Description
The world famous taste of Hatch chiles are cooked into every bite of these New Mexican style “cheesers”. ‘Burque’ is the local nickname for Albuquerque, the state’s largest city and central hub. This recipe takes the classic hoagie roll, ribeye, and provolone, and spices it up with roasted and chopped Hatch green chile and optional smothering in red chile sauce. Ribeye cooks deliciously in beef tallow (rendered beef fat) -or- you can easily substitute bacon drippings instead to add great flavor. A griddle is best for cooking cheesers, but any large, non-stick skillet will do in a pinch.
Ingredients
- 2 ribeye steaks, (boneless or bone-in) about 2 pounds total
- 1 tablespoon Hatch green chile powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2–3 tablespoons bacon drippings (or rendered beef fat)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium size yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup roasted, peeled, and chopped Hatch green chile (about 8 ounces)
- 10–12 slices provolone cheese
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 3 fresh 8-inch Hoagie rolls (or ‘steak’ rolls) sliced longways, but not all the way through
- optional Hatch red chile sauce to garnish
Instructions
- Chill steaks in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes, or until very stiff and slightly frozen. Remove from the freezer and shave steaks (do not discard fat) into very thin slices with a sharp knife. Place into a medium-size mixing bowl and toss meat with Hatch green chile powder, salt and pepper to evenly coat. Cover and set aside.
- Prepare your griddle by turning two burners on medium heat and another on low. Place 1 tablespoon bacon drippings and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in the center of the medium heat on the griddle. Place onions on top, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and stir to coat with griddle spatula. Cook onions until they are golden browned and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in green chile and cook for one additional minute, then move the onion mixture over to the low-heat burner.
- Turn the medium heat burners up to medium-high. Drizzle the rest of the bacon drippings over this side of the griddle and add the sliced ribeye beef. Toss with the griddle spatula to coat meat in drippings, then spread out into somewhat of a single layer and leave it alone for about 1-2 minutes. Stir and repeat until the beef is spotty brown and still pink in a few spots.
- Slide the beef over and toss with the onion-green chile mixture. Using your griddle spatula, shape beef into three equal groups approximately the same shape and size as your hoagie rolls. Cover each group of meat mixture with overlapping slices of provolone cheese. Cover with a metal bowl (if you have one big enough) and let it melt.
- While the cheese melts, spread mayo over the inside of your Hoagie rolls. Place them, mayo side down, on the griddle to toast until light golden brown on the inside. When Hoagies are toasted, and the provolone is melted, place open bread pieces over each section of meat and cheese and use the bread and spatula to scoop up the meat into the sandwich. Serve hot with an optional drizzle (or smothering) of red chile sauce.
Notes
If using a large skillet to make this recipe, it may be necessary to make it in batches, i.e. cook the onion first, then remove, then cook the beef. Toast Hoagie rolls by placing them under your oven broiler (watch them carefully), then finish the sandwiches by scooping the meat filling up into the sandwiches with a large cooking utencil.
