Philly Steak Factory, a review

Each and every time I return to the triangle, the first place I try to get to is the Philly Steak Factory in Durham. I also think to myself, that it will be good like I remember.... and then I take a bite, and it is never like I remember. It is always 100% better, and I try to figure out why I don't go more often.
I have recently moved to Raleigh, and thus don't get over to Durham as easily anymore. However, this past Friday, I was planning on heading over to the campus at UNC, for the annual Carolina Comedy Festival with headliner Lewis Black. This particular night featured Keenan Thompson, who did a fine job, although, I am looking forward to Rory Albanese of the Daily Show, returning to his role as Emcee.
My friend Joel accompanied me and suggested our favorite restaurant so we hit it up on the way.
My order always seems to be taken by the same guy each time (the owner) which gives it a great community feel. We got 2 whole (Philly Steaks) with fries and a drink. They have other items from salads, to Pitas, but I've never bothered to try anything else. I'm sure they are amazing but, if it isn't broke, don't fix it.
As noted in my previous posts on my short Philly Steak Tour, It's all about the little things. The fact that the marinated (hot) meat juice is poured over the hand-chopped meat to melt the cheese, the cajun seasoning for the fries on every table, the fresh brewed sweet tea, you just can't find these things in PA. Above is some great hand chopping going on.
As Joel and I tasted our fresh made sandwiches, we both remarked out loud how it was better than we remembered. I vow to be back, soon, very soon.
As I brought along my camera this time, and we had some time to kill before the comedy show, we walked by Time Out for a Vanilla Chipper. Basically, it is 2 pints of Vanilla Ice Cream sandwiched between two enormous chocolate chip cookies.
Although it takes awhile to eat, as you can see from the pictures, it isn't possible for this to a bad tasting dessert. Enjoy.

Philly Steak Factory
(919) 490-9753

5410 New Hope Commons Dr
Durham, NC 27707

Time Out (open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year)
133 W Franklin St # D
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
(919) 929-2425

Ghetto Big Mac

These guys are all about creativity when it comes to the Ghetto Big Mac. Remember, the McDonalds employees are there to serve you, so small requests should be granted. I have found this to be true across the board.

Ghetto Big Mac
Ingredients
Double cheese burger, small fries (value menu)
Ask for Seeded Bun, Big Mac Sauce, and large cut sliver onions.

Enjoy!

Random Picture #3: Alice's Egg Sandwich, Mayview Style

One of the local restaurants (you could say favorite for many) in Los Feliz is Fred 62. A diner, known for slightly overpriced American fare that may or may not fill you up. Consequently, it is also the place known for a few celebrity sitings. I am terrible with names and faces, but was able to recognize Glenn Fitzgerald from Dirty Sexy Money. I wasn't like, "ooh, I am stalking him and have to meet him." It was more of an, "I think I have seen him before, oh yeah, Dirty Sexy Money, have no idea what is name is, glad to see he gets out and about and eats like the rest of us."
Long story short, Fred 62 does make one delicious Alice's Egg Sandwich. Which happened to be the first thing I had when I arrived in Los Angeles my first night. Goat Cheese, Avocado, Tomato, Eggs, and Hash Brown, served on a buttery bun sounds great. It was, even though it was tiny. When the bill came at $7.85 per, The Food Monster was grumpy.A few months later, we set out to make our own. Thus, we come across Random Picture #3, from my photo archives. I remember John David made the hashbrowns, and we all helped out to make a better sandwich, for way cheaper.From the looks of things, the ingredient list included:
Tomato
Basil
Avocado
Hashbrowns
A Cheese (probably goat)
English Muffins
Scrambled Egg

Good Morning Beach Breakfast Biscuits, Los Angeles Style

Remember the Good Morning Beach Breakfast Biscuits? Well, here I was on another vacation, this time in Los Angeles. My girlfriend flew out for 4 days, and we went to the Getty and hosted a brunch among other things. Our teamwork paved the way for some Beach inspired Ham Steak, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Biscuits. For the fruit salad, we added, Blackberries, Raspberries, 2 Oranges, and a large Apple, a little lemon juice and a generous drizzle of Vanilla Yogurt. Enjoy!

Open Faced, Mango, Salami, Cheddar, and Dill Snack Sandwices

Continuing on with our Scandinavian Pumpernickel Wheat bread, we arrive at a creation of leftover ingredients. To the bread, Dasha, and I added Wasabi Mayo, Sliced Mango, Sliced Salami, and Aged English Cheddar. We then broiled them until the cheese had melted. Fresh Dill, completed the snacks. After we sliced them into smaller pieces, they were a hit at our poker night.
Try it sometime, leftover open faced sandwiches.

Ingredients:
Carb
Fruit
Protein
Dairy
Herb

Enjoy!

Good Morning Beach Breakfast Biscuits

Good Morning Beach Breakfast Biscuits as seen on Tastespotting.com

Now on to food actually from the Beach trip. Going back over my photos, I realized I didn't actually take that many. When meals rolled around, I often was halfway through it before I realized it would go perfect in the blog. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

We started things off by grilling out the first night. Lauren and I brought marinated Chicken and 24 Ears of Corn from the Farmer's Market. We also had a Farmer's Market Melon feast (Cantaloupe and Watermelon). This was one of those times I forgot. However, I will tell you, giving that chicken a good day and a half in the marinade really helped with having a moist flavorful meat.
Breakfast was usually something simple like cereal or fried egg and English muffin. So no need to photograph those. Then, one morning her brother made everybody a tray full of biscuit sandwiches. With ingredients pulled from the fridge we had 4 types.

Grands Biscuits
Fried Eggs
Sausage or Turkey Bacon
White American or MuensterAll contained Grands Biscuits and a Fried Egg. Then some had Sausage and White American Cheese, Sausage and Muenster Cheese, the rest had Turkey Bacon, with either White American or Muenster. Once all the Biscuit Sandwiches were assembled, they returned to the oven to finish melting the cheese. Due to the abundance of these, I had both a Sausage and Muenster and a Turkey Bacon and Muenster. Both were some of the best biscuit sandwiches I have ever had. Growing up in NC, that's saying something. Don't knock Turkey Bacon when you don't have real Bacon. It's still better than nothing. I hope you can get a group of friends together soon and whip up a batch of these.

Tower of H'ville - Fred 62 knockoff

If you read my latest review of the Tower of Babel sandwich I had at the popular hangout Fred 62, you will notice it didn't get an exceptional rating from me. Some of you weren't too happy about that. Well, like I mentioned in that post, I decided to stay home and make a sandwich of my own, based on the same Tower of Babel scheme.
My goal, was to make a tastier, cheaper vegetarian version of the Fred 62 sandwich, as I grew up in Hendersonville, NC, the new sandwich shall be named the Tower of H'ville.
I started with some 8 grain Wheat Bread. Two slices. I felt that three was a bit much unless there was a sauce to balance it out. To further combat the dryness, I added a thin layer of Mayo. The only tomatoes I had in the house were sweet Cherry tomatoes, so I sliced 10 of them up into 3 slivers each and covered each half with tomatoes. As for Cheese goes, I used a New Zealand Sharp Cheddar. Probably a much higher quality cheese than the standard Fred 62 slice of Cheddar. After broiling the open faced sandwiches until the cheese melted, I added an entire ripe avocado.
I decided to leave the sandwich open faced and eat it with a fork and knife. Another problem with the Tower of Babel, was method of consumption. I had to squish the sandwich and run through a 15 minute jaw warm-up exercise routine in order to get a bite of the large sandwich. With having two open-faced sandwiches, that problem has been eliminated.

The verdict: The only thing the open-faced Tower of H'ville lacks are the fried onion straws. However, you don't miss them, with the flavorful avocado, tomato and cheese, this sandwich was not lacking, but could have been enhanced. The problem of consumption and dryness were eliminated and the total cost from store to dishwasher came out to be about $2.06. Not bad for a delicious meal.

Sandwich Rating: B

I hope you enjoyed this sandwich, if you would like me to make a cheaper alternative to a high-priced restaurant item, please email me at thefoodmonsterblog@gmail.com

-The Food Monster

Greek Grilled Cheese

Today I wanted to share with you a take on a classic, the Grilled Cheese. My step mom used to make a variation on this when I was about 12 years old. She claims she learned it while working in a restaurant in the Greek Isles. However, first, let me tell you, that Kirby Von Scrumptious and I threw down some serious sandwiches last Saturday Night (April 26), and the real winners were the judges. You can also check out her blog at: kirbyvonscrumptious.blogspot.com for more details. Back to the Greek Grilled Cheese.


To make them you have to start with a large appetite. These aren't you Kraft American Singles between two pieces of Miracle Bread.

4 Slices of Wheat Sourdough Bread
8 oz. (or 1 cup) of assorted cheeses (For these sandwiches I used an English Cheddar, Havarti, and a 6 cheese blend
1 Ripe Large Tomato
Handful of Basil, Washed and Ripped.
Irish Butter

Butter one side of each slice of bread. Heat skillet to medium heat, add one slice of bread face down. Immediately add cheese, tomato and basil. I like to have my cheese already in a sandwich shape so I can just lift it off the plate and put it directly on the bread. Then top the sandwich with another slice of bread, butter side up. When golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, flip. Just brown the other side and your cheese should be gooey. Cut Diagonally for best flavor, and largest crustless surface to bite into. I also like to warm up some Tomato Basil soup while I am making the Grilled Cheese, that way it is all ready at the same time. Enjoy!!!

Phillysteak Tour- Phillysteak Factory Durham, NC

It seems that the regular workers here, from the owner to the general help are proud of their product and put in a little extra effort when hand cutting the meat, or when topping off the cheese with hot meat juice.
It starts with the bread, Parmesan and oregano, white, or wheat, add let tom and mayo, then choice of grilled green peppers, mushrooms and onions. I usually get mush and onion as the peppers can overpower the sandwich. The secret here I think, is that they let the steak marinate in its own juices kept at a high temperature, then separated into smaller pieces by a grillmaster on a hot grill, Provolone is applied and then they pour a little of the juice on top to melt the cheese. scoop and arrange it on the bread.
They also have delicious fries with an optional Cajun seasoning. Maybe a tad pricey as far as my appetite, but well worth every penny.

Currently #1 on my Phillysteak tour.

Mega Bagel Sandwich

Ingredients
1 fine new york bagel, halved
1 roma tomato, sliced
black pepper, to taste
2 slices of deli turkey
2 slices of wide cut salami
1 oz. of mayo
1 oz. of brown stone-ground mustard
2 slices of muenster cheese
2 slices of provolone cheese
alphalpa sprouts
hummus
fresh basil, washed, chopped

Broil each bagel half so the top is crispy while the tough outer edge is warm and soft,

To each half, in this order
Add
Mayo, 1/2 sliced roma tomato, black pepper
Turkey, mustard (brown stone-ground), roasted garlic hummus,
Slice of salami, provolone slice, muenster cheese slice,
Sprinkle of parmesan, a big ole thing of organic alphalpha sprouts, and some freshly chopped basil

Then put the two together,

Warning: may cause jaw injury if entire bagel is attempted to be put into mouth. Try eating some ingredients with the top half, then again with the bottom half in a double bite. No chewing between to ensure thorough mix of all ingredients tastes, and aromas.

Important tip, make sure the tomato slices touch the mayo, and the salami touches the mustard.

Enjoy!

Mediterranean Breakfast Bagel

You will need:
1 Tomato
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
4 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar
2 bagels (cut in half)
4 oz. of cream cheese
Dash of Black or Cayenne Pepper

Slice 1 Tomato (the thinner the better)
Spread out slices on a plate, add pepper
Drizzle lightly with Extra Virgin Olive Oil (2 Tbs.)
Place in Fridge
Thinly Slice Garlic
Place Garlic, remaining Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar in a small non-stick frying pan
Place pan on Medium Heat for 6 minutes (Garlic should turn deep purple)
Retreive tomatoes
drizzle warm oil/vinegar garlic mixture on top of tomatoes
Let sit one hour in fridge or over night
Slice 2 bagels in half
Toast lightly, then broil for one minute
Spread with cream cheese
top with Tomatoes

Yields 4 Open Faced Mediterranean Breakfast Bagels