Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Pepperoni & eggs


It's growing on me.

Until last weekend I had never eaten an egg with pepperoni mixed into it. In fact, I rarely eat anything with pepperoni in it, on it, or even near it.

America's Number One pizza topping just doesn't do it for me. It never did.

But while going through a list of favorite childhood foods that friends helped me to compile recently, this one showed up under a category termed "comfort foods." It was passed along to me by my friend Joe and I must admit to being a little surprised by its inclusion. Joe and I are around the same age, have similar food tastes, and are proud products of the same social condition: Italian-American neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

And yet I had never heard of pepperoni & eggs, let alone tasted it.

"What is it about the combo that works?" Joe pondered in his notes. "Salt and sweet? Smooth and chewy? A mystery of life."

"Haven't had it in a while," my friend added. "Should do something about that."

Long story short, he didn't, but I did. I have prepared pepperoni & eggs twice since Saturday (aka Derby Day, at least this year), once for breakfast and once for lunch. To do this, I needed to go out and buy some pepperoni, which got me wondering whether I had even done such a thing before.

If you are a fan of the pepperoni then this has got to be a must-try. If you are not a fan, it might still be worth a one-off, as it is nothing if not filled with flavor.

Me? There's still enough of the spicy sliced stuff left in the fridge to make two, maybe three more servings. After that I'll decide whether Joe and I are on the same page with this "comfort food" of his.

I'm beginning to lean in that direction, but the morning line still shows even odds.

11 comments:

  1. How can you not love pepperoni? Seriously?
    I must try this. Eggs? Pepperoni? What's not to love?

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  2. It's a really good dish when you have been drinking heavily. Then again, so is hot dogs and eggs when you have been drinking heavily. So that might say more about the drink than the dish.

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  3. Other great uses for pepperoni:
    A nice slice on a Triscuit; on a warm bagel with soft, creamy muenster cheese; with a chunk of provolone; cut thick and tossed in your meat sauce; or just gnawned off the stick.

    Bad uses for pepperoni: on pizza; as a replacement for any great, truly Italian salume; or sliced thin off those awful "sandwich sized" logs.

    I take my nitrates seriously, you know...

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  4. I've never tried that combo either, and I try to stay away from pepperoni, not because I don't like it, but because it's not good for me. But I have to say, I want to give this one a whirl at some point. Calories, cholesterol, nitrates - hush up.

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  5. Pepperoni & eggs sounds delicious! Simple enough to cook up for breakfast huh!

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  6. It certainly looks good to me. Once in a while I think it is worth it.
    Nice to meet you and visit your blog. Catherine

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  7. I like this. Love pepperoni - don't keep it in the house - because... I can eat a lot of pepperoni. I'm fussy about my choice of pepperoni (if you're going to eat a lot of fat - make it count!) Yes, the creamy and the spicy works for me.

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  8. my grandfather from calabria ate hot peppers and scrambled eggs for breakfast,(not as gross looking as tomatoes and eggs which was also a favorite) it passed along to my father, and then to me - my kids love pepperoni and scrambled eggs- now you've given me an idea

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  9. that sounds delicious i love pepperoni

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  10. Totally brought me back to two things my mother used to make: salami and eggs (that specific Hebrew National Kosher salami) and Lebanon Bologna and eggs.

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  11. Perhaps Joe is going back to the old country's eating habits. When I used to ask my Italian-named patients what their parents or grandparents ate in the old country, they would mention bread, pasta, vegetables,fruit, some eggs, some cheese, sometimes fish. When I asked about meat, the answer used to come back like clockwork - "Twice a year, Christmas and Easter". The people who came to America were poor Italians - why would rich Italians ever want to leave?

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