1 hour ago, AlaMoi said:
(sigh) Norm, you got come east!
I was born in the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, grew up just outside the city, did college at Ben's Place . . .
ate more hoagies, steaks, cheese steaks, grinders than I could ever count . . .
converting the brisket to a sandwich - good move - but definitely not a Phila Cheesesteak.
the classic Phila Steak is thin sliced beef + very soft onions. sweet green peppers is a 'not-unusual' add.
the Phila Cheese Steak is as above plus provolone melted on the hot meat....
the 'cheez whiz' guys use that to avoid having to wait for the cheese to melt . . .
some local places do the Phila Steak, add the cheese slices, pop under a broiler / salamander for seconds to melt the cheese.
a classic Phila hoagie/steak under the broiler = grinder. sort of....definitions and execution vary wildly . . .
the best home-made Phila Steak/Cheesesteak I've come up with is simply the "Steak-Ums" product on a decent roll plus adds.
one has to pre-prep/cook the onions and peppers, add that to hot beef piled in a roll.
DW then pours the grease/fat from the Steak-Ums prep onto the rolls . . something about 'essential' . . . she's from Bal-mor....
not 'the real thing' - but pretty dang close.
Charlie and I were talking about what to call these since they aren't Philly but they are cheese, peppers, & beef. I think from what I have seen in stores, a steak can be any cut of meat or fish that is meant to be an individual serving while a roast can sometimes be the same meat but cut but to serve more than one. So I think it's still OK to call it a cheese steak but not a Philly. Texans have a different idea of chili than what I make but it's still chili, I just don't call it Texas chili. How about I call it a KCBBQ cheese steak? We have often made these sandwiches with Steak-Ums before. We both think think thin sliced smoked brisket is a step up. We also like to add jalapeño. 
