Philly Cheese Steaks

Last August Currey and I got to take a weeklong road trip together.  Two friends of ours from high school were getting married 5 states away and they asked Currey to perform the ceremony.  Currey was thrilled to do the wedding and I began planning out a week long, kid free vacation.  I spent excessive amounts of time looking at different routes, places to visit and most importantly, restaurants to eat at.  Since this would be our first trip without kids since Blythe was born I wanted all the details to be perfect.  Although it made the trip longer, we decided to drive through South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore.  I don’t know that we’ll ever be headed out that way again so I thought it was worth the detour.

Mt. Rushmore was worth the trip but we were surprised by an amazing meal while we were in South Dakota.  I’d looked on the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives website before our trip and realized there weren’t many DDD restaurants on our route.  There was one place called Philly Ted’s that I thought was worth looking at.  Before heading to the mountain we stopped for sandwiches and they were so amazing that I’ve been craving them ever since!

I was ecstatic to find a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich on Pinterest from The Little Kitchen and it quickly moved to the top of my “short list” of recipes to make.  I’m embarrassed to tell you how many times I’ve made these Philly Cheese Steaks since we originally enjoyed them.

The first time I made these I didn’t slice the beef very thin.  While they tasted good, the next time they were even better because the steak was cut better.  I also didn’t use mushrooms or green peppers based on our personal preference.

I’ve tried this recipe several times with additional versions.  My favorite version took the original and added pepperoni to the sandwich before adding the meat and onion mixture.  I’m a big fan of pepperoni and it was a delicious addition to this sandwich.  It added a great flavor with out overpowering the sandwich.  I used mozzarella cheese.

Currey preferred a spicier version.  I added sliced jalapeño on top of the steak and onion then topped it with pepper jack cheese.  This sandwich is a great in its original form but if you are feeling creative it’s very easy to customize.

 

Philly Cheese Steaks

Adapted from The Little Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 hoagie rolls, cut open but still connected on one side

1/2 large white onion, sliced thin

1 beef rib eye steak – The steak needs to be thinly sliced against the grain then roughly chopped.  You want very small pieces of steak.

Salt & pepper

2 Tbsp butter

4 slices of Provolone or Mozzarella cheese

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Grab 2 pieces of foil.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Melt 1 Tbsp butter and then add onions to the skillet.  Sauté onions until they are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Wipe out your skillet then add 1 Tbsp of butter and return to the stove. Season steak with salt & pepper and add to the skillet.  Reduce heat to medium heat and cook steak for 4-5 minutes. Add the onions and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  Split the meat & onion mixture in half. Add 2 slices of cheese on each half and allow the cheese to melt for about 2 minutes.

Place one half of the mixture in a roll and then the other half in the 2^nd roll.  Take one sandwich and roll it tightly in a sheet of foil.  Do the same with the second sandwich.  Bake for 10-15 minutes. Unwrap and enjoy!