Serve authentic Philly cheesesteaks at your NBA draft party

Having friends over to watch the NBA draft Thursday night? Want to have them coming back to the buffet spread for more? Serve up this authentic Philly cheesesteak recipe from the restaurant whose founder invented them, Pat’s King of Steaks, in honor of the Philadelphia 76ers having the No. 1 overall pick for the second straight year.

Boston passed up on the chance to draft University of Washington point guard Markelle Fultz by trading the No. 1 overall pick for the No. 3 pick and a haul of future first rounders. Fine and dandy for the 76ers, who were looking for the perfect backcourt complement for last year’s No. 1 pick Ben Simmons of Australia, by way of LSU, who sat out all year with a broken foot.

Philadelphia lore has it that the cheesesteak was invented by a hotdog vendor named Pat Olivieri in 1930. Here’s how the story goes, according to visitPhilly.com:

Pat Olivieri was a South Philadelphia hot dog vendor who one day decided to put some beef from the butcher on his grill. A taxicab driver noticed the alluring aroma and asked for his own steak sandwich. The next day, as the story goes, rumor of the delicious lunch had spread, and cabbies around the city came to Olivieri demanding steak sandwiches. Soon after, Olivieri opened up a shop on 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue, Pat’s King of Steaks, to sell his new creation.

Eventually, according to legend, he added cheese to the recipe. Today, Pat’s grills are sizzling 24 hours a day, as are Geno’s, the rival shop across the street. For 40 years, the two shops have waged a friendly competition to win the title of best cheesesteak in town, with Geno’s founder, Joe Vento, claiming it was he, not Olivieri, who first added cheese to the cheesesteak.

INGREDIENTS

6 tablespoons Soya bean oil

1 large onion, sliced

24 ounces sliced rib eye or eye roll steak

Cheese (store processed recommended); American or Provolone

4 crusty Italian Rolls

Sweet green and red peppers, sauteed in oil (optional)

Mushrooms sauteed in oil (optional)

Ketchup

DIRECTIONS

Heat an iron skillet or a non-stick pan over medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of oil to the pan and saute the onions to desired doneness. Remove the onions and add the remaining oil and saute the slices of meat quickly on both sides. Melt the cheez whiz in a double boiler or in the microwave. Place 8 ounces of the meat into the rolls, add onions, and pour the store-processed cheese over top. Garnish with sweet peppers, mushrooms, ketchup.

This recipe is compliments of Pat’s King of Steaks via www.FoodNetwork.com.

Carroll Walton
Senior Contributor for Inside Tailgating magazine and insidetailgating.com, freelance writer and author of "Ballplayer," the Chipper Jones biography that came out in April of 2017. Former sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, wife, mother of three young sons and certified Dookie.