Chicago’s Maxwell Street Polish Sausage
Caramelized Onions, Yellow Mustard
For Game Day Food, be it Super Bowl Sunday or any other sporting event of the year, it’s hard to beat Chicago’s beloved Polish Sausage sandwich – a delicious favorite for over 80 years…
“After debuting their new brand of all-beef sausage at Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition, Austria-Hungarian immigrants Samuel Ladany and Emil Reichel opened a shop at 1215 S. Halsted: the Vienna Sausage Manufacturing Co., in the Maxwell Street neighborhood.
They provided the local vendors in the Maxwell Street Market with their product and distinctive signs. Jimmy Stefanovic, an industrious man from Yugoslavia who had escaped from Russia with his parents and family during the Bolshevic Revolution, is said to be the first to put the “Polish sausage” on a bun and sell it as a sandwich.
He arrived in Chicago in 1939, bought his aunt’s street stand to sell hot dogs and sausage sandwiches, and took over a building occupied by a deli on the northwest corner of Maxwell and Halsted.” (from the Maxwell St Foundation )
Maxwell Street Polish Sausage Recipe
Recipe from Portillo’s here:
Peel onions and cut in half lengthwise end to end. Slice each half into 1/2″ slices. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat and add onions.
Add onions; sauté for 30 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning and covering when not mixing. Once golden brown and caramelized, transfer onions to a bowl.
Score sausage “smile side up” from end to end with a shallow cut on one side, just breaking the skin.
Grill sausages over medium heat for 5 minutes on each side, creating grill marks. Note: If you are using a stovetop, heat sausage over medium heat in a large skillet for 5 minutes. Turn over sausage; cook another 5 minutes.
Once sausages are finished cooking, steam buns. Microwave buns on high for 45-60 seconds (keep the buns in package). If using fewer buns, put in loosely closed, plastic bag and microwave for 30 seconds. CAUTION – STEAM IS EXTREMELY HOT.
Place Polish sausage in steamed hot dog bun, ‘smile side up.’ Add mustard; top with onions.
Add Sport Peppers: Optional
More Chicago Favorites:
Polish Sausage Sliders here
Vegan Chicago Hot Dog here
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