Herb-ivores

If the purpose of this month's menu was to get us excited about using fresh herbs... let me tell you, it worked!  In the following recipes, we used fresh herbs to make our own herb butter and flavor some cheese.  They were also a main component in a couple of dressings. 

Our appetizer this time around was Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese.  This earned two thumbs up from us (out of a possible four).  The thing is... it was my idea because I had been reading about how nutritious beets are, and feeling like maybe it was time to give them a try again.  Because I never eat them.  Ever. 

Now I remember why.  Sister liked them, and maybe I would have too if they just weren't so darn...beety.  For your enjoyment I've included a link to a local chef's video that offers a more elaborate beet and goat cheese recipe ( as well as a sampling of a local Jersey accent)  ;) 

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Towers

For our part, we did not bread the goat cheese as in the video above, and while we prepared the beets similarly we didn't roast them quite as long.  Maybe that was the problem?  Or maybe I just don't care for beets.  Hey, it's a free country, right? 

By the way, if you are looking for great locally made goat cheese, try Needmore Farm in Wantage, Sussex County (they don't have a website, but you can Google it).  The family owned farm produces goat's milk, feta, cheddar, spreadable herb cheeses, as well as goat's milk soap.  Their cheeses are also available at Morris Plains farmer's market. 

Next up, our cocktail of the month, the Strawberry Speechless.  As in, this is so good we are speechless.

 

Strawberry Speechless (courtesy of The Beekman Boys).

Next up, we decided to do two salads, a Spring pasta salad as well as a Summer salad (either of which would make great sides at any outdoor picnic or gathering). 

Our Spring salad was Pasta and Snap Peas with Feta and Mint.  We used whole wheat pasta and also added basil to the feta.  It also has a lemon pepper garlic dressing.  We omitted the red pepper flakes.  We had two taste-testers in the kitchen who were a bit suspicious.  One pronounced the fresh mint "yucky" while another generally refuses to eat anything whole wheat (ppssttt....that was me!)

* This time of year (June-July) you can get some of the great herbs as well as the beets featured in our recipes at Stokes Farm (Bergen County).  The "What's in Season" section details a complete list of the wonderful variety of herbs and produce available. 

Another side option for your next barbecue is this Summer salad shown below. Now is the time you can pick your own corn at local farms, however local corn is not quite available in store yet. 

Aida's Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad

The main components are corn, grape tomatoes, avocado and mozarella cheese, as well as a cilantro dressing.  It looked like a lot of dressing at first but actually accompanied the salad nicely and wasn't greasy at all.  One substitution I might consider making is the mozarella cheese.  While it did taste fantastic, if you're planning on a lot of leftovers for this salad I would use a firmer cheese such as colby jack. 

Our main dish was Chicken Cutlets with Herb Butter.  This was, in a word, heaven.  No joke.  The fresh herbs absolutely made the dish.  Mint is optional in the recipe however I thought any amount of mint tasted fantastic and didn't overpower the dish (we used about half parsley, half mint). 






About the only down side to this recipe that I can think of is that you may suddenly become obsessed with making your own herb butter for meal.  Then you will eat all of the meals, and get fat.  Luckily, dairy does not scare us in the least. 

Speaking of dairy.. our crowning achievement this month, Strawberries and Cream Pie.  We used  strawberry preserves in place of the strawberry jelly topping, which I thought tasted a little bit fresher.

Local Markets

In the last few weeks we've been frequenting a couple of our local farmer's markets, especially for this season's fresh herbs and fruits. 




Although "pick-your-own" farms are becoming less numerous across the state, we are lucky to live very close by to one that has harvests nine months out of the year.  The current produce stars at our farm?  Strawberries (which get their own festival every year!), peas (new this year!) and last but not least, some early cherries. 

A strawberry lattice pie was almost too beautiful to eat.  Right...almost.  We will tackle a couple of strawberry recipes in our next post.

I am also a fan of farmer's markets for end-of-the-school-year teacher gifts. You can find everything from flowers to homemade candles and apothecary items,cookbooks and locally made treats. 

...stay tuned to find out what's growing in our own gardens...

Drinko de Mayo

WELL, WE MISSED THE BOAT ON "CINCO DE MAYO" BUT WE DID MANAGE TO FIND A WEEKEND IN MAY WHEN ALL OF THE LADIES COULD GET TOGETHER.  HERE ARE THE RECIPES WE MADE, WHICH I THINK ARE PERFECT FOR ANY GET TOGETHER, ALL SUMMER LONG.  ENJOY!

FIRST THINGS FIRST... TEQUILA.  YES, I DID PROMISE.  WISH I COULD SAY WE CREATED SOME FANCY DRINKS BUT ACTUALLY WE JUST DID SHOTS (THIS BEING THE GOOD STUFF) .......PLUS ANOTHER BOTTLE OF CUERVO FOR A VERY NOT-JERSEY-FRESH TGIF "BUCKET-O-MARGARITAS" (PRETTY GOOD, ACTUALLY!)

WHAT IS MEANT BY "THE GOOD STUFF"...OH SO GOOD.  I SHOULD ALSO MENTION THAT THE CEO OF PATRON PRESENTED AT THIS YEAR'S FORTUNE MAGAZINE GREEN CONFERENCE.  PATRON IS THE ONLY TEQUILA MAKER TO USE HANDBLOWN BOTTLES MADE FROM RECYCLED GLASS.  THEIR FACTORIES ALSO RECYCLE MORE THAN 70% OF THE SILAGE THAT RESULTS FROM TEQUILA PRODUCTION, AND THEY PROVIDE IT TO LOCAL MEXICAN FARMERS TO USE ON THEIR SOIL.  IF YOU'RE SUPER-ECONOMICAL LIKE I AM, YOU CAN UPCYCLE THE BOTTLE FOR USE AS A VASE, JAR, OR WHATEVER.   ALSO, THE COMPANY IS HEADQUARTERED IN LAS VEGAS.  SO...IF YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE PATRIOTIC, ENVIROMENTALLY CONSCIOUS, "GREEN" DRINKERS, THIS IS THE WAY TO GO.  SPEAKING OF GREEN...

WE MADE USE OF SOME GREAT SHREDDED LETTUCE IN OUR MEXICAN EGG ROLLS . MANY MARKETS OFFER LETTUCE FOR THE BEST ORGANIC VARIETY AS WELL AS SALAD MIXES, TRY ABMA'S FARM IN WYCKOFF (BERGEN COUNTY).  YOU CAN PRETTY MUCH ADAPT THE EGG ROLL RECIPE TO INCLUDE ANYTHING YOU WANT.  WE USED GROUND BEEF, SHREDDED JACK CHEESE AND LETTUCE. (FULL DISCLOSURE, OUR CAMERA BATTERY DIED ON THIS GO AROUND, PLUS WE WERE TRANSPORTING THE FOOD TO ANOTHER LOCATION SO WE DIDN'T GET PICS OF MOST OF THE FINISHED PRODUCTS.  BUT EVERYTHING TASTED GREAT!)

WE MADE THREE DIFFERENT DIPS FOR MUNCHIES..

1)  MEXICAN LAYER DIP (WE OMITTED THE GUAC LAYER HERE BECAUSE WE MADE OUR OWN SEPARATE GUACAMOLE)

2) GARDEN STATE GUACAMOLE (THIS WILLIAMS-SONOMA VERSION, BUT WE TRIPLED IT FOR A CROWD, ADDED EXTRA TOMATO AND WENT HEAVY ON THE GARLIC.  WE'RE GARLIC PEOPLE, PLUS IT REALLY GIVES IT THAT EXTRA KICK WITHOUT OVERPOWERING THE AVOCADO FLAVOR.  IN MY OPINION IT'S ALSO BETTER CHUNKY.   

3) HOT COWBOY QUESO:
MY OWN RECIPE....

*1 PACKAGE GROUND BEEF

* TWO PACKETS ANY TACO SEASONING
* VELVEETA... ONE 32 OZ REGULAR BLOCK AND ONE 16 OZ BLOCK OF MEXICAN
* 1 TOMATO, DICED
* 1 ONION, DICED

* TABASCO OR ANY OTHER HOT SAUCE TO TASTE. 
* ONE (OR TWO OR THREE) HOT COWBOY(S)...OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED.

COOK UP ONE PACKAGE GROUND BEEF, ADD IN THE TACO SEASONING.  AT THE SAME TIME, MELT BOTH BLOCKS OF VELVEETA ON MEDIUM.  THE VELVEETA IS CRUCIAL BECAUSE NO OTHER CHEESE WILL MELT THIS WAY.  WHEN CHEESE IS COMPLETELY MELTED, ADD IN THE COOKED GROUND BEEF, THEN ALL OTHER INGREDIENTS.  

WARNING:  THIS...IS...ADDICTIVE!

 

THE TOMATOES, ONIONS AND GREEN ONIONS WERE USED IN SEVERAL DISHES. 

 IN ADDITION TO THE EGG ROLLS, WE DID ONE OTHER APPETIZER-  THESE MEXICAN MINI QUICHES .

 
DELI-MADE FRESH CREAM CHEESE...YUM.

 

FOR FRESH ORGANIC  EGGS, TRY HLUBICK FARMS IN CHESTERFIELD, WHICH SELLS ANTIBIOTIC FREE BROWN EGGS.

PEPPERS FROM OUR OWN GARDEN...CAN'T GET MORE LOCAL THAN THAT! 

Community Gardening

I'm slowly but surely working on adding items to all of the tabs on the site.  In the meantime I wanted to mention a cool project I found out about that is going on in Atlantic County on Saturday, May 14th:

Atlantic County Community Garden Project

Each person who wants to participate has his/her own plot for which they are responsible, as well as a sponsor to help guide them through the process.  They even have volunteers and a help line people can call if they have questions.  The whole project has been funded through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NJ Partnership for Healthy Kids. 

Could you imagine if every low-income working family living in an urban area had access to their own plot of land to grow a bit of their own food, as well as a sponsor to teach and guide them? 

On a somewhat related note, I wanted to share about a woman I heard speak at a recent Fortune Conference.  She is an economic consultant who runs her own organization- Majora Carter Group. One of the main focuses of her business is how to involve low-income people and families (usually in urban areas) in the "green living" movement.  You know, the people who don't have yards to grow vegetables or cars to drive to Trader Joe's.  The people who work three jobs and send their children to a low-income daycare that-- gasp!-- doesn't have a tolerance for cloth-diapered children.  The people who don't have cloth diapers to begin with because they have to take public transportation just to get to a laundromat.  The people who don't own spice racks or kitchen islands or immersion blenders... who travel each day along a bus route that passes four McDonald's and zero Whole Foods. 

That's a lot of people, and one mission of Ms. Carter is to make environmentally-friendly life options affordable and accessible to them. 

Greens, Eggs & Ham

Hopefully everyone is fully recovered from the holidays and spring break (just in time for...Cinco de Mayo)!  

In this first "real" edition (i.e. the one where we actually cook something), we focused our efforts on all of that leftover ham, eggs, and the first bounties of the spring season, spinach and asparagus.  It was early in the season for asparagus, but we were able to obtain some at our local grocer that buys from Sorbello and Wheeler farm in Swedesboro.   The rest of the produce came from G & G Stecker Farm.  I was also thrilled to be able to obtain both the anitbiotic-free ham and prosciutto locally from Applegate Farms.  Their website offers online ordering as well, and you can even enter the UPC code from your purchase to get more details about your particular product.  The Italian breads were baked right before my eyes at our local Wegman's. If you're not from the tri-state area you probably haven't heard of this regional chain, but either way I would recommend a visit to their site.  If Heaven has a grocery store, I'm sure it looks like this.  Now on to the food...

Oh...pardon the interruption from our "kitchen helpers"... if you're anything like me, you are also addicted to GOOP, Gwyneth Paltrow's charming little weekly newsletter.  But I am just now beginning to understand why her little cooking segments are so organized, professional and successful.  She seems to employ a simple three step process:

1) Start with a big giant celebrity kitchen
2) Pay a nanny to watch your children for hours while you cook and write about cooking.
3) While the nanny is still watching the children, pay a personal trainer to work out all of the stress you've surely built up from all of that cooking and writing.

Given that us Jersey Girls are working under such confines as a limited budget, limited time, limited square footage and the constant presence of little people, doesn't that make our kitchen feats all the more astounding?!  Hopefully it will make you confident that you can pull it off too. Starting with...

**Baked Eggs and Spinach**

 This recipe is courtesy of Williams-Sonoma. I have to confess that I am not a huge spinach fan, so I wasn't sure about this dish at first.  The baby spinach was definitely a hit as it made the dish more mild overall and less, well, "spinachy"... we debated adding more cream or seasoning than the recipe called for but in the end I think that would have taken away from the overall freshness.  To me this is a quintissential early Spring dish. 

The only drawback as far as I'm concerned is that it's not exactly a dish that lends itself to leftovers.  Of course our children, being who they are, ate the entire dish so it wasn't really an issue for us. 

The finished product is below. Also, this is my first real attempt at "food photography" so hopefully I'll get better as we go along.  My main goal is to get you to lust after the food so you're compelled to immediately run out the door to the farmer's market.  Is it working yet?

**Asparagus and Prosciutto**

 

 This recipe is courtesy of The Food Network.

  My advice firstly would be to go heavy on the butter.  You won't be disappointed.  Also I felt that in this case it doesn't take away from the freshness of the asparagus, because that flavor is so strong.  We happened to use smoked prosciutto and although the recipe doesn't call for the prosciutto to be cooked, I thought this tasted better the next day with the prosciutto toasted. 

**Funked Out Bloody Mary**
Recipe here.  Why?  ...Because we can.

 These were the best where I'm concerned, as far as bloody marys go.  Warning:  they are spicy though and not for the faint of heart.  We even used spicy hot horseradish which made the drink in my opinion.

Oh, and this isn't in the recipe but... if you have any left over that you want to store, make sure you put it in a pitcher labeled "Not For The Kids!"

 

**Asparagus Ham and Cheese Melts**

This recipe is from Epicurious.  What started out as our grilled cheese sandwich contribution ended up as an open-face broiled melt.  But it was fantastic.  

I think the parmesan-mayo spread was the best "why have I never thought of that?" addition to a sandwich that i've had in a long time.  Plus as soon as we tasted it we were thinking about other ways to incorporate the same combo-- as a dip?  As a dressing?  On a burger?  The possibilities are endless. 

 Hungry yet?  Oh, in case you haven't noticed, while this site does promote farm fresh ingredients, it is most definitely NOT a diet blog. 

Stay tuned for our next installment featuring Cinco de Mayo-inspired food fare for our "ladies' weekend" get together. 

(Spoiler Alert:   There will be tequila)