Michelle 7The Best Thing About Philadelphia-The Cheese Steak
January 1st 2008 21:44
Mummers wearing feathers to keep warm
Usually I do not do much on New Year's Day - it's like another Sunday, a day-before-work day, so I just putz around the house trying to catch up on whatever. Once way back in the days before I had to worry about regular employment, though, I was up for adventure so I ended up going on an impromptu trip. I ended up somehow at a party in Baltimore, even though I'd begin the evening some 40 or so miles to the south in the DC area. Funny how these things happen. Anyway, the girl who may or may not have been hostessing the party (it was a long time ago, don't remember) had been invited to go up to Philadelphia in the morning to see the Mummer's Parade, and she didn't really want to be alone with the man who did the inviting so she asked me along. This wasn't like spontaneously driving across country, since Philadelphia's only an hour or so north of Baltimore, but still, it was unexpected. Luckily I always used to carry a toothbrush with me back in the day (since I never knew quite where I'd wake up), and this girl and I were about the same size so I could borrow a change of clothes.
Anyway, off we went to Philly, where we saw the famous parade, which struck me primarily as being very, very slow. We stood out on this street corner for several hours and saw maybe a tiny fraction of it. Really, there would be like one group of marchers, then you'd have to wait like 20 minutes for the next one to come along. And Philadelphia in January is cold! I can see staging the world's slowest parade in, say, April or May, but not when it's freezing out. All in all, it wasn't shaping up to be the best road trip ever, but then we did something that more than made up for the freezing, boredom, etc. - we went out for cheese steaks! I know every sub shop claims to offer its own version, but these were the real deal and well worth the trip. I loaded mine up with cherry peppers, pepperoncini, and hot sauce for an extra kick, and I was plenty warm even though we had to eat them standing up in a kind of a shed thing.
Anyway, if you are sensible enough to be spending your New Year's somewhere warm (or at least indoors), you can still have yourself an authentic cheese steak experience with this recipe from Pat's King of Steaks (which may or may not have been where we ate that night, but who cares?):
Cheese Steak from Pat's
Philadelphia Cheese Steak
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced
24 ounces sliced rib eye steak
1 lb. or 15-oz. jar Cheez Whiz or other processed cheese (or you can use use American or provolone )
4 crusty Italian Rolls
Heat an iron skillet or non-stick pan over medium heat, then add 3 tbsp. oil to the pan and saute the onions until soft. Remove the onions, then add the remaining 3 tbsp. oil and saute the slices of meat quickly on both sides. Melt the Cheez Whiz in a double boiler or in the microwave (don't need to melt if using non-processed cheese, just slice the cheese thinly). Place 8 ounces of the meat into the rolls, add onions, and pour the melted cheese over top (or put the cheese slices on top). If you like, you can top this with sauteed green and/or red peppers and/or mushrooms, or else you can go nuts with the hot peppers like I did. It's your cheese steak, enjoy. And Happy New Year (again).
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