it's terrible so now I usually just sprinkle ground red pepper on regular ham and use that in its place. That, or I just make a sandwhich that I made up (firm hoagie roll, pastrami, corned beef, pepper ham, provalone, mayo, hot pepper relish, lettuce, and onion). Yum!!

It's funny. I was helping a friend move from the Philly area to the south, and we kept stopping at Wawa's going down I95 for meals. Wawa certainly doesn't make the best hoagies, but they are still better than what you can find in other areas. The further south we got, the softer the rolls became. It just wasn't the same so we gave up.

Soft rolls are great for Q, but they ruin a hoagie (just like firm rolls ruin Q). I always get a kick out of it whenever I'm in the grocery store and find soft rolls labeled as Philly style rolls -- they aren't even close.

 

[hhookk]

OK- I've seen it spelled rabb and rabe in this thread. Which is correct?
(I thought it was rabb, but what the hell do I know??)