Philly Cheesesteak Macaroni and Cheese

Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese

Last week I did a demo at the Coolidge Corner Meat House featuring my Philly Cheesesteak Dip. Once I had made the dip and had set it out for people to sample, I got to staring at it and sort of zoned out, totally mesmerized by the way the cheese was perfectly coating the paper thin slices of steak and the diced mushrooms.  I then started to, as I do with most things I find to be particularly delicious, think of other ways I could use them to create a new dish.  With little effort, I started to see noodles swirling in the cheesy, beefy mixture and then I imagines a crispy crust made from fresh homemade breadcrumbs and within minutes, I was on my way to creating a killer mac and cheese recipe - Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese.

Cheese, sweet cheese!

This recipe is certainly a simple one but it does require a couple of important key steps.  First off, it's important to use cheese with exceptional melting qualities (i.e. don't even think about using low-fat anything in here!).  There certainly is some room for creativity when selecting your cheeses but for this particular mac and cheese, I used three cheeses - a mild cheddar, sharp cheddar and American cheese.  I like to include American cheese because it's so great at melting down into a fine and naturally thick sauce without giving off an overpowering flavor.

Next, to ensure a saucy and very cheesy mac and cheese, it's important to bake the pasta in way more sauce than you think you need.  The noodles will absorb the sauce while baking and the biggest fail of a homemade mac and cheese is having it be dry.  Additionally, to get a nice crisp crust, I like to make my own breadcrumbs using a couple pieces of day old bread and toasting it up to get all the moisture out.  Not only is it easy but it adds such a great flavor and added crispy texture.  I also like to finish my mac and cheese with a pinch of salt and a hit of fresh chopped parsley right before serving to help wake everything up.

Mmm, is there anything better than a piping hot bowl of cheesy mac and cheese on a dark and stormy Boston day?

Check out the recipe after the jump!

Meat House Demo Recipe: Philly Cheesesteak Dip

The perfect Superbowl snack - Philly Cheesesteak Dip

Isn't Superbowl Sunday the best?  I mean the whole thing takes place on a chilly Sunday evening and the point is to gather your friends and comfortably lounge around the TV in front of giant bowls of Doritos, plates full of saucy buffalo wings holding cups filled to the brim with chilled beer.  I love the casualness of it, the competition, the entertaining commercials...it's totally my kind of holiday! (Even if my team isn't playing in the game...)

Care for a sample of some dip?

Naturally, my absolute favorite part of Superbowl festivities is the food and creating unique snack foods that pair well with ice cold beers and yelling at the TV.  This year, The Meat House in Coolidge Corner asked me to create a recipe utilizing their fantastic array of quality meats and delicious locally sourced ingredients and then do an in-store demonstration.  The inspiration for this recipe came from one of my all-time favorite meals that I made from Meat House ingredients, a basic Philly Cheesesteak.  Simple, yes, but what's not to love? Paper-thin slices of steak fried up and then melted down with sweet onions, fresh mushroom slices and of course, lots of melted cheese.  Yes, please.  Taking that a step further, I deconstructed my basic Philly Cheesesteak recipe and rebuilt it into melty cheesy and meaty dip form (umm, yum, right?)

Delicious meats...rows and rows of it!

For the demo, I used chunks of bread, pita and tortilla chips to help people scoop up delicious hot dip and I thought all of these worked perfectly.  Make no mistake, this isn't a dainty and wimpy little dip, this is a hearty dip that makes a perfect snack for big game day watching.  Just be sure to have lots of napkins handy, it can get a little messy but in my opinion, aren't some of the best dips messy ones?

Big Game Hot Steak & Cheese Dip
Serves 4-6, unless you're really hungry!

- 1 lb Meat House Shaved Steak
- 6-7 large button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 4 slices of American cheese
- 1 - 8oz. container Pineland Farms Spreadable Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 cup beef stock or broth
- 4 TBS butter, divided
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 TBS chives (optional)
- 1 bag tortilla chips, bagel chips, pita chips or bits of bread for dipping

In a medium-size skillet on medium heat, melt 2 TBS of butter.  Add the onions and pinch of salt to the skillet.  Cook the onions until they become soft and translucent.  Add the mushrooms and cook until browned.  Take the mushrooms and onions from the skillet and set aside.

Melt the remaining 2 TBS of butter in the skillet and increase the heat to high.  Add the steak and fry it quickly on high heat for about a minute or until the edges of the steak start to brown.  Once the steak is heated, remove from the heat and chop it into small bits .  Add the steak back to the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low.  Add the cheddar and American cheese along with the onion, mushrooms and beef stock.  Stir to combine and heat until well combined and the cheese is melted.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with chives and serve warm with tortilla chips, bagel chips, pita chips or bits of bread.  

My Second Demo at The Meat House - Coming Soon!

Sweet Burgundy Marinated Steak Bruschetta

Last month I did my first demo at The Meat House featuring my recipe for Sweet Burgundy Marinated Steak Bruschetta and next Wednesday, January 26th from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM, I will be at the Meat House in Coolidge Corner for a second time demonstrating my version of the perfect Superbowl dip.  It involves steak.  It involves cheese (and lots of it!) and because I don't want to totally give it away, I'll leave it at that.  All I can say is that it's gonna be gooooood.

Coolidge Corner Meat House

Delicious Meat House Steaks!

I hope you can make it!

Spontenaity Rules! (And So Do Cheesesteaks!)

I tend to be a little spontaneous in nature and think that a healthy dose of the "don't even think about it, just do it" mindset keeps life interesting.  Feeling particularly spontaneous this morning (and remembering it was tax free weekend) I went all the way to Cambridge to purchase a fancy new camera and it was love at first click.  Many of you may not know this, but all of my photos up until this point have been with a Kodak point-and-shoot camera.  Absolutely no bells and whistles whatsoever.  It was time for an upgrade.  After some quick research, I was on my way with a new Canon PowerShot G11.  I'm so excited I can't even stand it!  I've been snapping pictures all over the place today just playing around with it and can't wait to use it for my blog.

Alright, enough camera talk, let's get to the real meat of the post (worst pun ever) and talk about last night's delicious dinner: Cheesesteaks with caramelized onions and fried mushrooms with homemade rosemary, olive oil and sea salt potato chips.  It totally hit the spot and was the perfect meal for a beautiful late summer evening.  

To start, I got all of my ingredients for this meal from The Meat House, Coolidge Corner's latest and oh so greatest additions.  I'm obsessed.  For real.  One of the managers actually told me the other day that he thinks I've clocked more hours there then some of his employees, and they are a hard-working bunch!  This place deserves a blog post of it's own (and it will get it) but the long and short of it, it's where local food comes to play.  A good portion of the store (about 30-40%) is local and the meat cases are are lined up, proudly displaying some of the freshest meats of varying cuts.  The atmosphere is fun (some of the employees were literally dancing around the store to some C+C Music Factory the other day) and the food is spectacular.

I had made the potato chips earlier in the day to make for less time spent in the kitchen and more time with my friends.  Homemade potato chips are amazing.  With such a rich potato flavor, and a hearty crunch, they are so much better than anything you can get in a bag.  The secret is to cut the potato slices real thin and soak them in water to remove some of the starch, which means a crispier chip.  

That being said, it is VERY important to dry the potato slices as thoroughly as possible be submerging them in the oil and never walk away from the pan once you've put the chips in.  Oil fires are nobody's friend.

For the Cheesesteaks, which were my take on the Philly Cheesesteak, (however, I kept calling them Boston Cheesesteaks.  Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?) I used a shaved steak which was cut just so delicately thin it was almost poetic.  Not to mention, it cooked up in less than 10 minutes time.  I topped it off with thin slices of American cheese, (chosen for it's incredible melting properties and subtle taste) which created sort of a cheese sauce that coated the thin shreds of steak.  Along with the fried mushrooms and caramelized onions, the steak was packed into fresh, soft sub rolls.   

It was an absolutely delicious night with great company, many, many laughs and so much fun.  Now, I'm off to take more pictures and play around a little more with my new camera.  Enjoy what's left of the weekend!