Re: Merichka's Garlic Butterine Recipe For Chicken
Marién Hadges
I'm pretty much game for anything that has steak in it. Truly. And we have this little local restaurant in our area that serves THE. Best. Steak Po' Boys. The restaurant is called Merichka's (shout out to all of my Joliet and South Chicagoland peeps, if you know what I'm talking about!).
Their steak po' boys have a seasoned, tender cube steak topped with creamy, melted cheese, nestled inside a crusty, garlic buttery roll. Drool. Unfortunately, we don't get out as much as we like to anymore with three kids and crazy, busy schedules, so we make do by making it at home! And thankfully, these steak po' boys are quick and easy to make.
To make your steak po' boys, heat up your broiler. You can instead turn up your oven very high or even pan fry, but I like the broiler because it doesn't dry it out as much. It's kind of like grilling inside the house. While your broiler is getting hot, mix together the butter and minced garlic in a mixing bowl and liberally smear it all over those rolls. Set them aside.
Get your cube steaks ready. Place them on a broiler pan (grab one here if you don't have one. They're really handy, especially if you can't grill all year long with cold winters. Bring the grilling inside!). Brush the steaks with olive oil then season with salt and pepper. Broil them quickly, for just 1-2 minutes so they don't over cook since they're thin, then remove them from the heat. We're going to broil again in a minute, so take them out even if you don't think they're all the way done.
Grab your buttered rolls. Place a steak on each one, and top it with cheese. I sprinkled a little bit of dried parsley to make it look yummy, but that's totally optional. Then broil the whole thing again for an additional 1-2 minutes. Voila! Now you have the best steak po' boys in town right at home!
Speechless! Recipe is great, but to search for a steak po'boy recipe because the last time you called merichkas it was an hour and a half wait...only to find a recipe with the same love for merichkas in mind! Such a hidden gem!
I was born in Joliet so I am very familiar with Merishka's. But living down in Texas I don't get the luxury of heading over to Crest Hill to get these amazing garlicky delights. I will be trying this recipe this week.
I moved to Texas 22 years ago and was born in Joliet have been to Merishka's several times years ago. I was looking for a recipe and yours was the first I clicked on. Thank you! It brought back a lot of great times and was just as good! All they make with cube steak down here is chicken fried steak and gravy gravy gravy. I miss Yankee cooking and I thank you again! I will make this many more times! Good Job!!!!
I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.
The recipe for the steak poorboy is simple: Grilled cube steak with lots of garlic butterine (garlic, butter, margerine) slathered on lightly toasted french bread. Add hamburger pickles on the side; I like swiss cheese on mine. Add a twice-baked potato with the salad and you have the poor boy plate. Enjoy!
I was glad to find your found secret, I used to have it because my friends had it from their sister working there. Thanks to you I have it again, awesome! The picture you have does not look like the bright red color that it really looks like, oh well, they will see.
We have been going to Merichkas for the last 35 years and I can tell you with 100 percent surety that this is NOT their infamous house dressing recipe. And I know this because I personally have the coveted recipe that we got from an employee about 20 years ago.
I also have the coveted recipe & love it! I lived in Joliet for 30 yrs and grew up on Merichkas food. I moved away 22 years ago but my entire family still lives there. Everytime I visit I have to have a Merichkas poorboy! I would like the garlic butterine recipe. Any help?
"There is a nostalgia," co-manager Joe Zdralevich III said. "Old places are attractive to the new generation. Since their parents brought them here, they're bringing their kids here. Seeing our customers happy leaving, I'm so appreciative. It makes everything worth it."
According to the Merichka's menu, "On April 18, 1933, when Prohibition was repealed, Mary (Merichka) Zdralevich and her son Joe started Merichka's ... As business grew, so did the size of the restaurant, with son Joe doing most of the remodeling himself."
Back in the 1930s, "they were selling to construction workers who were building Route 7 and shift change workers at the factories," explained Joe Zdralevich, 40, during Thursday's interview with Joliet Patch's editor. "(Merichka) was selling sandwiches off her porch basically."
According to the family history, Joe's grandfather and Rose "Rosie" Kolenc, who ran the Merichka's kitchen for 46 years, introduced the poorboy to the menu after attending the Kentucky Derby during the 1950s.
Since the 1970s, Len Bluth "makes our poorboys," while Mike Zelinski has been a head butcher for decades. Zelinski came to work at Merichka's out of high school, joining the restaurant in 1967. To this day, he still works part-time.
After Joe Sr. passed away in 1989, the third generation of family consisting of Joe Zdralevich Jr., Mary Kay George and George Zdralevich took ownership and continued the tradition. George Zdralevich passed away in 2017 and Joe Zdralevich Jr. passed away in 2020.
Merichka's can seat about 175 people in the main floor dining areas, plus another 130 to 150 in its banquet hall. Unlike most sit-down restaurants, you won't find a single booth inside Merichka's. It's always been that way.
The 2020 global pandemic and the shutdown of indoor bars and restaurants for several months signified troubled waters for Merichka's, but Merichka's loyal and faithful customers came through, keeping the landmark restaurant going.
"People love the nostalgia fact. It's great. We're extremely proud that we're still around, and hopefully for many years to come. I think a lot of people look for places like this," Joe III told Patch.
Another interesting footnote in its history: Merichka's was originally in Joliet when it opened in 1933. During the 1960s, Joe III explained, the property was incorporated into Crest Hill, and it's remained that way.
During the past 20 years, Merichka's added a grilled chicken poorboy and a spicy chicken poorboy to the menu. However, Merichka's does not count those two different items as part of their tally of regular poorboy sales.
The last major remodeling effort took place in 2009 with the front entrance. The 1993 renovations involved the bar entrance and porch seating area. On Thursday, Patch toured the kitchen and the basement.
One of the recurring requests from people across the United States is shipping the garlic butterine poorboy sandwiches and Merichka's famous house dressing, which Joe described as "a French/Russian concoction."
The distinction is given out to the top 25 restaurants in the state that are "authentically Illinois" and "are beloved destinations for visitors and locals alike," according to a news release by the Office of Tourism and Heritage Corridor Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Merichka's has undergone two significant expansions, Zdralevich Jr. said. In the late 1950s and mid-1960s, the restaurant expanded to gain customer space as well as a new kitchen, red room and dish area.
In 1970, a second big expansion created space for a butcher shop, where the restaurant has since cut its own Choice USDA meat. It also included a banquet area, which is now storage for decorations, signs and other items used by the restaurant over its eight decades.
The restaurant first served the poor boy in 1959, after Joe Zdralevich Sr. and his wife went to the Kentucky Derby and brought back the recipe. The item includes two long slices of French bread seasoned with Merichka's garlic butterine, along with sandwich steak or chicken.
"It's hard work running a restaurant, keeping employees and customers happy," Joe Zdralevich Sr. said. "My dad said if you have a good product, good price and good service, you'll keep customers coming back."
My recipe is also a fabulous garlic butter sauce for pasta; try stirring it through tagliatelle or busiate as a very quick, easy, and flavorsome side dish. And don't forget some crusty bread on the side!
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