Friday, July 22, 2011

Pennsylvania

Years ago, B.C. (Before Children), Marc and I lived in South Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. Here, the cheese steak reigns supreme. For our Pennsylvania dinner, we've only approximated a true Philly Cheese Steak, but this makes a quick, easy weeknight sandwich dinner.

Traditionally, a cheese steak is made with thinly sliced ribeye, but our easy version simply uses shaved beef from the deli. We also opted for Provolone cheese, rather than the usual day-glo orange Cheese Whiz sauce. We opened a bag of Lay's potato chips to have on the side (hey, this is a "fast food" meal, after all!). Unfortunately, you can't get Utz products in Iowa, so we had to go with the national standard. We also couldn't resist the first sweet corn of the season this week at our farmer's market, and since Jersey sweet corn is everywhere in Pennsylvania and New Jersey this time of year, it seemed like a good fit. Best beer choice: Yuengling, naturally!


Maia and Lucy shuck the first sweet corn of the season.

To make the sandwiches:

Saute peppers and onions for an optional topping:



















Line hoagie rolls (sub rolls, if you're in the Midwest) with provolone cheese. Broil until cheese is melted--this won't take long, so pay attention!









When the onions and peppers are nicely softened and browned, use the same skillet for the meat. We used rare, shaved deli beef. Before cooking, chop the meat finely and add a good dose of salt and pepper


Fill the rolls with the meat and top with onions and peppers if you like. In Philly, if you're an onion lover, you have your cheese steak "wit." Marc and I had ours "wit," the girls did not.

This meal got so-so reviews from our team. Everyone enjoyed the chips and fresh corn, of course! The girls each ate healthy portions of their big sandwiches and agreed that they would eat it again, but not every day, please! For the grown-ups, this meal is fast and easy to make, but probably not a weekly standard.


And for dessert....what else?

Next up: Tennessee

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