Pastrama-nini! Jewish Soul Food with an Italian Twist.

Thanks to a pastrami-loving Romanian neighbor, we found a great deli! I stopped in to pick up some pastrami and ended up with 2 full bags of deliciousness: pastrami, corned beef, potato knishes, whitefish salad, sable, muenster cheese, rye bread and bagels. I could have kept ordering, but it was a zoo at the deli counter, and I wasn't quite up to competing with the throngs of other hungry people. That was the nice way of saying it- actually I think I would have been humiliated, ridiculed and possibly trampled if I had added anything else to my order. I was not only happy to escape with my bags full of food, but also happy that I made it to the car fully intact with no bloodshed or broken bones. It was a close call. Next time, I'll just call ahead.

We decided we wanted a grilled sandwich and then came the brainstorm of making a hot pastrami and corned beef on the panini press.

First we put some of each meat in pan and heated it on low until it was warmed through.

Next, we piled the warmed meat onto a slice of rye.

Covered with two nice slices of muenster cheese!

Spread on a little pad of softened butter on each side, and placed it on the hot panini press.
Three or four minutes later, it was toasted to perfection. The rye bread was crisped and the filling was warm and melt-in-your-mouth wonderful. I could eat this every day, but I think it's better to save for special occassions. My father and Kitty-Mom are going to be visiting next week, and since I know how much they'll love the food (they have tongue, dad!), we'll make this one of our stops. Don't worry, we should be okay as long as we call in our order ahead...and the eggs.

Cheesesteaks and An Eagles Game

The cheesesteaks turned out much better than the game did. As I watched the Eagles fumble their way to a well deserved loss to Green Bay, the pain was almost eased by these sumptuous sandwiches.

2 pounds of boneless ribeye, top sirloin or eye roll steak thinly sliced
2 medium onions (white or spanish) sliced
1/2 pound of white american deli cheese, sliced
vegetable oil
1 small container of sliced mushrooms (optional)
fresh hoagie or sub rolls

Sautee onions in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When they start to turn translucent, add mushrooms and continue to cook until just browned.

In another pan over medium high heat, add 3 tablespoons of oil. Add beef, flip constanly until cooked through- approximately 5 minutes, depending on thickness.

Drain excess liquid off of beef and add onion and mushroom mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. In pan, portion out enough for one sandwich and place cheese on top. At this point, I turn down heat a bit and just let the cheese melt.

When the cheese has melted, slice a roll and put it right down on top of the meat and cheese you separated out for the sandwich. Let it sit right on top of it for a minute- it soaks up a bit of the juicy goodness and the cheese melts into the roll. Hold the top of the roll with one hand and using a large spatula, scoop underneath, pushing the mixture up into the roll. Flip. Done!

The result is a bona-fide Philly Steak. I have had the best, and this is every bit as good. It took a few years for me to perfect my recipe- just using the wrong roll can dramatically change the outcome. If you start making these about half way through the second quarter, you'll be eating by the time halftime is over. Timing matters if you want to minimize your time in the kitchen and maximum your game-viewing time. If the Eagles' special teams had been half as good as my cheesesteaks were, the final score would have been a whole different story...and the eggs.