I’m must start this post by saying that Philadelphia is one of my favorite cities in the nation! World class art + world class cuisine = Happy Rose!!! I’ve had some of the best meals of my life in Philadelphia, and this is coming from someone who spent the first 40 years of my life eating my way around NYC, so that’s quite a compliment.
And I do consider a great Philly cheesesteak to be one of life’s finest foods! I don’t really want to delve into the whole California fois gras controversy, except to say that I’m not a big fan of the government telling people what they can and cannot eat, but on my budget, fois gras never finds itself on my grocery list so I don’t have a personal connection where it’s concerned. But I’m warning those PETA activists now that you’ll take my Philly cheesesteak from my cold, dead hands!
Martha’s recipe on page 103 of the Northeast section is ridiculously simple to make! All you need is top round steak, onions, some provolone cheese, and a soft hoagie roll and you’re good to go! There are actually two different cheeses to choose from with the traditional Philly cheesesteak, one is provolone, as this recipe calls for, and the other is Cheez Whiz…yes, the dreaded Cheez Whiz. I’ll admit that when in Philadelphia, I tend to opt for the Cheez Whiz, because while it’s not actually a real food, it sure does taste pretty darn good on a Philly cheesesteak…I hope that Martha will not hold this against me! But true to her recipe, I used the provolone and it was scrumptious! This is just one of those simple meals where all the elements work together and Martha’s recipe pays homage to it without trying to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. I should have kept my onions on a bit longer and let them really caramelize, but a few pieces were starting to burn and I was getting worried about burning the whole thing, so I pulled them too soon. They were still very fragrant and sweet, but unfortunately, not quite the traditional cheesesteak onions. The recipe called for olive oil, which I used, but olive oil has a low smoke point and tends to cause this kind of problem so I personally find it best to use an olive oil/canola blend whenever I’m cooking something that takes more than 5 minutes to make.
Should you have the privilege of being in Philadelphia here’s some tips for ordering a their famous cheesesteak — skip the greetings, the guys behind the counter really hate small talk about how excited you are to try their cheesesteak; just tell them how many you want, provolone or Cheez Whiz, and with or without fried onions. So if you want one with Cheez Whiz and no fried onions, just say this: “One, whiz, without.” That’s it. Trust me, this will save you from the indignity of being scowled at by the guy at the counter, unless of course, being abused by a counter guy at a Philly cheesesteak stand is the kind of thing you’d consider a fun story to tell your friends back home about, in which case I suggest you also ask a lot of questions about which style they think is best and how long they’ve been in this line of work!
