Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Mami's "Philly" Cheesesteak

Steak and Cheese
Mami's "Philly" Cheesesteak
Cheesesteaks are among the highest calorie/fat/sodium sandwiches you can eat but they are delicious! They are one of the best late night meals after a long night of drinking.  The Mo and I used to eat it all the time when we were younger and just started dating many years ago.  We would bar hop in downtown Lowell and end up at Santoro's on Gorham street or grab one to go from Fio's.  My favorite place was Suppa's by the UML campus that had an amazing teriyaki steak and cheese.  Their Suppa's "Steak Stick", which is wrapped in pizza dough and fried to "perfection" was also featured on the Phantom Gourmet weekend TV show.

I'm glad we put our bar hopping, midnight indulging weekends behind, but I guess, ONCE in a LOOONG while I can swap all my WW extra points and activities points and indulge in this tasty sandwich.  I rarely make this sandwich, maybe 2 or 3 times a year at MOST.

Shaved Steak
There's too many renowned cheesesteaks joints in philly including Geno's and Pat's  which has been featured numerous times on a variety of food broadcasting.  Obviously, we are 6 hrs away from Philly, so I have no choice but to make one at home.

The shaved beef caught my eye at Market Basket over the weekend when the manager announced the sale and the case of the shaved beef was adorned with Fantini sub rolls and sliced peppers and onions.  I decided the sale was good enough so I bought a couple of packages to make sandwiches and steak and cheese eggrolls.

Ingredients:

  • Frozen or freshly shaved beef
  • Cheez Whiz or Velveeta 
  • Optional: Mushrooms, Peppers, Onions
  • Sub Rolls
  • Pepper
  • Optional: Dry Italian Seasoning

Directions:
I like to quickly rinse the shaved beef before I cook it to remove any excess blood from the raw meet.  When cooking beef with excess blood residue, it leaves behind an unpleasant "gamey" tasty.  After rinsing, set aside in a colander to drain.

Cut up vegetables into slices and roast them in a small pan until they are almost over cooked (or to your liking) 


In a large hot skillet, add the shaved beef, a dash of pepper and a dash of dry Italian seasoning.
It is very important that the skillet is large so that the beef evenly coats the pan and there aren't "hills" of beef that doesn't cook evenly.  After about 8-10 minutes on high heat, the beef should be done.

Add the cooked vegetables to the beef mixture and set aside.

In a small saucepan, warm the Cheez whiz or Velveeta cheese until a creamy smooth consistency.  Optional: You may use the microwave also.
Velveeta


Slice the sub rolls lengthwise and toast in a toaster oven on 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes until warm.

Remove from oven and add the beef/vegetable mixture.

Top it off with the melted cheese and serve with fries. In our household, I have to make 2 different batches of fries since the Mo likes steak fries and I prefer seasoned fries.

Market Basket Frozen Fries
Enjoy ! I also make a to go box for my little brother.