Peppers & eggs…

My parents grew up in the Italian section of Elizabeth, NJ, called Peterstown. I was raised in an Irish Catholic family. My grandmother, Nana was the matriarch of the family. My father called her the little general.

Nana followed old-school catholic rules, meaning that even when the pope told Catholics they could eat meat on Fridays except for the Lenten season, we still didn’t. 

Nana was a tough cookie when it came to religious stuff. I spent a lot of time with both of my grandmothers; at Mema’s, we played cards, joked around, and ate Stella Dora cookies, while at Nana’s, we prayed. I must have said a million Hail Marys and Our Fathers at her apartment. 

One Good Friday, we knelt on the floor, not leaning back on our heels but straight up from 12-3 pm, the time when Jesus hung on the cross. It was brutal as a 7 or 8-year-old, but it didn’t bother Nana at all. She said it always turned cloudy during that time; even on a sunny day, she was right most of the time.

What does all this religious stuff have to do with a pepper and egg sub, you may be wondering? It has everything to do a fancy toast I made a few days ago and Fridays during Lent. 

Lent this year starts on Ash Wednesday, March 2. I’ve always hated Ash Wednesday not for what it symbolizes, but as a kid, I hated seeing the ashes on people’s foreheads. I hated getting ashes that always got into my eyes, and it was like the priest knew and put an extra-large cross of ashes on me. 

My birthday is February 28, and I remember Ash Wednesday somehow fell on my birthday one year. Ugh!

I’ve mentioned I always picked either Chinese or Italian food as my birthday dinner, but that year I picked Howard Johnson’s and had the fried clam strips. Someone brought my birthday cake to Howard Johnsons, and everyone in the place sang Happy Birthday to me. I hated that more than the ashes that were ground into my forehead. 

We ate pepper and egg subs a lot on Friday nights, along with pizza. After we moved to Vermont, I thought pepper and egg subs were just a New Jersey and New York thing since no one up here ever heard of them. 

I was surprised when I researched this and found out it is the number two sandwich in Chicago. The Italian beef sandwich is number one. Both sandwiches were created by catholic Italian immigrants and are still loved by everyone.

The only steak sandwiches I am familiar with are Philly cheesesteak sandwiches which are shaved and chopped up beef, onions, and cheese on a crusty sub roll. I like mine the traditional way with Cheez Whiz. 

Since the beginning, there have been arguments about what type of cheese or how to prepare the beef. There has also been a dispute between two famous cheesesteak rivals for years, Pat’s and Geno’s right in Philadelphia. 

Pat’s chops his thinly shaved steak and uses Cheez Wiz on his sandwiches. His claim to fame is the speed at which the sandwiches are made. 

Geno’s slices his steak and uses provolone cheese. Since the provolone takes longer to melt than the Cheez Whiz, Geno’s sandwiches take a whopping ten seconds longer to make, but between rivals, I guess Pat’s thinks speed matters to customers. 

Back to Chicago, their Italian beef sandwich is thinly sliced steak topped with sautéed peppers and spicy giardiniera pickled vegetables. This sounds amazing also. 

Finally, pepper and egg subs! I’ve never seen The Sopranos’s HBO series since we have never had HBO, but Tony Soprano’s wife Carmella makes pepper and egg sandwiches. There is also a version of the sandwich in the movie Moonstruck. 

People in Vermont always ask me whether people really talk like The Sopranos in Jersey. Another question is, do they really act like that? Of course, they do, and it isn’t exaggerated; it’s really like that. 

The pepper and egg sandwiches I remember as a kid are different from what I see on the internet. These sandwiches made today have sautéed green peppers with scrambled eggs mixed into the pepper mixture. No, no, no!

The sub I remember has sautéed green peppers and onions on top of the scrambled eggs in a sub roll. What in fucks name is the difference? The mouthfeel, look, and taste, that’s what. 

When pepper and egg sandwiches are made the way, I remember you taste the delicious sautéed peppers and perfectly made scrambled eggs. I’ve made pepper and egg subs both ways, and there is a difference. Huge! 

When the two are scrambled together, you lose the flavor, and oily goodness from the peppers, and the eggs almost appear curdled. All the pizzerias I ever had pepper and egg subs served the peppers and eggs separately. 

I made pepper and egg fancy toast one afternoon for lunch a couple of weeks ago. I sautéed peppers, onions, and garlic in olive oil until soft. 

I broke the pepper and egg cardinal rule by adding uncooked baby spinach to the English muffin. I scrambled eggs then placed them on top of the baby spinach. Then, I topped the eggs with the pepper mixture and parmesan cheese. Yum! 

It tasted like a pepper and egg sub, except it was on a toasted English muffin instead of the roll. I had so many childhood flashbacks to all the pepper and egg subs I ate on Friday nights as I was eating my fancy toast. 

Where we lived, there was a pizzeria practically on every corner, and all their pepper and egg subs were good. I don’t recall having a favorite. 

So if pepper and egg subs are something you forgot about, I am reminding you about them. If you never had one, try one. I looked at many pizzeria menus and saw pepper, and egg subs listed, or make one yourself. I didn’t see any here in VT, though.

I looked through pepper and egg sandwiches recipes, but most of them cooked the egg in with the peppers. I did find this link for pepper and egg sandwiches that seemed pretty close to how I make mine, except I don’t add herbs as they do. 

Tonight, we are having our next-door neighbors over. Arthur and David are from the Washington DC area and are here for the holiday break. I am making several small plates instead of a regular dinner. We enjoy their company and look forward to them retiring and living here full time. 

That’s it for now. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend, guys. 🙂