- Keeping it classic today,
Philly Cheesesteak done right.
Don't miss these tips to perfect
this iconic sandwich at home.
(upbeat music)
An authentic Philly Cheesesteak
is pretty simple really as far as
ingredients go,
hoagie rolls, onions, high quality beef,
of course, and cheese.
From there is all techniques.
Let's walking through these steps
so you can nail cheesesteak perfection.
Let's get it started.
- [Chef Michael] Philly folks take their cheesesteak seriously.
The best start with actual steak
specifically ribeyes,
these are super marbled
Certified Angus Beef brand ribeyes.
If you want the best cheesesteak
start with the best steak,
if it's not Certified,
it's not the best.
We'll start by popping them in the freezer
for about 30 minutes to firm them up,
and make slicing thin super easy.
Let's get our onions ready, take a medium onion,
spin it on a cutting board to whack in half.
Okay,
The spinning isn't necessary, but it's cool.
And we're into playing with knives
here in the Test Kitchen.
peel and dice the onions about a half inch is ideal.
Okay, Now onto this star,
let's get the slicing up the ribeyes.
These are 16 ounce steaks
about an inch and a half thick.
The freezer is firm them up without being frozen.
I've got a couple of ribeyes from the chuck end,
which is my favorite
because they have a larger cap muscle
known as the spinalis,
but they'll also have a larger kernel of fat.
I'm going to pull that out,
and use it to cook with.
Now, take your steak,
and slice it into thin ribbons.
Look at that incredible marbling.
When this hits the griddle,
that fat is going to render,
and give amazing flavor to our sandwiches.
Put this beautiful pile of shaved ribeye
on a clean plate,
and fire up a large griddle in the meantime,
I'm going to see everything
on a true flat type griddle,
but you can pull this off
in a large cast iron griddle
over a couple burners.
start with a little butter on the griddle
to toast our hoagie buns.
Homemade buns are awesome,
but we found that
the Orlando Brand of hoagie buns worked
really well for us.
Keeping them intact,
open them up, and toast the inside surface
over the melted butter,
pull them off
when they're just browned all around the edges.
Now we'll saute our onions on the same surface,
throw down another pat of butter,
and our kernel of fat.
Get those onions on,
and sear in that magical combination of
butter and tallow.
Move things around to evenly sear,
and season those onions with salt and pepper,
hold them off for a minute,
and we'll get to the ribeye part
of this seasoning party.
Use the tallow to keep things seasoned,
and toss the ribeye ribbons onto the griddle.
We're going to quickly move the beef around
into a single layer to avoid crowding
and steaming the beef.
You really want to get it brown on
as much surface area as you can here,
do it in batches of one or two sandwiches at a time,
depending on the size of your griddle.
Let's get it brown on one side,
and seasoned with salt and pepper
before flipping things over
with a large metal offset spatula,
move the beef around just a little bit more.
And then we'll top with those seared onions,
get things mixed up one last time
before portioning your sandwiches
about the length of your roles,
and the width of our cheese.
I'm using classic white American, my favorite,
but you can use provolone either way
I prefer the slice cheese
because it will now hold in the steam of the meat
while it melts.
If you're a fan of cheese whiz,
just do that right on your rolls
with the cheese melted,
we'll top with the open roll,
and press into the cheese.
Now you'll see how this offset long metal spatula
is such a great tool here.
Slide it in sideways,
and lift the sandwich off the griddle,
flip it over and press the sandwich closed.
Boom!
That's what a cheesesteak should look like.
- This is showing true respect to a Philly Classic.
Let's have a bite,
Perfectly seasoned Certified Angus Beef
and cheese stuck to that bun,
the onions perfect caramelization.
Make sure to like and subscribe.
And we'll see you next time
here in the Test Kitchen
classics done right!
(upbeat music)