In a hectic and busy world, quick and easy meals that can be scaled are my favorite type of meals. One such meal, that I have loved making recently, is a hearty beef Philly sandwich. This is a great meal to scale because it warms up well, and each time its warmed up, it is just as good as the first time it was served. These same qualities make it a great meal to prepare ahead of time to have on hand for a busy week!
The Process
The first step to preparing these Philly’s is to chop all of the meat and vegetables that you will need. I like to use tenderized steaks or even chuck steaks to make these Philly’s, but you can always use ground beef to make them. The veggies that are added to this Philly can and most certainly do vary in our house, but there is always a mix of sweet bell peppers and onions. On this particular Philly pictured above, we used one sweet green bell pepper, one sweet yellow bell pepper, one sweet red bell pepper, and one small to medium sized onion.
Once everything is chopped, I like to keep the meat and pepper and onion mixtures separate, at least to start out as the peppers will take up a whole pan until they cook down. Using olive oil or a similar oil, sauté the pepper and onion mixture until they are soft. I do not season the pepper and onion mixture, as I put my seasoning on the meat mixture to help bring out the natural flavors in the meat more.
In a second pan, brown the cubed meat or hamburger until cooked through, seasoning it to taste as soon as it is placed in the pan. I like to use salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder; however, if I am wanting more of bite in my Philly I will add paprika or cayenne pepper.
Once both mixtures are cooked through, the peppers and onions cooked until soft and the meat mixture browned and cooked through, remove them from heat and prepare the hoagie buns on a wire rack over a cookie sheet. You can spray the rack if you are concerned about your buns sticking; however, I have never had an issue with the buns sticking to the wire rack.
Split the hoagie buns and place them face up on the wire rack, covering them in either sliced cheese or shredded cheese. If you chose to use sliced cheese, two slices is usually good enough for this step. Place the hoagie buns with cheese into the oven on broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has begun to melt.
Once the cheese has begun to melt, remove the hoagie buns from the broiler and add the meat mixture and vegetable mixture to each hoagie, topping them with additional cheese. Again, you can use shredded or sliced, but if you using sliced two pieces is about right. Return the hoagie buns to the broiler for about another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove the Philly’s from the broiler and serve immediately.
The leftover meat and vegetable mixtures can be refrigerated for up to a week and reheated in small batches for quick and easy meals that are fresh.
Tips, Tricks, and Suggestions
In this recipe it does not call for buttering the hoagie buns before putting cheese on them and placing them into the broiler. Not buttering the hoagie buns allows them to get a little bit toasty and add some crunch to the Philly; however, if you do not like to have a toasted finish on your hoagie bun, add some butter to the inside of each hoagie bun before adding the cheese.
To bring out more flavors in your cubed meat, it can be marinated in seasonings ahead of time. Simply cube the meat 12-24 hours before you plan to cook the meat, toss the meat in your desired seasons, place in a covered container, and leave in the refrigerator until you are ready to the cook the meat. Using this trick also allows you spread out the meal preparation if you are trying not to grab a pre-packaged meal on a busy night.
Variations
This recipe is for a mild Philly, but if you like spicy food you can always added jalapeños or other spicy peppers to the vegetable mix as well as the seasonings you add to the meat mixture. Other changes you can make to the vegetable mixture include mixing and matching your pepper and onion varieties, adding things like mushrooms, peppers, or banana peppers, and adding seasoning to the vegetable mixture as well as the meat mixture.
Variation that can be made to the meat mixture also include mixing and matching seasons, adding some spice by using jalapeño juice from canned jalapeños to the meat as you brown it, and trying different cuts of meat like ground beef or even different meats like chicken.
If you are gluten-free or just prefer not have the hoagie bun, the meat and vegetable mixtures can both be served the same way over rice with shredded cheese added over the top to create a Philly rice bowl. Using any leftover meat and vegetable mixture to make Philly rice bowls is a great option for lunches and on-the-go dinners.
Recipe
Supplies
- Cutting Board
- Sharp Knife
- 2 Large Cast Iron Skillets
- 1 Cookie Sheet
- 1 Wire Rack
- Wood Spoon or Spatula
- Olive or Avocado Oil
Ingredients
- 3 Sweet Bell Peppers (Mixed Colors)
- 1 Small to Medium Onion
- 1.5 lbs. Beef
- Seasonings
- Salt
- Pepper
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Cube meat and chop onions and peppers into thin strips.
- Season and brown meat while sautéing peppers and onions.
- Place wire rack over the cookie sheet.
- Place the hoagie buns on the cookie sheet, open face up and cover in shredded cheese or two slices of cheese.
- Place in oven on broil for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and add meat mixture, vegetable mixture, and more two more slices of cheese or shredded cheese.
- Return to broiler for another 5 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve immediately.
Cora's Cottage 
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