50 States; 50 Meals: New Jersey

One of our country's great debates.  What do you call a sandwich made on long Italian or French bread stuffed with meat and cheese?  Whatever you call it usually determines what region you are from.  "Hoagie" originated in Philadelphia.  They're "Heroes" in New York.  New England calls them "Grinders".  If you hail from New Jersey they're a Submarine, Sub for short.

There are two theories about where the sub first originated.  One theory is that a man named Dominic Conti immigrated to New York from Italy in the early 1900's.  He opened a grocery store called Dominic Conti's Grocery Store.  Mr. Conti sold his traditional Italian sandwiches at his store.  His recipe was a long crust roll, filled with cold cuts, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, oil, vinegar, Italian herbs and spices, salt, and pepper. Mr. Conti used a special sandwich making technique of starting and ending with a layer of cheese so the bread would not get soggy.  He named the sandwich a Submarine after seeing the Fenian Ram, a recovered submarine in the Paterson Museum.

I consulted with my Jersey cousins about this week's meals.  One of my cousins said that Italian subs were a must in southern Jersey and that the bread must be crusty.  No soft rolls.  I turned to the best sub maker I know, Wegmans.  Don't get me wrong I thought about buying all the meats and making them myself but getting them made at Wegmans was more budget friendly.  I got two "Danny's Favorites"; Genoa Salami, Capicola, Spicy Ham.  The "grown-up" version had provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, submarine oil, oregano and hot peppers.  The "kid version" had regular ham, provolone, lettuce and tomato.  My girls loved the salami and it is now requested for lunches.

Just look how yummy.  My mouth is watering.

We had Disco fries on the side.  Disco fries are usually found in Jersey diners.  They are steak fries covered in cheese and brown gravy.  I combined a quick recipe with a Paula Dean recipe.

Disco Fries

One Bag of Steak Fries
One packet of McCormick Beef Gravy
2 Cups (1 bag) Shredded Yellow Cheddar

Prepare the Steak Fries following the oven directions on the bag.
Prepare the gravy following directions on packet.
Place cooked fries in a wide, shallow casserole dish or baking sheet and sprinkle with the shredded Cheddar cheese, layering the fries and the cheese. (If you want the cheese to be completely melted, bake in a 350 degrees F oven for about 4 minutes after layering the fries and cheese.)
Remove from oven, top with Brown Gravy and serve immediately.   Another option is to serve the gravy on the side.

Side note:  This was a lot of cheese and I don't usually say such a thing.  I will probably start with a cup of cheese and go from there.

Next State:  Home of the Chili