Easy Cheesesteak

In October of 2008, I had my first Philly Cheesesteak at a dive called Jim's Place near the Philadelphia International Airport. I've been hooked ever since. I haven't been back to Philly in the last couple of years, but I have had my share of Cheesesteaks, including one at Walt Disney World. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to duplicate this magnificent sandwich at home. A good friend of mine, who is from Philly originally, made me a really good cheesesteak at his home, but he is far more talented in the kitchen than I am. I tried buying ribeye steak (the cut of meat in a traditional cheesesteak) and slicing it up, but I couldn't get it thin enough. I even tried Steak 'ums, but they just ended up dry and tough. I just couldn't duplicate the flavor...until recently.

A few weeks ago, our Schwan's delivery guy had a special on the Schwan's Philly Beef, so my wife bought some, knowing that I love Cheesesteak. Yes, we buy a few things from Schwan's...it's generally very good stuff and nice to have on hand for pulling together a quick meal.

The Schwan's Philly Beef is the closest I've been able to come to a real cheesesteak. It actually looks like a small ribeye steak. I cook it on a flattop, and it easily breaks apart into thin strips of steak. I add a little salt, pepper and garlic power, and then mix in some cooked yellow onions. I then toast a hoagie roll and melt some Cheez Whiz and combine into a Pat's King of Steak Style Cheesesteak, which I've been told is the original Cheesesteak. Pat's will be a destination for me next time I'm in Philadelphia. This ends up making a delicious sandwich that goes great with potato chips and pickles. If you aren't a fan of Cheez Whiz, you can do the same thing with Provolone or any type of cheese really.

I plan to get the Philly Beef from Schwan's more often and experiment with different sandwich combinations. For my money, it's the closest I can come to the thinly sliced ribeye required for a Philly Cheesesteak without actually buying a slicer and spending $10-15 per lb. for ribeye. Winner Winner Cheesesteak Dinner (yes, I still watch too much Food Network).

"We Are One Body"

This is a song that the Men's Choir that I accompany at my church is currently learning. We will be leading this song at mass in 2 weeks. I'm really excited about this one and I wanted to share it. It's about 6 minutes long...enjoy!

Return of the Food Police

Well, San Francisco has once again shown why someone like Nancy Pelosi can get elected to Congress. In a truly nanny-state move, the city of San Francisco has passed an ordinance banning the use of toys in kids meals unless the meals meet certain nutritional standards. From Reuters, "The San Francisco law would bar toys from being given away with kids' meals unless those meals have fewer than 600 calories, contain fruits and vegetables, and include beverages without excessive fat or sugar."

This is yet another example of what unchecked liberalism is capable of. These San Francisco liberals have pushed their way farther into the lives of the citizens of San Francisco...and sadly, those people out there don't seem to care. They keep electing people who think like this, and they keep sending Nancy Pelosi back to Congress. Maybe the country should pass a law banning San Francisco from participating in the Federal Government until they get some common sense.

Ok, I really don't want that. Actually, I think this is an opportunity for the fast food companies to stick it to the man. If I had a fast food restaurant, I would make my menu look like this:

Kid's Meal w/ Greasy Burger, Fries and a Sugary Drink - $3.50
Kid's Meal w/ Greasy Burger, Fries, a Sugary Drink and a Toy - $4.00
Kid's Meal w/ Healthy Stuff and the same Toy - $8.00

To me, this would be the perfect way around the law. They are selling the toy for 50 cents, and they are making the point that the healthy options cost them more so they are passing that cost on to the consumer. Look, unfortunately, this is a country full of fat kids who's parents don't do a good job of feeding them a balanced diet. That's not the fault of the fast food places...they provide a service that people pay for. If you liberals are so concerned about fat kids, create a fat tax to punish the fat people...the kid's meal problem will take care of itself. A liberal is probably reading this right now and doesn't realize I'm joking...in fact that liberal probably thinks I just came up with a really good idea.

You can't police this...this is a free country (currently, though Obama and the Dems are working on that problem) and we have a right to eat what we want to eat when we want to eat it. It's a parent's job to feed their child good food. If they fail, that's their fault too. It's time for the return of personal responsibility, something that has been missing in this country for far too long.

Fried Chicken!

I bought a cast iron skillet about a month ago for the sole purpose of frying chicken. Ok, there are other great uses for my cast iron skillet, but I really wanted to fry chicken. I love fried chicken...my wife does not. So, it's a once in a while thing.

The family was out of town this weekend, so last night I had a friend over to watch football and I made my first attempt at fried chicken. I used this recipe from Paula Deen, who I figured would know a thing or 2 about fried chicken.

I followed the recipe almost exactly. I didn't have self rising flour, but I found out that you can convert all purpose flour to self rising flour by adding 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt per cup of flour. So, I made my own self rising flour. The other deviation I took was I used Frank's Red Hot sauce instead of Texas Pete Hot Sauce (by the way, don't worry about the hot sauce, it doesn't overwhelm the chicken, just adds another dimension to the flavor). Also, technically I pan fried it rather than deep fried it, but that's splitting hairs.

Overall, the chicken turned out really good. I really liked the breading and the chicken stayed very moist. I think next time, I will use a smaller chicken and possibly take the chicken breast off the bone to help the breast cook faster. The breasts took almost 40 minutes to get done. The thighs took about 22 minutes (11 minutes per side), the legs took 20 minutes (10 minutes per side) and the wings took about 10 minutes total (mostly because there were almost totally submerged in the oil).

If you attempt to cook this, keep in mind that you need to maintain your oil temperature. I had a thermometer in the oil all the time, and with my electric stove, I had to work a little to keep it at 350 degrees, though the cast iron's super heat conducting capabilities really helped (thanks Alton Brown). Also, have a meat thermometer handy to check the internal temperature of the chicken...165 for white meat, 175 for dark meat. In fact, if you want to go about 10 degrees more done, that's ok...at least Alton Brown says so.

There isn't much I plan to change with this recipe. Next time I will probably season the chicken a little more liberally before dipping it into the wet mixture. I may even try to marinate the chicken or brine it to add a little more flavor to the meat. I won't change the breading mixture at all.

And the true test of good fried chicken...I ate it cold today and it was still good. I think we have a "winner winner chicken dinner," to quote Guy Fieri. Yes, I watch too much Food Network.

So, that's my fried chicken cooking adventure. If I can do it, anybody can. Enjoy!

Movie Review: Batman: Under the Red Hood

Another DC Comics PG-13 rated cartoon. For the last couple of years, DC has been rolling these out, and for the most part I've enjoyed them all. I'm a huge Batman fan, so I was very excited to see a preview for "Batman: Under the Red Hood." I caught this one last night on Netflix instant watch.

In this movie, Gotham is plagued by a new crime lord known as the Black Mask. But a new vigilante is on the scene waging an all out war on the Black Mask. While Batman has always refused to use a gun and won't kill anyone, the Red Hood has no such limitations. Even worse, the Red Hood seems to know everything Batman is going to do before he does it. It's up to Batman to find out who the Red Hood is and stop him before he does something unimaginable.

I really liked this movie. I'd put it at 4 stars. There are a number of reflections to Batman's past in this story, which is always interesting to a Batman fan like me. I thought the story was solid and was satisfied with the ending. I really enjoyed the vocal casting. Bruce Greenwood voices Batman, and does a really good job of it. I'm always going to be partial to Kevin Conroy who did Batman in "Batman the Animated Series" and "Justice League" but Greenwood is the best of the rest who have voiced Batman. I also though the vocal casting for Joker was great. The Joker was voiced by John DiMaggio, who I've never heard of, but did a great job.

I'll admit this movie isn't for everyone. But if you are a fan of DC comics and over 13 years old, I think you'll really like it.