Thread: Philly Cheesesteak w/ Deli Roast Beef

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:24:36 -0500, "Steve Freides" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> One of our favorite things to do here is make Philly cheesesteak
> sandwiches - we don't do it often enough.
>
> While you can buy "chip" steak frozen at the grocery store, which seems
> to be a pretty close duplicate of what you get in the authentic thing in
> Philly, we have found an alternative we far prefer: buy roast beef from
> the deli counter, which is almost always cooked very rare, and ask for
> it to be sliced very thin.
>
> Fry the rare roast beef in the oil of your choice to get rid of most or
> all of the pink in it. (There is no such thing as a rare Philly
> cheesesteak, but you can keep your roast beef rare if you wish, but it
> needs to be grilled or fried for sure, IMHO.) Here, as we take the
> beef out of the frying pan, we put a little sea salt and fresh black
> pepper on it.
>
> Buy yourself some soft, long rolls, add the cheese of your choice and
> whatever else you like, and you're good to go. Here we do it this way:
>
> Open the long rolls, add extra sharp cheddar, sprinkle a bit of garlic
> powder and fresh ground black pepper, put in the toaster oven or broiler
> until golden brown.
>
> Put the meat on the cheesed rolls and you can be done, or you can add
> carmelized onions, peppers, or whatever other fried or fresh veggie you
> like, add ketchup or tomatoe sauce.
>
> Fairway's had their house roast beef on sale for $6.99 per pound, which
> was the inspiration for this.
>
I use deli sliced roast beef, which is salty enough for me, steak
rolls and provolone cheese. Other than that, what I do is almost
exactly what you do (minus the peppers - just onion for us). Never
thought about using garlic, which I love. Do they put garlic on
cheese steaks in Philly?

--

Carrot cake counts as a serving of vegetables.

Steve,

If it isn't made in Philly, it's just called a cheesesteak.

Since it's not going into my stomach, I'll leave it at that.

Best,

Andy

On Jan 12, 12:17*pm, Andy <a...@b.c> wrote:
> Steve,
>
> If it isn't made in Philly, it's just called a cheesesteak.
>
> Since it's not going into my stomach, I'll leave it at that.
>
> Best,
>
> Andy

We'd prefer that you just leave.

On Jan 12, 2:24*pm, "Steve Freides" <st...@kbnj.com> wrote:
> One of our favorite things to do here is make Philly cheesesteak
> sandwiches - we don't do it often enough.
>
> While you can buy "chip" steak frozen at the grocery store, which seems
> to be a pretty close duplicate of what you get in the authentic thing in
> Philly, we have found an alternative we far prefer: buy roast beef from
> the deli counter, which is almost always cooked very rare, and ask for
> it to be sliced very thin.
>
> Fry the rare roast beef in the oil of your choice to get rid of most or
> all of the pink in it. *(There is no such thing as a rare Philly
> cheesesteak, but you can keep your roast beef rare if you wish, but it
> needs to be grilled or fried for sure, IMHO.) * Here, as we take the
> beef out of the frying pan, we put a little sea salt and fresh black
> pepper on it.
>
> Buy yourself some soft, long rolls, add the cheese of your choice and
> whatever else you like, and you're good to go. *Here we do it this way:
>
> Open the long rolls, add extra sharp cheddar, sprinkle a bit of garlic
> powder and fresh ground black pepper, put in the toaster oven or broiler
> until golden brown.
>
> Put the meat on the cheesed rolls and you can be done, or you can add
> carmelized onions, peppers, or whatever other fried or fresh veggie you
> like, add ketchup or tomatoe sauce.
>
> Fairway's had their house roast beef on sale for $6.99 per pound, which
> was the inspiration for this.
>
> -S-

that's a hot roast beef and cheese sandwich. I'm sure it's tasty, but
it's not a cheesesteak unless prepared with steak.

In article <[email protected]>,
"Steve Freides" <[email protected]> wrote:

> we have found an alternative we far prefer: buy roast beef from
> the deli counter, which is almost always cooked very rare, and ask for
> it to be sliced very thin.
>
> Fry the rare roast beef in the oil of your choice to get rid of most or
> all of the pink in it. (There is no such thing as a rare Philly
> cheesesteak, but you can keep your roast beef rare if you wish, but it
> needs to be grilled or fried for sure, IMHO.) Here, as we take the
> beef out of the frying pan, we put a little sea salt and fresh black
> pepper on it.

We do something similar for french dip sandwiches. We either just let
the meat come up to room temperature, or if we are in a hurry, briefly
put it in the dipping liquid to warm it. We broil the plain buns in the
oven.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:17:43 -0600, Andy wrote:

> Steve,
>
> If it isn't made in Philly, it's just called a cheesesteak.

And if they're from Brussels, then they're just sprouts.

-sw

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:23:28 -0800 (PST), none of your business wrote:

> that's a hot roast beef and cheese sandwich. I'm sure it's tasty, but
> it's not a cheesesteak unless prepared with steak.

So you actually have to cut a "steak" off of that top sirloin roast
and then shave it rather than shaving off pieces of the whole top
sirloin?

Get real.

-sw

"Steve Freides" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> One of our favorite things to do here is make Philly cheesesteak
> sandwiches - we don't do it often enough.
>
> While you can buy "chip" steak frozen at the grocery store, which seems to
> be a pretty close duplicate of what you get in the authentic thing in
> Philly, we have found an alternative we far prefer: buy roast beef from
> the deli counter, which is almost always cooked very rare, and ask for it
> to be sliced very thin.
>
> Fry the rare roast beef in the oil of your choice to get rid of most or
> all of the pink in it. (There is no such thing as a rare Philly
> cheesesteak, but you can keep your roast beef rare if you wish, but it
> needs to be grilled or fried for sure, IMHO.) Here, as we take the beef
> out of the frying pan, we put a little sea salt and fresh black pepper on
> it.
>
> Buy yourself some soft, long rolls, add the cheese of your choice and
> whatever else you like, and you're good to go. Here we do it this way:
>
> Open the long rolls, add extra sharp cheddar, sprinkle a bit of garlic
> powder and fresh ground black pepper, put in the toaster oven or broiler
> until golden brown.
>
> Put the meat on the cheesed rolls and you can be done, or you can add
> carmelized onions, peppers, or whatever other fried or fresh veggie you
> like, add ketchup or tomatoe sauce.
>
> Fairway's had their house roast beef on sale for $6.99 per pound, which
> was the inspiration for this.
>
> -S-
>Sounds fairly tasty, but don't ever call it a Philly cheesesteak. Even if
you prefer it, it's faux.
Philly steaks are made from fresh meat, ribeye is the best. Frozen chip
steak tastes a lot more like a cheesesteak. Deli roast beef ? Not a Philly
cheesesteak. Not even close.
The cheese, which can be American or Provolone, or even CheezWhiz ( never
Cheddar) is melted onto the steak in the pan , never put on the roll alone.
As for the rolls, they have to be hard rolls. Long rolls with a hard crust,
which is what you get from Italian bakeries in Philadelphia which use hard
water to make their dough. Not soft rolls.
You have to have that hard bite of roll, fresh hot steak, and conglomerated
cheese. Onions, if added , are not cooked long enough to caramelize, but
merely until soft.
Frying deli roast beef is just ....wrong.

On Jan 12, 6:58*pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:23:28 -0800 (PST), none of your business wrote:
>
> > that's a hot roast beef and cheese sandwich. I'm sure it's tasty, but
> > it's not a cheesesteak unless prepared with steak.
>
> So you actually have to cut a "steak" off of that top sirloin roast
> and then shave it rather than shaving off pieces of the whole top
> sirloin?
>
> Get real.
>
> -sw

you get real. the idea is you grill thinly sliced raw beef to desired
doneness, then melt the cheese on top of it. Add onions if desired. If
the meat is precooked, it's not a cheesesteak sandwich. It's roast
beef with melted cheese. Tasty. But don't call it a cheesesteak.

?
"Sqwertz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:23:28 -0800 (PST), none of your business wrote:
>
>> that's a hot roast beef and cheese sandwich. I'm sure it's tasty, but
>> it's not a cheesesteak unless prepared with steak.
>
> So you actually have to cut a "steak" off of that top sirloin roast
> and then shave it rather than shaving off pieces of the whole top
> sirloin?
>
> Get real.
>
> -sw

No, it does not have to be steak, but is should not be processed luncheon
meat either.


INGREDIENTS: Beef, Water, Contains Less Than 1% Of Salt, Sodium Phosphate,
Dextrose, Maltodextrin, Dried Beef Stock, Caramel Color, Soluble Black
Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Grill Flavor (From Vegetable Oil) ,
Corn Syrup Solids, Modified Corn Starch, Lemon Juice, Spice Extractives,
Lemon Oil. Coated With Salt, Dextrose, Garlic & Onion Powder, Dried Beef
Stock, Natural

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:13:22 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> ?
> "Sqwertz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]..
>> On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:23:28 -0800 (PST), none of your business wrote:
>>
>>> that's a hot roast beef and cheese sandwich. I'm sure it's tasty, but
>>> it's not a cheesesteak unless prepared with steak.
>>
>> So you actually have to cut a "steak" off of that top sirloin roast
>> and then shave it rather than shaving off pieces of the whole top
>> sirloin?
>>
>> Get real.
>
> No, it does not have to be steak, but is should not be processed luncheon
> meat either.

I made no mention of processed lunch meat. I was pointing out the
ridiculous restriction of using a sirloin "steak" over using a sirloin
roast.

Sirloin steak is on sale for $1.97 this week. So I'll be making a
whole roast beef out of a whole sirloin. I would still argue that I
could use the result, which I cook med-rare, to make Philly cheese
steaks.

-sw

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:49:00 -0800 (PST), none of your business wrote:

> On Jan 12, 6:58*pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
>> On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:23:28 -0800 (PST), none of your business wrote:
>>
>>> that's a hot roast beef and cheese sandwich. I'm sure it's tasty, but
>>> it's not a cheesesteak unless prepared with steak.
>>
>> So you actually have to cut a "steak" off of that top sirloin roast
>> and then shave it rather than shaving off pieces of the whole top
>> sirloin?
>>
>> Get real.
>>
>> -sw
>
> you get real. the idea is you grill thinly sliced raw beef to desired
> doneness, then melt the cheese on top of it. Add onions if desired. If
> the meat is precooked, it's not a cheesesteak sandwich. It's roast
> beef with melted cheese. Tasty. But don't call it a cheesesteak.

I made no mention of using any sort of pre-cooked meat. Read it
again. I was mocking your requirement that it had to be "steak".

-sw

sf wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:24:36 -0500, "Steve Freides" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> One of our favorite things to do here is make Philly cheesesteak
>> sandwiches - we don't do it often enough.
>>
>> While you can buy "chip" steak frozen at the grocery store, which
>> seems to be a pretty close duplicate of what you get in the
>> authentic thing in Philly, we have found an alternative we far
>> prefer: buy roast beef from the deli counter, which is almost always
>> cooked very rare, and ask for it to be sliced very thin.
>>
>> Fry the rare roast beef in the oil of your choice to get rid of most
>> or all of the pink in it. (There is no such thing as a rare Philly
>> cheesesteak, but you can keep your roast beef rare if you wish, but
>> it needs to be grilled or fried for sure, IMHO.) Here, as we take
>> the beef out of the frying pan, we put a little sea salt and fresh
>> black pepper on it.
>>
>> Buy yourself some soft, long rolls, add the cheese of your choice and
>> whatever else you like, and you're good to go. Here we do it this
>> way:
>>
>> Open the long rolls, add extra sharp cheddar, sprinkle a bit of
>> garlic powder and fresh ground black pepper, put in the toaster oven
>> or broiler until golden brown.
>>
>> Put the meat on the cheesed rolls and you can be done, or you can add
>> carmelized onions, peppers, or whatever other fried or fresh veggie
>> you like, add ketchup or tomatoe sauce.
>>
>> Fairway's had their house roast beef on sale for $6.99 per pound,
>> which was the inspiration for this.
>>
> I use deli sliced roast beef, which is salty enough for me, steak
> rolls and provolone cheese. Other than that, what I do is almost
> exactly what you do (minus the peppers - just onion for us). Never
> thought about using garlic, which I love. Do they put garlic on
> cheese steaks in Philly?

No, we just like garlic at every reasonable opportunity here.
Provolone is good, too. Mozarella and tomatoe sauce makes a "pizza
steak", also good eating, IMHO.

-S-

none of your business wrote:
> On Jan 12, 6:58 pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
>> On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:23:28 -0800 (PST), none of your business
>> wrote:
>>
>>> that's a hot roast beef and cheese sandwich. I'm sure it's tasty,
>>> but it's not a cheesesteak unless prepared with steak.
>>
>> So you actually have to cut a "steak" off of that top sirloin roast
>> and then shave it rather than shaving off pieces of the whole top
>> sirloin?
>>
>> Get real.
>>
>> -sw
>
> you get real. the idea is you grill thinly sliced raw beef to desired
> doneness, then melt the cheese on top of it. Add onions if desired. If
> the meat is precooked, it's not a cheesesteak sandwich. It's roast
> beef with melted cheese. Tasty. But don't call it a cheesesteak.

No, you get real. Those of us who grew up on cheesesteaks in Philly
know that there's quite a bit of variety in how they're made. To me, a
long roll, well-cooked, thin-sliced beef, and melted cheese satisfies
the requirement for a cheesesteak. Rare roast beef of any sort doesn't
taste like a Philly cheesesteak, the fact that it was partially
precooked not withstanding - I've never had deli roast before that
dripped blood when I opened the package at home - now that's rare roast
beef, and I'm happy to eat it that way, but for this purpose, I cooked
it more.

And for me, a cheesesteak isn't a cheesesteak without fried onions, but
I know there are some who don't like onions, even in Philly. Peppers
and anything else should be considered optional.

One variation I get in and around Philly that I like is a cheesesteak
hoagie, basically a cheesesteak sandwich but with mayo on the roll and
lettuce and tomatoe. It's a great way to have your cheesesteak and your
vegetables, too.

It's worth noting that, although you can find these outside of the
Philly area, I've never had a decent one except in metro Philadelphia or
the Jersey shore (where lots of Philly pholks vacation).

-S-

"Steve Freides" <[email protected]> wrote:

> It's worth noting that, although you can find these outside of the
> Philly area, I've never had a decent one except in metro Philadelphia
or
> the Jersey shore (where lots of Philly pholks vacation).


Steve,

In my early days in Philly, the matriarch of my (then) wife owned a
house in Margate, NJ, a block off the bay side. Wife, Sis-IL and I got
the house for a weekend.

One late afternoon they took me to Maynard's Bar & Grill (right on the
bay side) for drinks and dinner.

I ordered a Philly cheesesteak. It was awful. Not rib eye, not top
round, probably rump. It was hacked into irregular hunks, and was tough
as heck to chew. I didn't finish it.

It's not fair to generalize from that one experience but I couldn't help
it. We walked out and I thought, geez... not only can New Jersey NOT
make a fair Philly cheesesteak but it can't even make a fair
cheesesteak!

That's how I adopted the saying that "if it's not made in Philly it's
only a cheesesteak." I know that's a weak claim. For example, Buffalo
wings go by that name everywhere. Perhaps "if you can't make a famous
Philly cheesesteak, it's only a cheesesteak." ???

Sis-IL came to visit us in L.A. and in our very own kitchen taught me
how to make cheesesteaks. Complete with exacting technique and flair.

I knew her Philly Cheesesteaks on prior visits there and the ones she
made in our kitchen were just as great as the ones she made in Philly.

Before long my cheesesteaks were requested more than cheeseburgers. "As
good as a great Philly cheesesteak" was my claim, in honor of my Philly
cheesesteak mentor and Sis-IL and my future home.

BTW, your cheesesteak version reminded me more of a famous Chicago
Italian beef sandwich, as seen on TV.

</vent>

Best,

Andy

On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:26:09 -0500, "Steve Freides" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> It's worth noting that, although you can find these outside of the
> Philly area, I've never had a decent one except in metro Philadelphia or
> the Jersey shore (where lots of Philly pholks vacation).

I'm starting to get the picture. The ideal Philly cheesesteak is like
the ideal NY bagel. It's in the eye of the beholder.

--

Carrot cake counts as a serving of vegetables.

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:49:00 -0800 (PST), none of your business wrote:

> On Jan 12, 6:58*pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
>> On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:23:28 -0800 (PST), none of your business wrote:
>>
>>> that's a hot roast beef and cheese sandwich. I'm sure it's tasty, but
>>> it's not a cheesesteak unless prepared with steak.
>>
>> So you actually have to cut a "steak" off of that top sirloin roast
>> and then shave it rather than shaving off pieces of the whole top
>> sirloin?
>>
>> Get real.
>>
>> -sw
>
> you get real. the idea is you grill thinly sliced raw beef to desired
> doneness, then melt the cheese on top of it. Add onions if desired. If
> the meat is precooked, it's not a cheesesteak sandwich. It's roast
> beef with melted cheese. Tasty. But don't call it a cheesesteak.

with or without beans?

your pal,
blake

"sf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:26:09 -0500, "Steve Freides" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> It's worth noting that, although you can find these outside of the
>> Philly area, I've never had a decent one except in metro Philadelphia or
>> the Jersey shore (where lots of Philly pholks vacation).
>
> I'm starting to get the picture. The ideal Philly cheesesteak is like
> the ideal NY bagel. It's in the eye of the beholder.
>
> --
>
> Carrot cake counts as a serving of vegetables.


Just like the N.Y. bagel and the SF sourdough loaf, the Philly cheesesteak
relies on a Philly-made roll. It's in the water.

Jon

On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:22:02 -0500, "Zeppo" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> "sf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]..
> > On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:26:09 -0500, "Steve Freides" <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> It's worth noting that, although you can find these outside of the
> >> Philly area, I've never had a decent one except in metro Philadelphia or
> >> the Jersey shore (where lots of Philly pholks vacation).
> >
> > I'm starting to get the picture. The ideal Philly cheesesteak is like
> > the ideal NY bagel. It's in the eye of the beholder.
> >
> > --
> >
> > Carrot cake counts as a serving of vegetables.
>
>
> Just like the N.Y. bagel and the SF sourdough loaf, the Philly cheesesteak
> relies on a Philly-made roll. It's in the water.
>
SF sourdough doesn't rely on local water. It's the local wild yeast
that makes it SF. Notbob says he can buy great SF style sourdough in
Colorado now.

--

Carrot cake counts as a serving of vegetables.