Making an Authentic Philly Cheesesteak at Home

[monavano]

Celery is right tasty for a lobster salad but, to a Downeastener, adding celery to a lobster roll is akin to watering down the booze.

I was also going to ask who gets the lobster roll, Rachel or Jason, as it takes over a pound of lobster meat to make the above lobster roll from Red's in Wiscasset ME. 

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Wow, just wow

[Jason Perlow]

The Connecticut-style is plain buttered lobster on a toasted hot dog roll. My understanding, however, that with mayo is an accepted variant in other parts of New England. Besides, we're not trying for authenticity as we are with cheesesteaks. I've had real lobster rolls, but as Rachel said, we did the drawn butter thing last night, and in actuality, we don't have any hot dog rolls, so it will be some variation of lobster salad en croute or something.

[Holly Moore]

Steve's Steaks gets five grease stains and I rate it the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia.

[monavano]

Steve's Steaks gets five grease stains and I rate it the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia.

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You are not alone.

I've been getting my fix from Jim's in Roosevelt Mall (when I visit mom nearby from Alexandria VA). I have been so very, very foolish. I shall resolve for the New Year, to only get my cheeseteaks from Steves.

Not to be confused with Steve Steins Famous Deli in Krewstown, which I declare to be the new Country Club Deli.

[Holly Moore]

The Connecticut-style is plain buttered lobster on a toasted hot dog roll. My understanding, however, that with mayo is an accepted variant in other parts of New England. Besides, we're not trying for authenticity as we are with cheesesteaks. I've had real lobster rolls, but as Rachel said, we did the drawn butter thing last night.

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Mayonnaise is fine for a lobster roll. Most places in Maine use mayonnaise, not butter.

I think it's cute that CT has it's version of a lobster roll too. Actually CT's "lobster roll" is quite tasty. But as I was raised on Maine lobster rolls, I consider any other variation to be a pretender.

Part of what makes a great lobster roll to me is the play between the coolness of the lobster meat and the heat of the bun and the crunch of the buttered toasted sides of a New England style hot dog bun, the softness of the inside of the bun and the sweet chewiness of the lobster meat.

[Jason Perlow]

I think it's cute that CT has it's version of a lobster roll too. smile.gif Actually CT's "lobster roll" is quite tasty. But as I was raised on Maine lobster rolls, I consider any other variation to be a pretender.

We're getting seriously off topic, but given that Connecticut uses New England caught lobster in its lobster rolls, and prepares them EXACTLY like Maine does, with drawn butter and in New England hot dog rolls, I think a lot of Connecticut natives would probably take serious issue with any proprietary Maine ownership of said Lobster Roll. I know some guys from Groton would be seriously irritated by that!

[Holly Moore]

My understanding is that in a Maine Lobster Roll the lobster meat is cool and usually served with mayonnaise (Red's melted butter option is an exception) and that in a CT Lobster Roll the meat is warm and served with melted butter. As in clam chowders, they are considered two distinctly different approaches to lobster rolls.

And if those guys in Groton can't take a joke .....

BTW Jason, I edited my post above. Steve's, my favorite Philadelphia Cheesesteak place does offer sweet peppers for $.75 extra.

[woodburner]

When your all done figuring out what and what's not authentic, best thing to do is hold that hoagie sandwich way out infrontofya, kinda like your arms are painted on, and bring your mouth to the sandwich, with your butt, stuck way out. Lest that's the way I was taught.

Positioned possibly like drinking water from a water fountain back in high school.

woodburner

[Jason Perlow]

Right, the so-called "South Philly Stoop".

[john b]

Steve's Steaks gets five grease stains and I rate it the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia.

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Steve's is my personal favorite, and closest to home.

[rlibkind]

Jason, you might actually want to spritz just a light sprinkle of water on the meat halfway through cooking to approximate a steamy griddle. They actually add water at at least a few cheesesteak joints.

[Philanthrophobe]

I grew up in the area and still remember the first cheesesteak I ate at age four.

A recent midnight craving prompted the creation of a fairly reasonable cheat: sliced deli roast beef (salt-and-peppered), a bit of onion, sweet Italian peppers (from a jar) fried in a bit of veg oil over medium heat in a cast iron skillet, then topped (while still in the pan) with a bit of deli-sliced provolone. Flung the whole mess atop a toasted English muffin, then under the broiler for about a minute. It did the trick.

[Behemoth]

I've gone so far as to bake my own torpedo rolls in the IL. The bread has to be strong enough to stand up to the filling.

A word on technique, as picked up from years of semi-inebriated observation. Fry the steak on a griddle, gather it into a slightly elongated pile, layer two slices of provolone (my preference) on top and wait for them to soften. Now put the split bun over said pile wait a second for it to warm up a little, then flip the whole thing over with a spatula so that the cheese ends up under the steak on the sandwich. Add onions and hot peppers if you're using them and that's it. If going wit' wiz, it just gets ladled on once the meat is in the sandwich but you still do the flippy thing with the meat and bun.

[Jason Perlow]

Okay -- so tonight was definitely an educational excercise. I'm not sure if we perfectly replicated a Philly Cheesesteak, but the results that we got are the closest I've ever gotten at home.

First thing first, the mise-en-place.

We sweated some onions so that they were par cooked and ready for each cheesesteak.

Easy Cheese at the ready. Easy cheese has a somewhat firmer texture than Cheese Whilz, but it melts pretty much on contact and has the correct flavor.

Viera Hoagie Rolls from Newark -- this is where I think we came up a little short, as they don't quite have the firmness as a actual torpedo roll or cheesesteak roll. However, they do hold up quite nicely to piles of sliced ribeye, and if you happen to be someone who likes their rolls somewhat on the softer side (and if you are anticipating dental work in the near future) they are a good choice.

The thick part of the hoagie roll is hollowed out to make room for the steak.

The rolls are then primed with Easy Cheese.

Experimentally, we decided to deviate from the norm and also prepped a roll with cheddar and jarlsberg that we sliced thin using a peeler.

Sllced Ribeye. This is from a bulk amount I bought at a Korean supermarket some months back and froze in vacuum seal packs.

We sauteed up some mushrooms as well, cause well, we like mushrooms.

With cheesesteaks you need French Fries to go on the side. Since we didn't have a deep fryer, we pulled out our new OXO mandoline and made fresh waffle potato chips.

The first round of meat hits the cast iron pan.

In goes the onions.

Cooked mixture is plated over the first Whiz roll.

Attempt #1 results -- a purist Whiz 'Wit.

For our second attempt, we first hit the pan with the onions, let them caramelize a bit more, then we hit the pan with shrooms and then the steak. We added some bacon grease to increase the greasyness, as this meat was rather lean.

Attempt #2 was tasty, but we both agreed that Whiz/Easy Cheese is much more satisfying than trying to use real cheese. We did like the mushrooms because we thought it added a nice amount of moisture to the meat.

With lessons learned from attempt #1 and #2, we decided to go with a combo appoach -- onions and mushrooms, some added bacon grease, and we hit it with a little bit of water.

Attempt #3 plated.

Questions?

[Rachel Perlow]

Anticipating some questions...

- Ketchup was only added to sandwich #3, we both liked it the best.

- The waffle chips are unpeeled russets, fried in 50-50 olive oil - canola, at a temp range of 325-350 F. They look a little greasy in those pics, but after draining on paper towels and being kept warm in a 150 F convection toaster oven, they were nicely dry & crisp. Also, the oil level barely went down over the frying process.

[monavano]

Ooooh boy they look good!

[cdh]

Your steak was sliced too thick. Half that thickness is about right. It really should be just a hair past chipped. Your pictures make it look to be about 1/8 of an inch, which is a bit too thick. It hung together too well. The steak meat should be less cohesive than what was pictured.

Ketchup? Not to my tastes.

I like the mushrooms, but they're a bit overdone in comparison to the philly mushroom steak standard...

Chips with a steak are great... fries are unusual, however, so good call on the gaufrettes.

No provolone?? You're really missing out on the experience.

And word to Behemoth's cheese melting technique... that's how it is done.

Edited January 3, 2006 by cdh (log)

[divalasvegas]

Anticipating some questions...

- Ketchup was only added to sandwich #3, we both liked it the best.

- The waffle chips are unpeeled russets, fried in 50-50 olive oil - canola, at a temp range of 325-350 F. They look a little greasy in those pics, but after draining on paper towels and being kept warm in a 150 F convection toaster oven, they were nicely dry & crisp. Also, the oil level barely went down over the frying process.

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Looks delicious Rachel especially the one with the whiz/Easy Cheese! Just one question: upon eating did you and Jason consume them using the appropriate stance, meaning the Philly Stoop?

[Jason Perlow]

Your steak was sliced too thick. Half that thickness is about right. It really should be just a hair past chipped. Your pictures make it look to be about 1/8 of an inch, which is a bit too thick. It hung together too well. The steak meat should be less cohesive than what was pictured.

We bought the sliced ribeye from Han Ah Reum, which is a Korean super mart chain in Northern NJ (and elsewhere). The sliced Ribeye cut they sell is for Bulgogi or for Chadolbaggi, which is a type of Korean BBQ. Given the price and quality they were selling it at, i wasn't going to split hairs on the thickness, but you are right.

[KatieLoeb]

Quite impressive! Those look almost as good as the authentic animal.

I think most of the cheesesteak joints slice their meat slightly frozen on a deli slicer.

I'm still waiting for someone to start a Roast Pork Italiano thread with pictures.

[Holly Moore]

I don't think the cheesesteak places use any of that thar mise-en-place, but otherwise, with the exception of the rolls, those cheesesteaks look right on and fantastic. Re steak thickness. There are variations at the Philadelphia places. Pat's has the thickest that I've found and doesn't look all that different from the sliced steak you used.

[Busboy]

It just occurred to me that, based on this thread, I decided to make cheesesteaks Sunday for the game. But I think Philly Cheesesteaks are overrated, so I made a DC cheesesteak, patterned after the ones I used to get at the recently deceased Trios Subs down here. I used prime ribe (because it was leftover from Christmas, not because I'm showing off); provolone, hots, onions, lettuce and tomato. Plus we grilled the bun and condimented with mayo and ketchup.

It was a damn good cheesesteak. And the karma in that cheesesteak was so strong, that the 'Skins kicked Philly's ass and are getting ready for the playoffs.

DC Cheesesteaks rule!

(Come at me, I'm ready for you...)

[Holly Moore]

(Come at me, I'm ready for you...)

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Not now. I'll wait a week, until after the Redskins finish cleaning out their lockers for the season.

[KatieLoeb]

It just occurred to me that, based on this thread, I decided to make cheesesteaks Sunday for the game.  But I think Philly Cheesesteaks are overrated, so I made a DC cheesesteak, patterned after the ones I used to get at the recently deceased Trios Subs down here.  I used prime ribe (because it was leftover from Christmas, not because I'm showing off); provolone, hots, onions, lettuce and tomato.  Plus we grilled the bun and condimented with mayo and ketchup.

It was a damn good cheesesteak.  And the karma in that cheesesteak was so strong, that the 'Skins kicked Philly's ass and are getting ready for the playoffs.

DC Cheesesteaks rule!

(Come at me, I'm ready for you...)

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In true Philly fan fashion all I can come back with is:

"There's always next year!"

[Jason Perlow]

It just occurred to me that, based on this thread, I decided to make cheesesteaks Sunday for the game.  But I think Philly Cheesesteaks are overrated, so I made a DC cheesesteak, patterned after the ones I used to get at the recently deceased Trios Subs down here.  I used prime ribe (because it was leftover from Christmas, not because I'm showing off); provolone, hots, onions, lettuce and tomato.  Plus we grilled the bun and condimented with mayo and ketchup.

It was a damn good cheesesteak.  And the karma in that cheesesteak was so strong, that the 'Skins kicked Philly's ass and are getting ready for the playoffs.

DC Cheesesteaks rule!

(Come at me, I'm ready for you...)

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DC cheesesteaks are very good, and unlike their Philly cousins, hot peppers, sauteed bell pepper and lettuce and tomato are considered vital components. I remember my two years at American University fondly with our on-campus Armand's, but I thought the off-campus locations were better. Does Armand's still exist in DC?

EDIT: Apparently, they DO exist, but are now much more focused on Pizza. Back in '87-'89 they made a really good cheesesteak, though.