Cheesesteaks!
Last week I was in Portland and for a few days the week before that I was in Seattle. Portland was for work. It was really good to see some of my co-workers and even meet a few for the very first time. Since I work from home, I hadn’t got to meet some members of my team. It was awesome to get to hang out with them and I ate very well and even hung out with an awesome friend. I was in Seattle before Portland for the BlogHer Food conference. I had a lot of fun eating, meeting new friends and seeing old friends.
While I was in Seattle, I got these panic texts from Curtis, the washer was broken or he actually said “I broke the washer”. He thought he had overloaded it but I kept texting back saying I’m sure it’s just old. It was really really old.
Fast forward to last week (or wait rewind), and I get a text message from Curtis with a photograph of some chicken lo mein. He had made a frozen dinner and he said he couldn’t wait for me to come home to make dinner again. It was so sweet and before you go thinking, he should be able to make his own dinner. He should and he would but he is currently beyond stressed out halfway through a year-long online certificate program for GIS (he makes maps for a living). All his idea and his company is covering the costs. He regrets it about every other day because he remembers how much he disliked school. I can go on and on about this.
I felt terrible, I left for a week and a half and he has to deal with the puppy, a broken washer, work and school on top of all of it. I promised I would make dinner when I came home. But not the day I came home though, it was a red eye flight. NO MORE red eyes for me. I just can’t hack it. I don’t sleep very well on planes due to my sleep apnea…I don’t know why I tried it for so long but no more.
The second day after I came home, I made these cheesesteaks. This is Curtis’ perfected recipe. We have been making this for a few years now. We used to make it with sliced roast beef and one day, my former co-worker Kevin, said that Philly cheesesteaks were made with ribeye…that was enough for Curtis to want to give it a try. And perfection.
Slice the beef ribeye steaks across the grain in thin slices. Once sliced, rough chop all of the beef several times going in rows and then columns. You want to have small pieces of beef when you’re done.
In a heated non-stick skillet with 1 Tbsp of butter, cook the mushrooms and half of the onions.
All done! Remove mushrooms and onions from the pan.
I wipe the pan out with a paper towel and add 1/2 Tbsp of butter and saute the peppers and onions.
All done! Remove the onions and peppers from the pan and add to the plate with mushrooms & onions or onto a separate plate depending on preference.
Once again, I wipe the pan with a paper towel and add 1 Tbsp of butter. Add half of the ribeye steak and cook just 2-4 minutes.
Then, add the onions & peppers or if using all of the ingredients – half of the onions/peppers/mushrooms mixture. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then divide in half.
Add cheese on top. Curtis likes to mix up Provolone and Muenster cheeses so you’ll see them above.
All the cheese to melt and add to sliced hoagie rolls. More pictures on that below!
Once again, I wipe the pan thoroughly especially the cheese so it doesn’t burn. Add 1 Tbsp of butter and the 2nd half of the ribeye to the pan. Cook for 2-4 minutes and then add back the onions and mushrooms or the remaining veggies. Divide in half as pictured above.
I prefer provolone only. Add the cheese on top!
Allow the cheese to melt for 1-2 minutes.
And now the fun part, place beef & cheese & veggies onto hoagie rolls.
Now I’m craving another one of these.
I love how the cheese gets mixed in completely.
And we’re ready to roll them up.
Roll them up tightly in foil. These pictures don’t really show you how small we roll them up. The diameter of the cheesesteaks ends up being almost half of the diameter of the hoagie roll originally.
Put them into the oven at 250 degrees and allow the meld to happen for about 10-15 minutes. (Don’t you just love my blue oven? I had no ideas that ovens could be different colors inside. For the record, I’m using the top oven of my KitchenAid double oven range.)
What you end up having is cheesy, greasy goodness. The hoagie is not too soggy but wet enough from the juices from the meat and beat up looking from being tightly rolled. It is perfect. Oh and I had it with a root beer float and some chips. Total perfection.
I like to give Curtis a hard time for what he likes to cook (hot dogs, chili and chili cheese dogs, see the pattern?) – he doesn’t cook much and he said the other day, never in a million years did he think I was ever going to blog one of his recipes. I guess I need to do it more often, huh?
*Just a note: this recipe is based on both of our preferences. I prefer mushrooms and onions on my cheesesteaks and Curtis prefers green peppers and onions. If you want green peppers in all four cheesesteaks – increase the amount of bell peppers to a whole bell pepper. The amount of mushrooms can stay the same or be increased just as well.
Cheesesteaks
Yield: 4 sandwiches
Prep Time: 35 min
Cook Time: 50 min
Total Time: 1 hr 25 min
Use two ribeye steaks for this recipe and you can't go wrong.
Ingredients:
4 hoagie rolls, sliced (We love the Publix hoagie rolls!)
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1 large white onion, cut in half and sliced thick
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1.25-1.5 lbs beef ribeye steaks (sliced thinly across the grain and then chopped roughly again so they are small pieces)
salt & pepper
3 1/2 Tbsp salted butter
8 slices of cheese (Provolone or Muenster)
Directions:
Prepare 4 sheets of foil and slice the hoagie rolls and set aside. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Heat a non-stick skillet with 1 Tbsp butter on medium high heat. Add mushrooms and half of the onions and cook 5-8 minutes or until mushrooms are browned and onions are cooked down. Remove and place on a plate.
Wipe the skillet with a paper towel and add 1/2 Tbsp of butter and return to the stove. Cook remaining onions and bell peppers for 5-8 minutes or until peppers start to brown and blister and the onions are cooked down. Add to a separate plate (unless everyone likes peppers/onions/mushrooms then add to the plate with mushrooms & onions).
Wipe the skillet again with a paper towel and add 1 Tbsp butter and return to stove again. Season half of the steak with salt & pepper and add to the skillet. Reduce to medium heat and cook for 2-4 minutes. Add in peppers & onions or half of the veggie mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes. Divide the meat & veggies in half as pictured above. Add 4 slices of cheese on top and allow the cheese to melt for 1-2 minutes.
Add the cooked meat & veggies and melted cheese to two hoagie rolls. Inside one sheet of foil, roll the hoagie roll tightly and place inside the oven for 10-15 minutes.
Repeat the process with the remaining steak & veggies or like I did with the mushrooms and onions - for the last two hoagie rolls. Serve fresh out of the oven with chips or your favorite French fries.
If you have leftovers (if that's possible), refrigerate inside a zippered plastic bag inside (don't remove it from the foil). Reheat the cheesesteaks in the foil in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
From The Little Kitchen
*Okay another note, I didn’t call these Philly cheesesteaks okay? I have never had a cheesesteak in Philly even though I have been to Philly before (as a kid). I want to though and have Philly cheesesteaks in Philadelphia. I have only had Philly cheesesteaks in supposedly authentic shops here in Florida. Hope these are close but I know it’s inevitable someone will say, these aren’t anything like the original! And there’s no way they can be since we don’t have access to those amazing Amoroso rolls.
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Hi, my name is Julie and I love to share the cooking and baking adventures from my little kitchen. Cooking and baking is in my blood, thanks to my Mom! 
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still completely drooling over these. i NEED to make them!!
These look AMAZING!!!! Gonna have to so try these for my hubby, he LOVES cheeseteaks
Love the melty cheese:)
This is what the cheese steaks of my childhood looked like, I grew up 45 minutes from Philly. I miss them so much. I’ll have to get my butcher to cut me some thin Rib-eye next time I’m there. Thanks for posting this, pinned and can’t wait to make some soon!
JulieD replied: June 25th, 2012 @ 2:07 am
Enjoy, Joan!! Such kind words from a PA native!
Oh my gosh Julie, my husband will be in HEAVEN when I make these (& I think I will too!!!) Can’t wait to try them, they look DELICIOUS!!!
JulieD replied: June 25th, 2012 @ 2:08 am
Thank you, Kim!!!
On Fridays, I share my favorite food finds in a series called Food Fetish Friday – and I love this post so I’m featuring it as part of the roundup (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and I look forward to seeing what you create next…
I am not much of a beefeater, but the tight wrapping of the sandwiches is intriguing.
I made these the other night, I thought they were out of this world. I am the only one who eats mushrooms, so I made those separate and added only to my sandwich. I really didn’t hear much great feedback from my husband, or kids though. I spent an arm and leg for the rib eye steak, so I’m not sure I’ll make them again. Damn picky family!
Julie Deily replied: June 25th, 2012 @ 3:33 pm
Hi Clover, I hate when that happens…so sorry! You should make them for yourself for dinner (buy a smaller amount of ribeye steak) and then let make their own dinners!
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I found this recipe on pinterest and I tried it out last night for dinner and I will definitely be making this a staple in my dinner rotation! I had no idea that it was that easy to make them yourself. Thank you for the recipe!!
Julie Deily replied: June 25th, 2012 @ 3:32 pm
Very awesome, Alice. So glad to hear it!!
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These look absolutely perfect! I need to give this recipe a go asap
Seriously, I’m drooling!
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These look amazing, Julie! I have been wanting to make cheesesteaks forever, and this is the first recipe that made me drool! Definitely “the one”
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I have the KitcheAid double oven stove & love it! I too was very pleasantly surprised to see the blue interior.
The. Best. Cheesesteak. Recipe. Ever. Adding this one to the rotation, himself says weekly.
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My mouth watered…have to try these!
These look wonderful…..will be trying them soon!
We made these for my dad’s birthday with a few changes and it was phenomenal! Here is my blogpost on it
http://myninjanaan.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/cheesesteak-sandwiches/
My Hubby loves a good cheesesteak sandwich, but he’s always buying those “steakums” in the freezer section. lol. I’ll have to make these for him one night.
He’d love it
Finally got around to making these tonight and by the time I finished eating, I was sad that I didn’t eat slower so I could have spent more time enjoying the deliciousness (but I’m happily saving the second one for lunch tomorrow.) Seriously so good! I was nervous they would be soggy, but that was not the case at all! (I also added a smear of mayo to the rolls prior to filling them up.) To me, the ribeye is the perfect steak for this! The ingredients are simple but I think the method of making them is what really made this stand out. Chopping up the steak after slicing, folding the cheese in to get everything coated, and then the roll-and-squish. I can’t believe I’ve been making my cheesesteaks wrong all these years! Thank You.
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Mm..Philly cheesesteaks from Philly are the original. But you have to go at a good time, otherwise the meat is all dry since they cook and leave it on the grill waiting for customers. (I’ve been to several cheesesteak establishments in Philadelphia, even Pat’s and Geno’s.)
I still think a homemade Philly cheesesteak is the best! haha I haven’t made one in ages so I should!
is there another steak cut you could use in place of ribeye? hard to find reasonably priced around these parts o.O
Julie Deily replied: September 5th, 2012 @ 2:50 pm
Ribeye is super expensive…you can try sirloin filet or a london broil. Look for good marbling on the beef and make sure you cut it across the grain or the meat will be tough.
As soon as I make these, my husband will be falling in love with you!
These look sooo good! It also looks easy enough for me to make and the ingredients are something that we may have here around the house. I’m going to have to try this. Thank you!
This is one of those recipes I want to try right now. You better believe I’m going to attempt this for dinner this weekend!
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Love the idea of wrapping in foil!