Hometown Hero

Greeting Dear Readers!

It's baseball season, if you hadn't heard yet, and because of that I've decided to celebrate the return of one of my favorite pitchers to my home town team with a delicious sandwich of my own.

So in order to celebrate Cliff Lee's return to the Philadelphia Phillies, I decided to throw a party where we would watch the game, and I would be the sandwich maker under scrutiny.

For this party, I made my own cheesesteaks.

Now I've reviewed a few cheesesteaks from around Los Angeles, from the great to the abysmal. I've also eaten enough in my life that I know what I like and dislike on a sandwich.

So for starters, this sandwich will not include cheez-wiz

For the steaks, I grabbed up a bunch of Steak-umms from Ralph's and gave each sandwich 3 slices.

Off to the side of the cooking steaks, I had two different pans running: one with onions and peppers grilling in a little bit of olive oil, and the second with chopped baby bella mushrooms also in a drop of olive oil.

The problem really becomes co-ordinating the three pans at first. Mushrooms cook very fast and have a very small window of being perfect. A second too long and they're overdone.

When the steaks were just about done cooking, I added the mushrooms, onions, and peppers on top, and the laid down three slices of provolone cheese (i.e. not wiz) and let it melt for a few seconds before stacking it in the roll.

As a surprise ingredient, I had fries cooking in the oven which I then generously added to my sandwich. Taking cues from Primanti Bros. in Pittsburgh, I thought I'd take a shot at this, and it turned out to be welcome addition. Try it next time you make your own at home.

My only regret with the sandwich was the bread. I searched around for good steak rolls, and then even good sourdough rolls but could not find any last minute as I prepared for the game. The rolls I had were somewhat fluffy on the inside, with poppy seeds on the outside. They weren't bad, but could have been a lot better had I time to look at another store.

So, whether you enjoy baseball or not, I highly suggest you try your hand at creating this sandwich in your own home. For me, it reminds me of growing up in a wonderful town that loves its people, its teams, and its history.

Until next time, Dear Readers...