Sausage & Peppers

I’ve written about food smell memories before, but the one that screams summer down the Jersey shore is sausage and peppers. 

Whenever I smell sausage and peppers, I think of the boardwalk in Seaside, NJ. The delicious smell of sausage, peppers, and onions mixed with Coppertone suntan lotion takes me back. 

I spent many summers down Seaside and walking the boardwalk. My friends and I would go to Seaside, smoke, drink, go to the beach, and walk the boards. It was always good times…fun, sun, and boardwalk food. 

Being gluten-free puts the kobash on eating sausage and peppers on a good Italian roll soaked with grease. Very sad and a major bummer. Like everything else, I make due re-creating delicious food memories. 

I am not sure why people call it “sausage and peppers” when onions are always in the picture. Hell, I do it too. I guess, like all other Jersey & NY lingo, it cuts down on the wordage. 

Cutting down on wordage? Let me give you a few examples. “Ddjaeetyet?” No, “Djew?” Did you eat yet? No, did you? I shit you not, it’s a real thing, and I still say it. 

We all know “Forgetabouit” or “Dontworrybouit.” Forget about it. Don’t worry about it. “Howyadoin?” It can be how are you doing or how are YOU doing? Think of Joey on Friends. 

“Howyadoin?” Is not a question, it is a greeting. No one really gives two shits how you are doing. It’s like saying “S’up” or hi. 

Back to sausage and peppers…in the cold weather, I make mine in the oven. I make mine on the outdoor flat top grill just like the boys do on the boardwalk in the summertime. 

The key to my sausage and peppers is that I marinate my peppers and onions with garlic, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. The salt in the marinate starts releasing the juices from the vegetables, softening them a bit before the cook. 

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I usually parboiled my sausage. I know some of my Italian friends are shaking their heads, saying, “ Whatdafaq?” I parboil it when I slice the sausage into pieces before putting them in with the vegetables to marinate. This is a hurry-up method, but it works for me.

Parboiling does remove some of the flavor and fat. Sometimes I fry it first, and other times I throw the sausage in the marinate raw. Doing it on the flattop goes fast, and I don’t want to dick around worrying if the sausage would be cooked through. 

Since I can’t have my sausage and peppers on dope ass rolls anymore, I add yellow potato cubes. The same people are shaking their heads and think it’s sacrilege to add potatoes. But I happen to like them, so I put them in. “Oh yeah? Your sista’s ass!” Another favorite of mine.

People can fight about what you put or not put on your sausage and peppers. The purists will say nothing. Others will say yellow or spicy mustard. Some people add marinara sauce. I say no to that one…big time. I like yellow mustard. It’s the needed acid that cuts through all the grease. 

I only learned about how acid balances out a dish a couple of years ago when I watched on Netflix the show called Salt. Fat, Acid. Heat. It changed my life..seriously. Now condiments make sense and actually serve a purpose. 

Last night I made sausage and peppers with garlic cheese bread. The guys could make sub “samiches” if they wanted to; I just ate mine on the side. 

Will I make it to the Jersey shore this year? I’m not sure. Can I eat the sausage and peppers of my food memories? No….damn gluten. Can I make something that is a great runner-up? You bet your ass I can. If there’s a will, there’s a way.