When it comes to Philly game day meals, the immediate answer is the cheesesteak. Sauteed steak, melted cheese, and more---onions, peppers, mushrooms…you get the idea—on a roll. It is said that the cheesesteak originated in 1930 when a hot dog vendor prepped a grilled steak sandwich for a passing cab driver. The sandwich’s fame spread quickly and the vendor—Pat Olivetti—opened Pat’s King of Steaks to meet the demand. Across the street from Pat’s is Geno’s Steaks, whose founder—Joey Vento—claimed that he, not Pat, first added the cheese to the sammy. Geno’s opened in 1966: who is Geno? Well, he’s Joey’s son, who was born after the shop was opened. Now that’s foresight! Geno now runs the shop. Other competitors for the Cheesesteak King crown (‘Philly, Philly’!) include
Jim’s Steaks, Steve’s Prince of Steaks, Dalessandro’s Steaks & Hogies, and Sonny’s Famous Steaks. Almost any primer on this sammy focuses on schooling novices on the ‘wit’ factor. Here are your two primary choices; Whiz Wid: Cheeze Whiz and onions Witout: Cheeze Whiz and no onions Visit Philly has a great instructional video on how to order your cheesesteak! The Philly Cheesesteak Strip loin Olive oil Salt and pepper Provolone sauce---well, it depends…. Caramelized onions Sauteed peppers Sauteed mushrooms Soft hoagie rolls Feeling adventurous---make your own Provolone sauce. Bobby Flay offers a recipe here
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Welcome to the English Fry-Up! Game Day Meal moves to London for the Vikings-Browns tilt on Sunday morning. The English Fry-Up is a classic that will set GDM nation up well for the entire slate of Sunday's games. The Fry-Up should be approached as the GDM's version of the food pyramid, with the basics forming the foundation, allowing you to choose additional blocks as you build your kickoff breakfast. The Fry-Up Basics 1. Two eggs sunny-side up The eggs begin the protein parade that sustains you through the Sunday lineup. More importantly, the yolk becomes part of the sauce that defines the Fry-Up. 2. Bacon and Sausage Why limit yourself to one breakfast meat? Ideally, you will use back bacon and English bangers---but you should feel free to substitute your favorite bacon and sausage. If you are feeling ambitious, you can find a good English banger recipe here. 3. Baked Beans Yes---beans. The key here is to use baked beans in tomato sauce (again, you are building a sauce as part of your breakfast). Heinz has you covered: Note: Heinz cans from England and other Commonwealth nations spell it 'Beanz'---no worries, this is the same product as the American version pictured above.
4. Tomatoes The tomato is an essential part of the Fry-Up foundation. You can choose several approaches here. The English approach is to broil their tomato slices. You can also choose to fry your tomato slices in the bacon fat. A third option is to use stewed tomatoes. 5. Bread No surprise here: your best bet is to fry the bread (as opposed to prepping toast). Add two or more tablespoons of butter to your bacon fat and fry away! The Options Now, you can pick and choose building blocks as your breakfast pyramid grows. For the English Fry-Up, these include (1) black pudding; (2) mushrooms; (3) potatoes; and (4) kidneys. Black pudding is a blood sausage made of pork fat, oatmeal, and--yes--pork blood. The BBC has you covered if you want more information on black pudding. Mushrooms are a common addition. You can choose to fry white mushrooms in butter. Another approach is to roast the mushrooms. Potatoes---sure, why not? Add a few potatoes to the medley. Whether fried, roasted, or hashed, your Fry-Up will rise to another level when you bring spuds to the festivities. Kidneys are a last-minute addition to GDM's list of Fry-Up components. Sure, fried kidneys are an English basic and add a distinctive flair to the Fry-Up. Coating lamb kidneys with flour and frying in butter and Worcestershire sauce brings your game to the pro level. GDM leaves it to you if you want to explore bubble and squeak, jolly boys, kippers, crumpets, bannocks, and other breakfast fare from the United Kingdom. Want to learn more about the Fry-Up? Check out the English Breakfast Society here. The Chicago Dog (AKA the Chicago hot dog, the Chicago Red Hot) I first found the Chicago Dog at Mustard’s Last Stand next to Welsh-Ryan Stadium, home of the Northwestern Wildcats. Mustard’s is the prototypical hole-in-the-wall joint that you must check out for a Game Day Meal. The Chicago Dog is sometimes described as being dragged through the garden. The recipe below proves the point. This dog is a colorful mix of vegetables and condiments---with one very significant exception (see warning below). The Chicago Dog Recipe
**NO KETCHUP: this is not negotiable. Once ketchup is added, you have left Chicago far behind in your rear-view mirror. Bon Appetit does a very nice job of describing the 9 Steps to Chicago-Style Hot Dog Heaven. @TheWienerCircle at 2622 N. Clark Street in Chicago has earned a solid spot in Chicago food-and-sports culture. The Char-Dog is the dog of choice and will satisfy your Chicago Dog needs. Buyer Beware: the atmosphere—especially late night when the bars close—can range from humorous to hostile, depending upon the night and your taste for adventure. As the kids say, “Google it” before you go: here’s a head-start to get you going. Portillo’s is a well-known favorite in Chicago (more on Portillo’s Italian Beef sandwich in a future post). You can shop-and-ship a 10-pack or go for the 50 pack hot dog party pack! Portillo’s also has locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, and California to help you get your GDM. No post on the Chicago Dog can skip Superdawg on Milwaukee Avenue at Devon and Nagle, where you can get a drive-in Dog! Convincing a cabbie to stop on the way from O'Hare to Evanston was a highlight of my time commuting between Minnesota and Chicago. Let's get ready for football---and food! Our first game has the Buccaneers traveling to the Twin Cities to play the Vikings and...maybe...Sam Bradford. Here's the GDM drill We take a look at local Game Day Meal favorites from the visiting team city and the home team city Our thought is that fans will enjoy trying the local food from the opponent's city. Of course, some fans may prefer to remain loyal to their hometown favorite. On our Find your Game Day Meal page, we offer recipes and restaurants that feature the GDM we have selected Here we go! Tampa Bay lays claim to the Cuban Sandwich--a delicious combo of roast pork, sweet/honey ham, swiss cheese, and dill pickles nestled in a crusty white loaf of bread lathered with mustard (we should note that Miami contends for the honor). The locals will tell you that the Cuban Sandwich was created in Tampa's Ybor City by cigar rollers, sugar factory workers, and others. Our friends at Serious Eats have a great story on the Tampa Bay Cuban Sandwich here. Minnesota's entry into the GDM recipe book is the Jucy Lucy (or the Juicy Lucy, depending on whether you believe that Matt's Bar or the 5-8 Club originated the sandwich. The concept is surprisingly simple: the Jucy Lucy is an inside-out cheeseburger.
The Star-Tribune recently recapped the 'who started the sandwich' controversy. You can read more about the battle and the burgers in "The Juicy Lucy: Two bars battling since the 1950s over Minnesota's famous burger" . This is it---we are ready to share our love of good food, local beers and great cocktails, and sports. Each week, we will pick one or more games and bring you some suggestions for local favorites from both cities (visiting and home team).
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April 2018
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