Yo! It's a Philly Steak in Your Freezer!

Let's get the obvious right out in the open... the frozen version of an established classic is never as good as the real thing.

For those of us who live in a White Castle wasteland the frozen slyders are a fair substitute (which benefit greatly from the addition of sliced pickle about halfway through the micowave cooking time) and if I close my eyes real tight I'm almost transported back to the half-dozen or so Castles that I used to frequent in the Philly/South Jersey area.

But it's no substitute for the real deal and I'm counting the days till my upcoming trip to Cleveland and a chance to gorge myself silly on a 10-pack of Castle burgers like the good ol' days.

Luckily, I live close enough to Philly that a cheesesteak is always a viable menu option, whether I get some frozen steak and make my own (I still have to post pix of our late January steak-a-thon) or decide to trek up 95 and hit some of Philly's authentic steak shops.

Unfortunately, not everybody lives close enough to Philly (or a steak shop run by Philly ex-pats) and for those people, well, I feel sorry. But Philly restauranteur Tony Luke's is planning to bring authentic Philly flavor to... your freezer?

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer (which I've been known to enjoy over a cheesesteak or two)...

South Philly sandwich impresario Tony Lucidonio Jr. says he has found the winning formula for preparing frozen cheesesteak sandwiches for sale in grocery stores that won't result in something gross when popped in the microwave oven and/or boiled...

THG will refrain from commenting until he's had a chance to give the frozen treats a try but I can't imagine it'll be any worse than what McDonald's tried to fool us with.