West Philadelphia Born n Raised

In west Philadelphia born and raised….

 
            One thing I’d like to do more often is try out recipes at home and once finished, post about it; Post the Recipes, maybe some history behind the recipe, anything I did differently, the steps I took, the end result and what I would change.             So I decided to start out with one of my favorite dishes and one that is fairly simple: a version of the Philly Cheese Steak. I love the Philly, can’t stand the Football team or their fans, but they have produced one of the best sandwiches ever created; sooo good, even its altered children are pretty tasty- The Texas Philly, The Roast Philly, even the Gourmet Philly. Truth be told, I probably love the Texas Philly a bit more since it comes with jalapenos and jalapeno cheese. 
             

          The classic version as we all know is; A Toasted Hoagie Bun, Thinly sliced Beef (usually rib-eye or top-round), grilled onions, shrooms, occasionally bell peppers and of course Cheez Whiz. Yes, the traditional is with Cheez Whiz from the jar, Not Provolone, cheddar, Velveeta, or any other.

This my family friendly recipe I used and I came up with- nothing really special though::
*Feeds 4*

Ingredients::

1lb Rib-eye or Eye of Round-  I recommend the rib-eye, since it is more tender.
1 Jar of Cheez Whiz or 8 slices of Smoked Provolone
 4 fresh Hoagie Buns; I got mine from HEB Bakery in a 4pack
2 tsp Liquid Mesquite Smoke
2 tsp Louisiana or Krystal Hot Sauce (no tobascco)
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Ground Rainbow Pepper
2 tsp Kosher Salt
½cup 1000 Island of your choosing (home-made is the best)
2 Bells peppers, any color; Red and orange tend to be more sweeter, but pricier

½ White or Sweet Yellow onion
½ stick of Butter
2-3 tbsp Corn Oil

Steps:

1) Freeze or semi freeze the beef, then slice. It’s a pain in the butt to get extra thin slices when raw & raw. Trust me.

2) Throw all the sliced beef into a bowl and mix in; Liquid smoke, hot sauce, garlic, pepper, salt. Let marinate for 5-10 minutes.

3) While meat is marinating: Slice up the bell pepper and onions. Then heat up the skillet or griddle and grease up with 1tsp butter & 1 tsp oil.

4) Once skillet is medium-high, sauté the bell peppers and onions. Once nicely browned, set aside.

5) Add another teaspoon of butter and oil to the skillet and heat back up. Once hot, add the beef. Cook the beef on medium-high heat until fully cooked. While beef is cooking, if going with the classic Cheez Whiz, heat up some up in a microwave safe bowl.

6) Slice buns in half and toast either in toaster or on griddle with butter… Spread 1000 Island on top & bottom. Keep warm on the side.

7) Now depending on your equipment, once the beef if cooked… melting the cheese will be different.

7a) If you have a skillet, turn the heat down to medium; take ¾ of the beef out of the skillet and set to the side.  Add some onions and peppers to the beef in the skillet, then either place 2 slices of provolone cheese on top or ladle on some Whiz. Pour a couple tablespoons of water in the skillet and cover with a lid for about 10 seconds 
until cheese is nicely melted over the beef. Carefully scoop the Philly mix out and place into one of the hoagie buns. Repeat for the other 3 servings. Enjoy

7b) If you are using a Griddle, turn the heat down to medium. Take ¾ of the beef off the griddle and set to side. Add some onions and peppers to the beef on the griddle, then either place 2 slices of provolone or ladle on some Whiz. Pour a couple tablespoons of water onto the griddle to the side of the beef and quickly cover with a metal bowl or bread pan. Steam for about 10 seconds, carefully remove the lid. Scoop the Philly mix off the griddle and place into one of the

 hoagie buns. Repeat and Enjoy.

A Touch of The 'Simple' Life

Café Homestead

608 Dry Creek Road  

Waco, TX 76705
(254) 754-9604

Mon - Fri:	10:00 am	-	6:00 pm
Sat:	7:00 am	-	6:00 pm

http://www.cafehomestead.com/

            I finally got around to trying this joint a couple weeks ago, after the guys from Wacoboard went raving about it. I had also read great things about their special Farm to Table Dinner from Wacofork. Café Homestead is a local eatery out at the Homestead Heritage Village, right outside Waco. They specialize in organic and local food, much of which is grown on site; including the wheat for the breads, the cows for the beef, and much more. This community is almost in its own world, surrounded by us. They grow most of their own foods, they build their own homes, buildings and tools, they reflect the time before all the crazy technology.. that will probably be the doom of us all as foretold in Terminator. I remember going here for field trips and churning butter, watching the black smith, and such.

            I invite my dad for lunch and we head on up there. They are about half full when we get there, so luckily there was no waiting for a table. We order our drinks; I try their peach sweet tea. We both look over the menu and discuss what we should get. I decide to get the South of the Boarder Burger, which is what the guys from Wacoboard recommended. This burger consists of: “A third pound burger topped with Pepper Jack cheese, smothered with green chilies, avocado, and our Ranch dressing, served on a sesame-topped whole wheat bun and garnished with lettuce, tomato, onion, dill pickle and your choice of russet or sweet potato fries”… for $11. I of course got mine sin onions and tomato, and I chose their sweet potato fries.  My dad decided to get their Pastrami Melt: “Our own beef pastrami and Brazos Valley Swiss cheese piled on a whole wheat roll, topped with Russian dressing. Served with coleslaw $10.”

            Our food arrives and it looks fantastic, the aroma hovering off the dishes are fantastic… I can’t wait to dig in. The burger is rather large, with a 1/3 pounder patty and all those toppings and the ladle of ranch dressing… it makes it a small challenge to eat…. Well if you are afraid of getting messy. I dove in and the ranch dressing just starting dripping all over the place. The first bite is pretty damn good; the burger meat itself is juicy, tender and flavorful as you get the beef flavor and hints of seasoning. The veggies are fresh n’ crisp, the avocado nice and cooling, the pepper jack cheese is nicely melted and has a nice kick. You get nice amount of green chilies in every bite and if you know me, I love my green chilies. Plenty of ranch dressing to go around and pleasantly rounds off the burger. The hamburger bun was great, crisp outer crust and fresh fluffy inside… that wasn’t dry. This was, by far, one of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten… most excellent.

            After a few bites into my burger I finally chowed down on some of the fresh cut sweet potato fries. I dipped them into the excess ranch dressing that dripped onto the plate. They were crispy, sweet, very hot… and extremely tasty. I love me some sweet potato fries, oh ya. I also managed to snag a bite of my father’s sandwich…. And holy crap it was delicious. I’ve never been a big fan of pastrami, but this was perfect. The meat just melted in your mouth, the cheese was fresh and gooey, the wheat roll was great, and the Russian dressing was top notch. I plan on grabbing this sandwich next time I go back. The coleslaw that came with it was pretty good too; sweet, fresh, creamy, crunchy....I could’ve eaten the rest of it.

            After finishing my burger and fries, I was offered some dessert. They didn’t have to twist my arm long, before I broke down and ordered a slice of their Apple Crumb Pie… minus the ice-cream. Everyone gave me crap for not ordering the ice-cream…IM SORRY, my bad my bad; I know better now. The pie, like the rest of the meal, was fantastic; warm, flavorful and savory with apples and cinnamon sweetness, light hint of nutmeg … great texture and the heaping mound of crumb topping was delicious.

            The food was great, the experience was pretty good. The only problem was the waitress, who didn’t really seem to pay much attention to us. I had to wave at her across the room to get more tea, after I had finished it off several minutes before. Besides that, they were extremely nice and courteous, helped us pick out a loaf of bread for my mother. We ended up getting her some of their fresh Raisin Cinnamon Bread. Over all, it was a well worth the drive out there and the price we paid. If you haven’t been out there yet, I highly recommend it.

*And if you are like me, you’ll dress casual nice and throw on a Jagermeister hat that I snagged from Mardi Gras*

A New Beginning...

Fat Ho Burgers

701 East Waco Drive
Waco, Texas
In the RZS Food Mart

11am-8pm Tuesday & Thursdays
10am-5pm Wednesday
11am-9pm Friday & Saturday

FatHoBurgers

            I must say I am glad to see Fat Ho Burgers back open, I love local joints and want them to thrive, I want to see locals succeed. If you haven’t heard by now Fat Hos is back up and running…. Well jogging is more like it. We definitely remember the hype, both good and bad; it was recognized by multiple National News Sources, it was the talk of the town, everyone had to go down there and check in, they had a line around the block for a couple of weeks. But eventually it died down and they kept a semi-steady flow, until suddenly they closed.

            I have heard my fair share of reasons as to why they closed down, but for now, that really doesn’t matter. What matters now is that they are back, with less pizazz & hype, and the question on everyone’s mind is…. “Are their burgers better?” Well hopefully I can provide you with a sufficient answer….

            So earlier this week, after I read about it in the paper and checked out their times, I decided I’d stop by after work and give it a try. It would be my latest “fun filled” adventure to say the least. They opened up in a little gas station over on East Waco Drive that I really never knew was there, even though Id driven by it several times. Had it not been for the sign outside, I would’ve drive right past it. I pull up and park up front, there is limited parking mind you. I step out and smell the grill going, and hear a great chatter inside. 

            I step inside; to my right in the back there are people slaying the electronic slots, to my left the counter, in front of me is the kitchen area and where you order your food. Remember this is a gas station and convince store first, burger joint second… so there really isn’t a place to sit and you’ll be getting your food to go. I step up, glance over the menu and decide to get a Wide Load Feisty Ho. Wide load means it comes with fries, their clever name for the combo. The Feisty Ho is their “spicy” burger. The Burger and fries runs me about $5.64 or something along that line.

            Right before I placed my order, I checked in on Foursquare for fun and I like to use it to for a time of reference. The reason I bring this up is because earlier today I was looking through their Facebook page and saw a comment that “they get your burgers out to you in 5 minutes.” By my calculation it took them nearly 10 minutes to get out my burger, and at the time I was the first person to place an order. An older couple came in a little afterword. Now I don’t think you have to have a burger popped out in 5 minutes or less, we aren’t trying to beat McDonalds, but you can’t keep a customer waiting for more than 8 minutes for a burger joint.

            So I get my burger and fries and head on home to chow down. One of the first things I notice in the car is the aroma, it smells good. You get the greasy, sweet, and grilled scent… the aroma from the toasted bun and the fries. Once I get home, I open everything up. The first thing I notice is that they got some new fries; they have upgraded from the crinkle style to a Cajun seasoned style. Not only did they greatly approve upon the quality of the fries, they also increased the amount you get… which is nice. These tasted so much better than the original set of fries they were selling.

            Next I go after the Feisty Burger; which at first baffles me as I try to figure out a way to get the burger out in one piece. All the cheese and grease has pretty sealed the burger in the foil bag, which the burger was pretty much crammed into. If I may suggest something, it might be nice if they were to change this-- Get foil wrappers for the burgers, instead of the bag. After I get the burger out, it smells great and I can see a big difference in quality but it is still very lacking in presentation and soggy (from the bag). The burger looked like it was just thrown together, heck all my jalapenos and bacon were all bunched together on one side. I prefer to have the extras spread out over the burger. That’s what I strive for when I make burgers at work and at home, that’s something that many burger joints try to achieve. Again, they have pictures posted on the Facebook page of these nicely dressed burgers, and then there is my mess that I received. As my Chef taught me “You Eat With Your Eyes.”

            So I finally dig in and man it is a definite improvement. This burger tastes so much better than the original one I got from the original joint. They are using a thicker, juicer, overall better quality hamburger patty and it was cooked suitably. They have new sourdough buns, which are nicely toasted with an enjoyable buttery sweet taste. They weren’t nearly as sparse on the extras this time around; plenty of mayo, jalapenos, pickles, lettuce, and they DIDN’T forget the bacon this time around! Yay for bacon! I must say, this was such an improvement. The burger was really pretty good; I enjoyed it, every single bite. This pulled a complete 180 on their product quality. You get the gooey hot cheese, the juicy grilled burger, the toppings and the awesome bun.

            You can tell Miss. Evens spent some time doing research while they were closed. They limited their menu, they didn’t just rush into anything, and they came out with a much better quality product.  Now if they can only work on the presentation some, this shouldn’t be that problematic. If they keep improving like this, I honestly believe they could be considered one of the top burger joints in Waco. I know that sounds like a huge jump and for some it might be hard to fathom, but I stand by it and hope only for the best for Miss. Evens and Fat Ho Burgers.  

            Though I must admit, this new place isn’t near as inviting as the last one. It is really congested inside, it is in the “other side” of town and I could see this being a factor in loss of possible clients. None of this, obviously, bothers me. I’ll go just about anywhere for some good food. My fellow readers, I ask that you not let any preconceived ideas or thoughts or what you might have heard, keep you from going by and trying one of their new burgers.  I know I will be going back to try another one soon enough.We gotta support our own and hopefully with enough support they will eventually be able to move to a better location.

                                              *picture they posted online*


For Those Interested, here is a link to the original Review of the Original Fat Ho.
Who You Calling A Ho

On The Move

The Olive Branch Express

213 Mary Ave

Waco, TX 76701

1 254-754-1555

Mon - Fri:

11:00 am

-

2:00 pm

Website

Every time I at the Olive Branch, I am amply satisfied. Recently they opened up a new joint and after a couple weeks of me being 1) Extremely lazy and 2) Extremely busy, I have finally had the chance to dine at the Olive Branches new joint. The new eatery is the Olive Branch Express and is housed right above them in the back of Spice Village.

            The big difference between the original Olive Branch and the new Olive Branch is pretty much summed up in their name- Express. Instead of waiting for your sandwiches, soups and salads to be made up… the express already has them plated up and ready to go for you to diner in or for take-out. Their daily specials are singular, yet they change every day and will only cost you a few dollars. The lunch special comes with an entrée, a salad, bread and a dessert. They also have fresh desserts or as they call them “Jar Treats” for just a couple of bucks or you can buy whole frozen casseroles to heat up later that evening for the whole family to enjoy.

            The first time I stopped by, was one of my busy days, so I got my lunch to go. The special for that day was Chicken Spaghetti, house salad, roll and bread pudding. I received an ample serving of the Chicken spaghetti, which was of a creamy cheesy style. There was plenty of flavor to be found in this dish. You get the gooey cheese, you have the home made cream sauce and the even the al-dente noodles, with bits of nicely cooked (not dry) chicken breast. It was very good and hopes they keep serving this one from time to time. The salad was your basic house salad, nicely dressed. The roll was your basic warm house roll. The dessert was equally as good; I am usually not one for desserts; but the bread pudding was mighty tasty and great creamy texture, flavored with cinnamon and topped spiced pear.

            Today I went again, but I had the day off and was going to enjoy my day so I decided to eat it there. So after the gym I got cleaned up and headed over there for a mid-afternoon lunch, before I went to see the movie “Mirror Mirror” (which by the way, was much better than I expected.) Today their lunch special was Spinach Chicken Lasagna, side salad, garlic French roll and a chocolate Easter egg chocolate cookie (try saying that 5 times fast). The lasagna was pretty good; the noodles were nicely cooked, the spinach fresh, cooked well and tender, the cream sauce was delicious, with bits of chicken thrown in that was nice and tender. The salad, was a nicely dressed simple Caesar salad with some homemade croutons. The French roll was pretty tasty with the garlic topping… I love me some garlic. Last but not least, once again, was the dessert. This was a chocolate cookie, with a candy inside, that I couldn’t really figure out. It looked familiar but I wasn’t sure. Come to find out, they had thrown those candy coated chocolate Easter eggs into the batch. These melted more, than your average M&M did, but they still tasted mighty fine and the cookie was nice and chewy. Once again, it was another tasty and filling lunch.

            While eating lunch there this last time I ended up discussing the food served at the Olive Branch Express and other matters with a fellow; who I am guess is the Manager and whose name I have forgotten (I feel like an ass for letting it slip my mind, but I am honestly great with faces and  horrible with names.) He is a great guy and great at his job… we had a pretty good chat. I also got to meet Leah, the Owner… real nice lady. They have really pulled off a great job with the Olive Branch and being able to expand it like this.

            For the price you pay and the great service you get; this is a lunch to not be missed out on. It’s fast, easy, very affordable and usually on the healthier side (well, compared to a Burger). I myself will definitely try to visit them for lunch at least once every other week, based on my work schedule. I believe they have some other ideas and plans in the working for the Express, can’t wait to see what these will be and I can’t wait to see what new lunch specials they come out with.

           Did I mention that both the Olive Branch and the Olive Branch Express have become two of my favorite lunch spots in town; I haven’t been disappointed yet and I don’t think you will be either.  If you've been there already, I hope you keep dining there and enjoying their fresh food. If you haven't gotten around to it yet, please stop by and give them a try-- tell'em DavieG sent ya.