State: Pennsylvania
One
of my favorite states to visit is Pennsylvania.
PA has a lot of memories for me in cities such as Lancaster, Reading,
Poconos, and Philly. Going to Lancaster,
we would see Amish buggies and stop by to get apple pie. If you have not had Amish apple pie from the
Pennsylvania Dutch, you are missing out!
My father's house which was located in the corner of Northeastern
Maryland was so close to PA, we used to walk to the state line. If you lived near PA, you have had to at
least visited Jason's Woods or Field of Screams haunted attractions. Both exhibits open up for Halloween and they
are the BEST Halloween attraction sites in the Mid-Atlantic. Their budgets are on a multi-million dollar
scale, in which they rent out a farm and host an attraction of scary haunted
houses, hayrides, mazes, and more. I
haven't been in a long time, but I look forward to taking my son there one day.
When
it comes to food in PA, the first thought is a Philly Cheesesteak. If you are not from the area, you spell it
"Cheese Steak." If you are in
the surrounding states or the Mid-Atlantic, we spell it
"Cheesesteak." If you are from
Philly, there is only one way to eat a steak.
The locals prefer Amaroso bread, steak, onions/peppers, and some kind of
cheese, either the Whiz or Provolone. In
Maryland, we add other stuff like pickles, cherry hots, lettuce and whatever
else. For this challenge, I kept it traditional and as authentic as possible.
Ingredients:
1
Pizza Crust
1
Box of 100% beef steaks or if you can get the butcher to slice thin Steak
Rib-Eye
1/4
lb. of sliced provolone cheese (I went with Picante) or 1/3 cup of Cheese Whiz
1/3
cup of Mozzarella cheese
1/2
of onion
1/2
of green bell pepper
Optional:
Sweet
Hot Cherry Peppers (hard to find in some regions)
Steak & Veggies:
In
a medium pan, break apart steaks in small strips. When buying the steak, great real beef and
not the "Steakum" versions.
Cook on medium heat until all pink is gone and add in onions &
peppers. Cook until peppers and onions
are translucent. Remove from heat and
place meat mixture onto a plate with paper towels. The meat will be very greasy. Set aside.
Pizza:
Preheat
oven to 450 and bake bread till slightly browned or for 7-10 minutes. Lower
oven temperature down to 400 degrees. Next, add a layer of mozzarella and
sprinkle some of the sweet hot cherry peppers on top (optional). Then, add beef mixture across the top of the
base ensuring all areas are covered.
Finally, add the slices of provolone cheese on top. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted
on top. Remove from oven and allow pizza
to cool before eating.
Pairing:
When
looking for a good beer from PA, there are a few beers that I would go
with. For this challenge, I had two that
I wanted to highlight. Rivertowne
Brewery IPA is a newer craft beer company and was pretty good. Weyerbacher makes some very strong ales and
because of my memories with Jason's Woods, I had to do the Imperial Pumpkin
Ale. I would recommend something that contains a lot of citrus or acidic notes like an IPA, to help balance off the cheese steak grease....Lol. Cheers!
Learning Moments:
For
this challenge, I was having crust issues but it turned out pretty good. I originally wanted to get fresh ribeye and
have it sliced thin, but Whole Foods did not have a slicer there. They also did
not have frozen steaks and being pressed for time, I went to Winn Dixie to get
thin steaks from the freezer section. I
would have gone to Publix, but Winn Dixie is right next to Whole Foods. Any who, I would like to do this challenge
again but with the ribeye sliced meat.
The pizza was really good, but I would love the meat to be fresher and
not from a frozen box. Either way, it
turned out really good and reminded me of the cheesesteaks from home. Enjoy!
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