I know its been a few weeks since our last Cheese Steak challenge, but don’t worry, they aren’t a thing of the past. We are all anxiously awaiting the final throwdown between Philly and DE shops. I haven’t been lucky enough to sneak a trip in myself with the guys yet but I am hoping to as things go on because seriously, if you aren’t drooling with anticipation at this point, clearly this page isn’t for you.

**The following text is not Kita from Pass the Sushi, but rather Chris and Sean the two guys in charge of this weekly cheese steak debate.**

So let’s get down to business.

The Rules:

• When giving a choose at ordering we will stick with either “Wiz wit”or “American Wit” (no other condiments)
• We will only consume water during the eating process
• We must visit the head to head competing shops during the same visit.
• When at all possible we will eat at the original shop of a franchise restaurant
• NO TAKE OUT- we must eat at the shop
• We can not be drunk while participating in the challenge

Steve Prince of Steak’s 7200 Bustleton Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19149

Going back to Philly, to Philly, to Philly we’re going back to Philly…..to eat some cheese steaks!!

We’re back in Philly for round 6 of our challenge and this time we brought along a friend. Brian, was the one who recommend Steve’s to us for our challenge, as a matter of fact he swore that Steve’s was the best cheese steak joint hands down. Now to be fair Brian grew up right down the street from Steve’s so he was biased (I love that word), let’s see if his over whelming admiration for Steve’s lives up to his hype. When we arrived, Sean and I decided to take a back seat and let our guest judge place our order, Wiz

Wit, Brian even paid in a sad attempt to sway our decision towards Steve’s. The Steak took about 15 minutes to get to our table (the place was packed) and they cooked their steak in a unique way. There were two people working the grill one cooker and one placer of the meat on the grill. The steak was sliced very thin in about a 5×4 rectangle (I had to bust out my ruler for this one). There was no chopity chop of the steak here and there was no need to.

Our steak made it to our table and during the unwrapping process we noticed that the roll had a nice golden brown tint to it, I couldn’t wait to take a bite. I opened the roll and was blinded by the light of the beautiful cheese wiz!!! The onions were mixed in nicely and cooked to a golden brown with just a touch of char on the sides. I decided to go in and take a bite and what a beautiful bite it was. The meat and wiz was extremely flavorful and the onions did what onions are supposed to do and add a complexity to the sandwich. I looked over at Brian and he had a HUGE smirk on his face as he said to himself “yeah I picked this winner”. But hold on Brian, the first bite was wonderful but the deeper I got into the sandwich I found myself asking “where’s the beef”?? Everything was spot on for this sandwich but they severely lacked on the quantity of beef that they put into each sandwich and for me that’s a big deal. The sandwich was a little doughy because of the lack of beef. Maybe Steve’s wanted you to pay extra for extra steak, but since it’s not part of our rules we had to stay with what they offered. We left Steve’s happy….mainly because we had more cheese steaks to eat and piled into Brian’s ManRover (his Honda CRV) and headed to Leo’s…..

 

Leo’s Steak Shop 1403 Chester Pike Folcroft, PA 19032

We arrived at Leo’s and I threw our order in. The large steak at this place is 18 inches long. We decided to go with a large and split it three ways since Brian was going to stick it out for another cheese steak. I watched the cook throw this monstrosity on the grill and I began to smile. There was enough steak there to make four steaks from Steve’s. I tried to order Wiz, but struck out….so we ended up with a large American wit.

While waiting I read several citations and awards on the walls from local newspapers and magazines commending Leo’s for cheese steak greatness. The steak was ready in about 10 minutes. There are tables out front, however since it was so cold and windy we made a group decision to eat in the car parked right out front. We jumped in Brian’s Manrover and tore into our steaks.

First thing first…the steak looked great. It was mounding with steak and was so full that steak was falling out over top of the roll. The cheese was melted throughout and the onions were plentiful. I took my first bite and found out that it was hot….so hot that I burned my mouth. I was so excited by the appearance of the steak that I couldn’t wait to take another bite. It was painfully hot, but I couldn’t wait for it to cool down. So even though it looked good, I started to realize that looks can be deceiving. The steak was not very tasteful, but the roll, the cheese, and the onions, were all great. We seemed to be having steak issues during this round.

Steve’s steak was really good, but definitely lacked steak. Leo’s had a ton of steak, but lacked taste. I was the first one to speak up, after about three or four bites I had decided that Steve’s was the better steak, but not by much. I was wondering if Chris and Brian were going to agree with me, but both replied that Steve’s was the clear winner. I should throw out there that since the day we had the cheese steak’s and today I have received about five phone calls from Brian. He seems to think that Chris and I hid a cheese steak in his brand new car causing a smell that Brian describes as “rotten vomit steak”. Brian if you’re reading this, check under the rear passenger seat.

~Chris and Sean

A sad day for our hungry team:

I know, your thinking you just read this post. But you didn’t. That last round up was trusty old google letting me in on my most clicked, my popular and most beloved posts from 2011. What I didn’t talk about was MY most beloved posts from 2011. Sure, the last one’s made the fans happy, but let’s be real – this is my blog after all. So here is a much more thoughtful (as in I have to get ready for work in 15 minutes) post about my cooking experiences through the last year.

11. Did someone give Kita a deep fryer? Yeah. Yeah they did. I think I shoved everything I could in that bad boy for at least a week too. My saddest moment was when nothing happened to that peep, but I got my revenge. However this, this deep fried layers of fat kid friendly pasta plated on a simple white sauce with a drizzle of extra chunky marinara on top. Oh yeah, that was heaven. I suggest you say Screw it to Jenny Craig and indulge on some deep friend wanderlust immediately.

10. This bread was the moment I knew I had ‘gotten it’. Yeast recipes are a science, but on top of that, I believe, they are about practice. Once you get a feel for bread, I think you’ve pretty much got 99% of it figured out. This challah was the moment I knew I had that feel and bread has been easy ever since. (Even the ones I’ve screwed up.) 

9. I love those recipes that freak people out. (You’ll see that a little later too). But this one sounded awesome to me. Savory kielbasa cooked in maple syrup on top of some cheddar infused waffles. Oh Hells and yes. It may not be as cute as French toast, but it’s 10 times better. My inner meatatarian was happy. You like me better when my meatatarian is happy.

8. Photography tips from me? Yeah, this is not a great post on picture taking. But it’s real. As I was going back and cataloging my posts for the year, I re-read this and where you probably will curse me for not giving you an earth shattering photography epiphany, you will know that I didn’t lie to you and may leave feeling a wee bit better about your own skills.

7. My post featuring my Caramel Apple Cake left me dumbfounded. It was a disaster from the ground up. I didn’t hid it either. In the pictures you can see caramel dripping everywhere (ok, now that I think about it, maybe I should have snapped a shot of my kitchen). The cake was a mess, fell apart while being photographed and you loved it. I got so many tweets and comments on this post I was cracked up. This one showed me to not be afraid to show me at my worst.

6. Seriously, Delicious. I have nothing more to say about this one. Go make it. Now. Then you can come back here and thank me.

5. On top of being pretty damned tasty (and you all should know by now I hate breakfast) this was the first time I looked back at my pics and thought that maybe I can take a decent picture. There was just something about this set that I really really loved (clearly as I actually included a gallery for this post for you to flip through). It made me want to feel like that about my pictures all of the time. It made me elevate my camera skills and learning. I hope to keep this up in 2012, unless those crazy Mayan’s were right.

4. This had to be one of the most ridiculous sandwiches ever. Up until I made this one, I believed all sandwiches should come together quick. No thought or preparation, maybe an extra butter knife but nothing complicated. This required onions to simmer forever, a 24 hour prep time and then cooking, cooling, a sauce, toasting and more. And you know what. I polished off the first sandwich on my set for the shot leaving nothing but crumbs behind. I had to make a whole new sandwich just to take pictures after I was done gorging myself – that’s how good these were.

3. This spiral cake is one of those posts where even Oprah could have raved about it and it wouldn’t have been ‘big enough’ in my eyes. Cakes weren’t something that, before running a food blog, I would have never imagined making just because. This cake was neat though, different, awesome and shiny with its vertical layers. It’s number three on in my pics because even though it wasn’t perfect, this cake let me believe I could ‘bake it pretty’ too. My thing has always been (and will probably always be) savory. But dang, when I put my mind to it I can make a decent cake.

2. The Manwich. A pulled pork grilled cheese with a layer of macaroni and cheese piled on thick with a few slices of bacon, onions and some extra cheese nestled between to slices of bread, toasted to perfection on my panini press. Just the stuff heart attacks are made of. My inner fat kid always tells me to go big or go home, so I did. This post cracked me up. I knew going into it I was going to get some shrivel noses held high in disgust and that there would be some people too real to not hold back on their excitement. What I didn’t know was that Tastespotting would give it a shout out on their facebook page inviting thousands of other readers to tell me just how disgusting an idea this was too. Now, in the privacy of my blog, let’s be honest – unless you’re a vegetarian you have problem had some leftover pulled port and mac and cheese that went amazingly together. Heck, there’s not much I wont stir into our leftover mac and cheese. Add a little bacon and some bread as a simple vessel to get it all a parting on my tastebuds and I’m one happy camper. Sure, this doesn’t scream healthy. It isn’t something I advocate eating everyday – mainly because leftover pulled pork doesn’t last that long in this house. But this is my blog and if my inner fat kid wants to party hard, I’m going to let it. I promise that little caged beast has been up to no good that its just dying to share with you soon.

1. This spicy Italian sausage holds a place near and dear in my heart. It makes me warm and fuzzy in ways that should bother me on some primitive level. It makes me smile in a way that would make most men run for the hills. But to me, it was like some ancient trial I had to pass in order to move forward in my culinary adventures. As if my ancestors sat and watched me from afar admiring my bravery and tenacity as I proudly shoved meat through a grinder, cleaned natural hog casings and gleefully prepared them to be filled with perfectly seasoned pig parts. Gently I filled the casings, being sure to section and twist evenly and inspecting each link for imperfections. For those of you who have yet to stuff your own sausage, I tell you to go try it and you will understand what I am talking about. Once you get your first whiff of hog casing, there is no going back. You put your big kid boots on, roll up your sleeves and never look back. You will come out of it a bigger better person. Or at least with one hell of a sausage.

Thank you once again for enduring my random thoughts, recipes and one too many pictures of my pets (for those of you that follow me on Facebook). I can not say how much I have grown to love this little space among the millions on the interwebs. I feel like one shiny star among the billions not even counted yet. But I have had thousands of reasons to feel like my star sparkles a little brighter from time to time.

I can’t wait for 2012! 

Another year is coming to an end and my second ‘real’ year of blogging. Things are chugging a long at a pace that sometimes leaves me a little over whelmed and wanting my pillow, yet for the most part, that I am happy with. Regardless of my jest in last years round-up about living the life of the Pioneer Woman, no amount of plaid in my wardrobe is going to disillusion me. I have no aspirations of being a full-time food blogger.

This is my hobby. It’s my fun and my outlet. I have made great friends, and hope to continue to make more. I have eaten well. I think we rarely have had a repeat meal except for some of out classic favorites that we simply couldn’t live without.
I  see less and less prepackaged excuses in my pantry and more and more simplicity in meals that I would have not to long ago considered far too complex or difficult for weeknight. And yes, I still order take out pizza on nights when I’m just too tired to think about getting home at 9 and cooking a meal after working all day.

I haven’t really decided on my blog goals for 2011 (maybe tomorrows post) but I am toying with some. I have a few goals for my personal life that if I type up and share with you will be official so it will be statistically more likely that I accomplish them. As its 10:07PM and I haven’t even taken my boots off yet, you will have to sit on the edge of your seat in suspense until I have time to jot these down in more detail tomorrow.

For now, thank you once again for another great year. I appreciate every comment, every pin, every tweet and every like on Facebook.

Christmas came and went and now its time to ring in the new year with snazzy parties and fancy cocktails. I have been invited to a few of such events, but as I am mass amounts of excitement in the real world, I will probably just sit at home enjoying the evening with my own private stash of bubbly. After how much fun I had making Christmas dinner though, the idea of throwing a last minute hurrah at my house had been pinging around in my head. (Says the girl that had no dessert to offer.)

New Year’s Eve appetizer’s seem to be on everyone’s mind when I asked on Twitter what today’s post should feature – so here are some uber tasty little treats if you are having yourself a shindig this Saturday night.

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Congrats to Jenny @ Savour the Senses! She won my holiday swag giveaway!

 What are you doing this New Year’s Eve?

It’s hard to find a balance between what to post on Pass the Sushi and what not to. I don’t photograph everything I eat (trust me, you would be appalled) but I do try to photograph the good ones. There are a few that have never even made it to a ‘photo shoot’ because I simply can’t be bothered with making them look pretty before devouring them. I am trying to strike a harmony between my tummy and my food blogging self that maybe will someday share with you some of my favorite fall back meals.

As for December, there just wasn’t enough days. I wanted to post more and finally burnt myself out. My guests at Christmas dinner were shocked to find no dessert. That’s right. Nothing. I simply couldn’t pull it off. I know next year to post my Thanksgiving recipes in October and my holiday recipes from then on if I want to sneak in everything that I have for you guys without having to post two or three times a day. I’m sure that would burn even you out!

So, these post Christmas Eggnog pancakes will just have to do, better late than never. Sure, I could have tucked them into a folder for next year but, let’s be real, I have the memory of a goldfish and they would have been long forgotten. I hope you all have better organizational skills so that you can whip these up for next Christmas, or maybe just splurge of New Years day. Resolutions don’t start til the 2nd right?

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Holy post holiday madness, Batman. I am so glad I don’t work Mondays because I really need today to just recover. For anyone who has to work today, or yesterday, bless you. Christmas day was an awesome 12 hour marathon of presents, family, dinner, a visit from my favorite Rottweiler, and more presents.  I scored mass amounts of awesomeness, a shiny new Kindle and now I need to teach myself how to use it. These new fangled kids and their crazy technologies

I am looking for new books to read now more than ever and am wondering how magazine subscriptions work on them. If you have one let me know how magazine subscriptions work or any tips, apps or other things I may need for it!

I am now relaxing watching a spiffy blu-ray copy of Sucker Punch with an exhausted pup and two cats that may of had a little too much catnip today.

I hope your Christmas was filled with joy and minimal stress.

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Seriously, what’s a birthday without some cupcakes?

I hope everyone is prepped and ready for Christmas day and enjoying some quality time today. Or at least you are calming things down and will be able to relax by tonight. I have a bit of festive work, then some holiday party-ness and a long over due Christmas Eve dinner with my family. Then I will tuck myself in tight and await a visit from Santa.

Eggnog Cupcakes

Discovered on Annie’s Eats, from Baking Bites & Cook’s Illustrated

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teas. baking soda
• ½ teas baking powder
• ½ teas salt
• ¼ teas freshly ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup dark rum or bourbon (optional)
• 1 cup eggnog
• ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1 teas vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar

For the frosting:

• 2½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2½ cups confectioners’ sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 2½ tbs eggnog
• 1 tbs dark rum (0ptional)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; whisk to combine, set side.

In the bowl of an stand mixer or with a handheld blender, combine the rum, eggnog, vegetable oil, vinegar, and sugar. Beat on medium-low speed until well blended, scraping the sides with a spatula as necessary to incorporate all ingredients. Add in the dry ingredients, in three additions and mix on low speed just until incorporated.

With a large ice cream scoop, divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling the cups 2/3 full. Bake 22-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, 20-30 seconds. Add in the powdered sugar, salt and nutmeg, and mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and smooth, about 1 minute. Add in the eggnog and whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4 minutes. With the mixer on medium-low speed, blend in the rum. Remove the frosting from the bowl and put into a piping bag. Place if refrigerator for a few minutes if the frosting has become too soft to pipe.

Frost cupcakes as desired.

Happy Holidays!

There is a mountain of presents in the middle of being wrapped, all the grocery shopping is done (I hope), and the stockings are all set to be hung. I’m taking a moment to unwind a minute and watch a little bit of The Santa Claus 3. I was expecting to be doing this with an additional 90 pounds of energy running about, but sadly, Gouda won’t be spending the holidays with us.

So let’s have a little holiday run down for everyone who may be interest, if not skip ahead to the recipe for the tasty sugar cookies below.

Pre-Christmas thoughts

• I still have two presents to buy… Crap
• Secretly, I want to see that Matt Damon film about owning  a zoo. Not sure why.
• I have no expectations for Christmas so I am really excited about what Santa may bring me. I know, I’m like 5. No matter what I get though, it’s going to be a surprise.
• Does all the holiday prep make you lazy when it comes to real food? I totally bought hot links for tomorrow nights supper. Classy, I know.
• Speaking of food – The menu for Christmas day is

• artichoke spinach dip
• Stuffed beef tenderloin
• Crock pot mashed potatoes
• Steamed green beans (though, I may add a little bacon – bought it just in case)
• Broccoli and cheese a la Green Giant. Go on judge me.
• Rolls.

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For anyone wondering, those are unicorns and gnomes in my batch of sugar cookies. If I have flying reindeer, I can have unicorns too.

And on that note, the cat has decided he fits between me and the laptop so I guess I’ll just sign off and get back to wrapping.

I may be in my twenties, but Christmas morning has never changed. I wake up early giddy with anticipation. I try to not wake anyone else. Finally, I drop one too many spoons or shut the pantry door a little too hard and everyone else wakes up. There is the childlike joy of unwrapping presents under the tree and the mess of paper that follows.

We never made Christmas breakfast. Ever. Chocolate chip cookies, candy and pure excitement was all we needed to fill our tummies. But if you did want your family to have something more than pure sugar for Christmas breakfast, these delicious cinnamon rolls come together quick enough that you could sneak off while someone struggles to unhinge that must have toy from its stressful packaging.

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Yeah, I know it looks long, but really its a quick recipe – and sooo tasty. I promise.

Seriously, Look at that awesomeness. ^.^

Christmas wouldn’t be the same (in this modern world of ours) without Christmas specials. I love finding the same classic movies on over and over again from Thanksgiving on. Nothing quite makes you smile like the distant hum of all the Whos down in Whoville or when Linus gives his Christmas monologue. That is the meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown.

So what do Christmas specials have to do with food? Not a whole lot. But, these Cornish hens reminded me of the humble dinner that Bob Cratchit served his family for Christmas. (Another Christmas classic my dad would always watch late at night after everyone was in bed and he stayed up making sure all the presents looked just so).

Game hens are the perfect portion for a small family/friends get together for the holidays and faster cooking than a turkey. The pomegranate-rice stuffing is an interesting take on traditional stuffing and really dressing thins up a bit.

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Exciting News! Today I bring the cookies to Katrina’s Kitchen! Please go check out my Grasshopper Pie Cookies on her site. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be featured on Katrina’s site and how much fun it was coming up with this cookie recipe for her cookie exchange. I would love for you to go over and check out my recipe and all the other wonderful cookie recipes my foodie friends have been sharing all month on Katrina’s site.