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.
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.
Cheesesteaks
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.
Notes: 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
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*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.
Hi Denise.
So good- and I have had Philly cheesesteaks.
Has anyone tried freezing the meat mixture without the cheese?
Or what do you think about making the whole sandwich and freezing the whole thing before baking?
Good job! I’m a Philly lady. Born & raised. Have had thousands of cheesesteaks. All time favorite. This is really close to the genuine article. I think you nailed it. You can have Amoroso rolls shipped to you. Email them at info@amorosobaking.com.
VERY good…. just made them … mmmmm
I loved the article. I had to laugh because all along I was thinking you do not have Amoroso rolls. The recipe is pretty authentic though. Hope you get to Philly to try one. Then the debate will be where you should go to try one.
Haha, hi Carol! That’s why I didn’t call them Philly Cheesesteaks…did you notice that?
I definitely want to try them in Philly…it’s on my list!
I am from Philly and your recipe is perfecto! Amoroso rolls notwithstanding, I have never seen them wrapped in foil and pit in the oven…..where does this come from??? The drippings from the steak, veggies and cheese are enough although I sometimes use a little oil! Never butter! Sorry, just a South Philly opinionated old broad!!!
Hi Pat,
That was my husband’s idea…just to get the roll a little soft and for all of the flavor to get all over that hoagie roll! 🙂 We love the butter…you should try it sometime…butter makes everything better! 🙂
Thanks,
We cooked it today and took me back in time in those we lived in Philadelphia! Anyone one calculated the calories,just for the knowledge?
Amazing! Made it with both cheeses and all the vegetables (an entire green bell pepper), and only one small ~3/4 lb ribeye. We love vegetables, so we really enjoyed it that way. Great recipe!
I just made these a few days ago, and they were amazing!!
Hi Roxy, yay! That makes me happy! I’m so glad to hear!
Hello! I’m wondering what percentage of the fat you trimmed off your ribeye, if any. I’m prepping this meal right now (SO EXCITED!) and I’m thinking this looks like a lot of fat? It’s a typical amount for a ribeye — and I’m not counting calories, haha — but just wondering! Thanks!
Hi Leila,
You’re right, ribeyes have a lot of fat. I just trimmed off the big chunks of fat and harder pieces, if that makes sense…the big pieces of fat on the edges and the ones that run through the middle that would seem to make the meat chewy. Hope that helps!
Made it with all veggies in one skillet. Used 7 pieces of cheese. And it came out wonderfully. Just a quick suggestion, drain the veggies before adding to meat, drain a little of meat juice as it becomes less soggy. Oh so good
Thank you for this recipe, super easy and adaptable! Loved the wrap in foil idea. I used hamburger meat because that’s what I had thawed in the fridge. Love ribeye, so I can’t wait to try with that, but prices are ridiculous right now!
Made this tonight and it was great! A true hubs pleaser! His comment was, “Don’t loose this recipe!”
Did this recipe was delish!!!!!u
Julie,
I, too, haven’t been to Philly since I was a kid and doubt I had a cheesesteak while visiting. So no comparisons from me on how this recipe compares to theirs – – just KUDOS for sharing this delicious sandwich! Although it momentarily pained me to chop up a nice, thick, marbelized, nine dollar ribeye (it’s what we had on-hand), my regrets disappeared after the first bite. Your cheesesteak will become a regular item on our dinner menu!
It’s me again…less than 3 weeks later making these AGAIN! To those of you perusing Pinterest for recipe possibilities (as I do – oh, so regularly) – trust me, this one is a keeper and REPEATER!