Tasty Tuesday: Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches & Tex Mex Corn Salad

Dearest Readers and Eaters,

Been awhile since I’ve opened up my kitchen to you guys!  Even though we are still weight watching, I am still cooking and we are still eating.  Sharing a Philly steak cheese sandwich and Tex Mex corn salad today.

Although I am not new to the Philly cheese steak sandwich, I didn’t realize there are apparently 2 kinds of these sammies.  Authentic and whatever the opposite of authentic is.  Fake?  As in fake Philly cheese steak?  According to this pin on Pinterest, here’s what constitutes an authentic Philly cheese steak:

… NEVER (I repeat, NEVER) have green peppers on them. That is something that probably started at a chain restaurant. (I’m looking at you Chili’s.) Seriously though, if you order a cheese steak and it has bell peppers on it, eat something else. Not Legit.

…are always on good bread. The bread matters. You need to find a soft hoagie roll that is light and airy on the inside and just very slightly crusty on the outside. We are not talking about baguette crusty at all. The king of cheese steak rolls in Philly is Amorosos.

…do not have mayonnaise on them.

…cook the meat and onions in oil. Usually soybean or canola oil. I upped the game and used avocado oil. But, NEVER butter. [source]

So, according to those pointers, the Philly cheese steak sammie recipe I’m sharing isn’t authentic.  But it sure is good!  Grab your apron and meet me in the kitchen.

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Have mentioned that with the change in to our insurance, I’ve had to make all kinds of appointments with new doctors.  That, Lucia-sitting and physical therapy for my leg have me out of the house a good part of at least 3 days of the week.  So, I am back to using my crock pot for making dinner whenever possible.

Shared a Philly cheese steak recipe, here, about 2 years ago.  Which, we all know now is also not authentic because of the addition of green peppers.  Who knew?  Some day, I am going to make the real deal.

Today’s recipe, originally found on Pinterest, here, can be thrown in the crock pot in a matter of minutes and a few hours later, dinner is served.

The Ingredients

The original recipe calls for more meat than I had on hand, for just the 2 of us.  So I divided the recipe in half.

• 2 ½ to 3 pounds of beef round steak (used 1 pound and it made enough for 4 large sandwiches)
• 2 sliced thin green peppers (used half a pepper)
• 2 sliced thin onions (used about a third of an onion)

• 3 cups of beef stock (had chicken on hand so dumped that in with beef bouillon)
• 2 tsps of garlic salt (used 1 tsp)
• 2 tsps of black pepper (1 tsp)
• 1 envelope of dry Italian dressing mix (about a third of the package)
• 1 to 2 large loaves of french bread sliced into sandwich lengths (used hoagie or sub rolls)
• Provolone cheese slices (used 3 slices of Sargento per sandwich)

When I tasted the broth after the sandwiches had been cooking for awhile, it seemed a little too bland for my taste.  So I added a few shakes of Adobo, some Montreal steak seasoning, and thought about adding a little Worcestershire sauce but didn’t.

The Directions

• Cut the round steak into very thin slices
• Sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper, any additional seasoning you might want to add
• Slice onions and peppers into thins strips
• Put meat and vegetables into crock pot
• Add broth, Italian seasoning
• Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low

When we got ready to eat, I wanted to thicken the broth or au jus a bit.  Ladled it out and thickened with a little corn starch in a pan on the stove.  Added the meat and vegetables back into the juice and then spooned some onto our sub sandwich rolls.  Then added the slices of Provolone cheese on top.  Served the sandwiches with this tasty Tex Mex corn salad.

Tex Mex Corn Salad

My PC really isn’t a very big veggie eater, corn and hominy being his favorites.  Now that we are Weight Watching, I am always looking for new ways to jazz up corn.  This Tex Mex corn salad was definitely jazzy!  And delicious.  Would be good with burgers, ribs, BBQ sandwiches, too.  Found this recipe on Pinterest, here.

Ingredients

Made a half recipe until I could see how we liked this recipe.  We like.  We like!

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 4 cups corn kernels fresh or frozen (thaw if using frozen) (used 2 cups frozen – forgot to thaw!)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 red bell pepper cored, seeded and finely chopped (used about a third a pepper)
• 1/4 cup red onion finely chopped (didn’t have a red onion so used sweet yellow but red would be prettier)
• 1 jalapeño seeds and ribs removed, then finely chopped (used about a half)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves chopped, plus more for garnish
• 3 tablespoons lime juice (2 Tbsp)
• 1/4 cup Mexican crema or sour cream (1/8 cup light sour cream)
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (1 Tbsp light mayo)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin (1/4 tsp)
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (1/8 tsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder plus more for garnish (1/4 tsp of chipotle chili powder)
• 1/3 cup cotija cheese finely grated (about 1/4 cup)

The Directions

• Melt the butter in large pan over medium high heat
• Add the corn to pan, cook for 3-5 minutes or until lightly charred (I added onions, too, because I thought PC would like the onions cooked better than raw)
• Season with salt and pepper to taste, and I sprinkled with Adobo seasoning, too
• Let the corn cool to room temperature
• Place in bowl with the red bell pepper, onion (I cooked mine with corn), jalapeño and chopped cilantro.
• In small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, sour cream, mayonnaise, cumin, smoked paprika and chili powder
• Pour dressing over corn mixture, toss to coat.
• Sprinkle with cotija cheese, additional chili powder, and additional cilantro
• I refrigerated for a few hours before we ate it with our sandwiches

Dinner is Served

PC gave this meal a rousing 2 thumbs up.  And I liked it – especially the salad – too.  I think the sandwiches could use a little more pizzazz or seasoning, maybe some Italian seasoning, maybe the crushed red pepper from my original Philly cheese steak recipe.   Will be making both again.

The corn salad doesn’t look terribly appetizing in this picture but trust me, it is like Mexican corn on the cob in a salad.  And is fabulous.

Your Turn

Do these recipes sound like something you might try?  They would be good on football Sundays or busy school nights.  The salad mixed up quickly and I truly threw the Philly cheese steak ingredients in the direction of the crock pot and put on the lid.  Doesn’t get much easier.

Off to bed with a headache.  Worried my blood pressure is up.  Has always been extremely low but recently has become elevated.  Also thinking my vision is worse so have an appointment with the ophthalmologist for Thursday.  Might be styling some new glasses soon!

Have a restful Tuesday, friends.  Thank you for popping in to keep me company and to keep me from talking to myself over here.  I appreciate YOU.

Hugs and kisses,