Tour of Fifty States: New Jersey's Meal

When we were visiting Grandpa John and Grandma Diane in New Jersey this summer, Bill mentioned our Tour of the Fifty States meal project.  Grandpa John immediately asked what I chose for New Jersey.  I answered, “Italian Subs”.  “Bah!” he replied, “all New Jersey is famous for is chemicals!!  There is no state food!” 

Well, I decided to stick with my original concept of the North Jersey Italian-American culture.  So here we go!

Menu:  Italian Subs, Jersey Sweet Corn, Cannoli Tart

Outcome:  Although The Garden State is famous for its Jersey Sweet Corn, I couldn't find any here in South Carolina.  We had some white corn on the cob.  We served the kids’ Italian Subs on the regular Italian bread, but Bill and I opted to use lettuce leaves to make “wraps” of our Italian subs (to save a few carbs and calories).  Yum!  The Cannoli Tart was quite good, although I found the crust to be a little too thick for my liking.  If I make this again, I will half the quantity of everything for the crust.  But it was still really good and reminded us all of real Cannolis.

Next up:  Brandi chose South Dakota!

Ignore the shadow on this lovely piece of Cannoli Tart!

The most popular sandwich in New Jersey is the Italian sandwich, although it's not called the Italian sandwich, depending on what part of the state you live in, it is called the Hoagie, Hero, or Sub.

The Hoagie originated in the Philadelphia area. The term is now used in regions such as Scranton, Pittsburgh, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and southern Ohio. Legend has it that an area of Philadelphia known as Hog Island, a shipyard during World War I, had many Italian immigrant workers who would take large Italian sandwiches made with cured meats, spices, oil, tomatoes, onions, and peppers for their lunches. Because of the location of the shipyard, the workers were nicknamed "hoggies", and at some point the sandwiches they ate adopted the name "Hoggie". After World War II, the "Hoggie" became the "Hoagie" and it quickly caught on outside the Italian community and soon achieved the status as the favored sandwich in Philadelphia.

The Hero originated in New York City. The term is now used in downstate New York and North Jersey.  The name "Hero" is credited to NY Herald Tribune Food writer Clementine Paddleford, of the NY Herald Tribune who wrote in the 1930's that you needed to be a hero to eat the giant sized Italian sandwich.

The origin of the name submarine sandwich or "Sub" is widely disputed, with stories of its origin taking place in Boston, MA, Groton, CT and Patterson, NJ. The legend has the earliest date in 1910, when the sub was named by Dominic Conti’s Grocery Store in Paterson, NJ when he observed the similarity of shape with his crusted, pointed end bread sandwich and a local exhibit of the first experimental submarine, and began selling the sandwich as the "sub".

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 12" loaf soft Italian bread
• 6 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 lb. deli-sliced Provolone cheese
• 1 lb. deli-sliced Genoa Salami
• 1 lb. deli-sliced boiled ham
• 1 lb. deli-sliced Mortadella
• 1 lb. deli-sliced Sandwich Pepperoni
• 1 head iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
• 1 cup sliced pickled pepperoncini (optional)
• 6 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 ½ tsp. dried oregano

Directions

1.       Soak the onion slices in a large bowl of cold water, 15 minutes.

2.       Split the bread lengthwise then pull out some of the bread from the inside.

3.       Drizzle vinegar and olive oil on the bottom half. Season with salt and pepper.

4.       Layer the cheese and meat on the bottom half of the bread.

5.       Drain the onion and pat dry. Top the meat with the onion, lettuce, pepperoncini (if using) and tomatoes.

6.       Drizzle with more vinegar and olive oil and sprinkle with the oregano. Season generously with salt and pepper.

7.       Drizzle the cut side of the bread top with more vinegar and olive oil; then place on top of the sandwich.

      8.       Cut each sandwich in half.

9.       Makes 6 6” subs.

Halfway there...

Finished Italian Sub!

Cannoli Tart

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 2 cups Sifted Flour
• ½ cups Plus 1 Tbsp. Sugar
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• ⅓ cups Cold Butter
• 1 whole Egg

  

  Hot Cannoli Tart right out of the oven

• 1 Tbsp. Milk

For the filling:

• 2 ¼ cups Ricotta
• 1 whole Egg
• 3 tsp. Sugar
• 3 tsp. Amaretto
• ½ cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions

For the crust:

1.       If using a food processor, add flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon and pulse a few times. Add butter, and pulse until butter and flour have formed pea-sized crumbles. Add egg and milk and pulse until a large ball is formed.

2.       If mixing by hand, in a bowl combine flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Whisk a few times to mix up. Cut in butter until the mixture forms pea-sized crumbles. With your hands, mix in egg and milk and knead into a ball.

3.       Place the dough ball in between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Roll dough out large enough to fit a deep dish pie pan or deep dish tart pan. Grease pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Gently place the dough into pan.

4.       Refrigerate while you make your filling and the oven is preheating.

For the filling:

1.       In a food processor or mixer, blend ricotta, egg, sugar, and amaretto until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into crust.

2.       Bake at 350ºF for around 35-40 minutes, or until the crust has slightly browned and the filling has puffed a bit. Serve cold or at room temperature sprinkled with powdered sugar or drizzled with chocolate.