what's the deal with peppers, onions, sausages?

[grasswire]

Is that a New Jersey thing? I can honestly say that I have never had that dish, and the only place I have seen it on a menu is the state fair. But I see it represented here quite often, it seems.

I don't know if my stomach could handle it. Does it bite back?

[HappyMe]

1. It is delicious!

It has never bitten me back. I use hot Italian sausage. You could just as easily use mild or sweet Italian sausage. Maybe even try it with brats.

[MadrasT]

2. Very common in PA

Especially at farmer's markets and pizza joints. Sausage sandwich (on a long roll) with fried peppers and fried onions and maybe some tomato sauce. I don't eat pork much anymore but I quite enjoyed those sammiches back in the day.

[Sedona]

3. It's been a staple of my Italian American diet

for better or worse. Slice it all up in a big frying pan with some olive oil, garlic, and mushrooms and serve with Italian bread or pasta.

Mix the left overs with scrambled eggs for breakfast the next day.

WARNING: making a habit of this will definitely put on the poundage.

On edit: Was served at baseball games in Phoenix during my former married life, I have no idea if it still is.

[GoCubsGo]

16. There are some really good, waistline-friendly chicken Italian sausages out there.

Johnsonville makes an okay version. Al Fresco brand, if you can get it in your area, is really good. Their sun-dried tomato and cheese chicken sausage is excellent, too. I love them with roasted or fried peppers, on a sandwich or not.

[cbayer]

4. Love it. It is the quintessential food at Fenway in Boston

[Phentex]

5. I thought peppers and onions were commonplace

with sausage, eggs, chicken, pasta, beef stir fry, etc.

I guess I have the double whammy: NJ Italian.

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. It's popular in Chicago.

On edit: And I'm not Italian.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. I learned to cook it with fried potatoes

One skiller dinner, cooks up fast, is cheap and filling. You can sprinkle shredded cheddar over the top of it in the skillet, let it melt ( off burner, with a lid on) for 3 minutes.
How hot the peppers are depends on which kind you use.

[Major Nikon]

8. Throw in some eggs and tortillas and you have breakfast in the southwest

[Hotler]

9. Don't people call the sandwiches "grinders"? nt.

[grasswire]

10. I thought a grinder was like a hoagie.

Cold, with meats and cheeses.

[The empressof all]

19. No The east coast sandwiches are different

Grinders are hot and usually toasted ....You see these north of New Haven CT pretty much. You'd never ask for a Grinder in NY or NJ

Sub sandwiches are either hot or cold and usually on crusty Italian Bread. They may or may not include lettuce, tomato, and other veg. Most cold subs are made with Olive oil and Vinegar. The Bread on the hot subs is usually not toasted which allows greater absorption of red sauce into the soft insides of the bread.

Hoagies are a PA thing. They are similar to a Sub but the bread is far softer. A perfect cheesesteak hoagie would be a cheese steak with lettuce, tomato, hot peppers and mayo. If you order a Cheesesteak from Gino's or Pat's steak you won't get a hoagie unless you ask for one.

As someone who has lived all over the East Coast that's how I call it....YMMV

[grasswire]

23. well, I have eaten grinders in DC metro area...

Georgetown, Bal-mer, Seven Corners, etc.

And I think the term "hoagie" is more universal that Pennsylvania.

Yep...MMV.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. I made some on Wednesday!

Vinine, Paulie, Tony, Guido, and Sally were coming over. They all like that. We had it on grinder rolls with some red wine of indeterminate vintage and provenance.

Actually, I really did make it on Wednesday. The rest is made up. Maybe.

[Tab]

28. What about Snookie?

Or was she already there?

[elleng]

12. Amazing you haven't seen it, unless you don't do Italian!

Lidia and her daughter made it today on PBS, and its one of my family's favorites!

[grasswire]

14. I do Italian

But I didn't grow up Italian or live in a predominantly Italian-American area. I doubt that my parents or grandparents ever tasted italian sausage. My mother's family was WASP-y New England; my father's family was WASP-y New England with a detour to Canada for a few generations. And in my generation, the greatest influence is Pacific Northwest, and Napa style. Italian on this coast is more likely to be panzanella or ravioli or primavera or puttanesca. Artisanal cheeses and sustainable products.

So there's the cultural difference vis a vis this dish.

[The empressof all]

15. You are right it's more of an east coast thing

As an east to west transplant it took a while for me to get use to the different Italian/American traditions. When we moved to Seattle from NY I couldn't get over the fact that I couldn't get a veal parm sandwich or for that matter a decent sausage. I still lament the fact I can't get a decent Italian sub sandwich unless I spend a fortune for Boars Head meats...Still it often isn't cut properly out here. Thank goodness I can get decent pizza now even though I have to go to Everett or Clearview.

[grasswire]

24. what about that salumeria belonging to Mario Battali's father?

I've been wanting to go there.

[The empressof all]

25. Me too

I hear the lines can be long. I don't get down that way often. I don't eat meat that much anymore but some days I just pine for rare deli roast beef on a "real" Kaiser roll. Have you ever been to PFI in Sodo...They are a hidden treasure for Italian supplies. Great cheeses and good cold cuts but they don't slice meats fresh for you...

http://www.bigjohnspfiseattle.com/

Worth a special trip.

[Tab]

13. I wasn't aware anyone associated it with NJ specifically

although due to the Italian immigrant population, I can see why it'd be popular.

But it's f*ckin' yum. That's why.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. As far as I know, it's a Brooklyn thing...

and every pizzeria or sandwich joint in the tri-state area that makes hot sandwiches has a variation of sausage&peppers.

Joisey probably took it the furthest, though, and Dee's Italian Hot Dogs has one of the more interesting variations-- an Italian Chicago hot dog with sausage, peppers, onions, maybe cheese and some other stuff like olives or a pickle and some romaine lettuce in a wedge of Italian round bread. Some guys made it in a pita.

[The empressof all]

18. Rutt's Hut..in NJ....Home of the Ripper

Deep fried dogs----If you are gonna go this is the way.....

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=1362

No peppers and onions on the dog....But why even pretend to be healthy.

[TreasonousBastard]

20. I was just there a couple of weeks ago! We had...

some training sessions of Rte 3 and I just had to make a stop there for lunch. Took a couple of people with me, and they agreed if you're gonna go, it should be with a ripper and mustard relish.

I tried the "cremated" years ago and they looked at me funny-- "are you sure?" Well, if I wasn't before, that made me sure.

But never again. To call it an "acquired taste" is to lose 90% of the experience. I don't know what they do with them now, but the one I had was crispy, crumbly and tasteless all the way through.

But rippers-- the hot dog sublime!

[The empressof all]

22. Next time you are in that neck of the woods

Head on over to North Arlington to the Arlington Diner. It's right on River Road and the Belleville turnpike. It's typical Jersey Diner food but they make THE BEST Cheesecake bar none. I grew up around there and know all the spots...Well at least the ones that are still there... The Cheesecake there is the finest in the NY/NJ area. They do all their baking on site and I don't know what the heck they do ....but it's AMAZING. Everytime anyone from home heads out this way they know what to bring me....

[TreasonousBastard]

27. I will make a note of that the next time I'm there. Diners, of course...

are yet another thing Joisey is noted for-- when I lived in Elizabeth, five of them were within walking distance. I've long suspected that the Greek economy could have been saved if a small percentage of the gross were sent back there. That is where the money came form...

"Baked on premises" is interesting. It usually doesn't pay to hire a baker so there are itinerant bakers who make the rounds at night doing the baking. Each diner provides the kitchen and supplies and tells the baker what to make, sometimes giving him their own recipes.

[pinto]

21. Sausage with peppers and onions - A Boston and New England beach town staple.

They brown Italian sausages (hot and sweet) in the morning. Saute the peppers and onions with olive oil till just soft and browned well on the outside. All are laid in a big pan over a steamer. Some water and lots of paprika. Simmered low and slow. Sliced lengthwise, the sausage and the pepper 'n onions are served on a toasted Italian roll.

Add ons are available, but usually folks have the basic. And folks in the know ask for a scrape off the bottom of the pan for the roll. That's where the tasty bits are...

At the beach they're served from a store front booth. In Boston from carts. Just the smell says summer.

[Lugnut]

26. A sausage with fried peppers and onions hoagie is the only way to fly!

It's a staple here in PA along with cheese steaks. They're sloppy, oily and delicious.

[msanthrope]

29. I know if I don't make it at Christmas, my family riots.

Does it bite back? If you do it right.

[kestrel91316]

30. My mom forced me to eat Italian sausage and peppers on more than

one occasion when we lived in NY for a time.

Perhaps THAT is what started the long term decline in our relationship.

That's all I'm going to say, other than that it was the sausage I disliked and not the peppers and onions.

[grasswire]

32. the first dish my MIL served to me was polish sausage.

I had never seen anything like it. I told her I was allergic to it. Don't like even the smell of it to this day. She was from Kansas farm people, with a Chicago influence later.

[pinto]

33. I don't care for Kielbasi either.

But love other sausages. Go figure. I suppose there's some spice included that's a turn off for me.

[The empressof all]

35. Kilbasa is OK The Kishka can kill you from the smell alone

I don't know if it's the blood or what but just remembering the smell of my mother cooking Kishka makes me gag a little

[fizzgig]

31. i make it about once a month

i have no memory of how i first became aware of the dish, but it seems so natural to me.

[azurnoir]

34. yummy

great on roll or pasta and I've even had an Asian variant using peppers, onions, and either Chinese or Hmong sausage- saute the stuff and then add a bit of oyster sauce and soy sauce at the end and serve over rice it's really good

[LaydeeBug]

36. All. The. Time.

It is one of those 'low and slow' dinners, or something you can throw together quickly on a higher heat. It is sumptuous sometimes.