NJ SPICE

After a five-month post hurricane hiatus, Za Restaurantin Pennington reopens today.  When I read about their hurriane damage last August, I was heartbroken for them, as they’d just expanded, increasing their indoor seating from 38 to 76 people.  But when life gives you lemons…

The shopping center where Za is housed needed extensive foundation repair, so the building’s owner also did a roof line renovation and façade improvement, in addition to totally new electric, plumbing, heating and air conditioning.  At the same time, Za added new lighting, versatile booth seating and a special chef’s table to the Jewel box dining room.

“It’s been a long wait. We’re so happy to be back,” said chef/owner Mark Valenza. “The good news is the closure gave us the chance to make more improvements.”

Za Restaurant is currently accepting reservations for Valentine’s Day, with their “Lobster bliss - Winter - 2012″menu that features seven lobster dishes in addition to many other options.  Call this as global comfort food with a sophisticated touch.  Reservations are available online or by phone. As always Za Restaurant is BYOB. Za Restaurant, 147 West Delaware Avenue, Pennington, NJ 08534, 609-737-4400.

This is one of my favorite winter dishes, which I make in many variations.  This one was made with cubed pork shoulder, green chilies, and hominy. Then I got ambitious and soaked then puréed some dried guajillo peppers, for just a touch of red, inspired by this website.

I also took the trouble to buy cilantro, which really sparks the flavor, but of course, if you dislike cilantro, no worries.

And the green chile in this case was a real find, fire-roasted chopped poblano peppers from Wegmans!

Here’s to a year of happiness and good health!  And maybe some moolah!

The dragon is a symbol of good fortune and power.  My dragon ornament was a gift from my nephew and his wife a few years ago, and I got it out of its tissue paper  nest recently to put me in the holiday mood.

I wish you all the best in the new year, and thank you for reading!

 

 

 

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“The months since the July re-opening of Ezekiel’s Table have been sizzling,” says owner Marcia Willsie.

She’s busy welcoming new groups into her kitchen, where she holds her hands on cooking classes.  Each class, custom designed for the attendees, ends in dinner around the table at her historic old farmhouse on Mercer Road (Princeton Pike).   

Her new website is up, and features some delicious recipes, including the one you see pictured here for Cheesy Corn Fritters, an appetizer sort of like a fried tamale, and it uses some of my favorite Mexican ingredients, corn masa, poblano chilies, and queso fresco.

Gather together a few of your friends - or co-workers? - and plan an evening around this.  As Marcia says, Have a smokin’ hot New Year!

I often have a package of butternut squash ravioli in the fridge, and usually serve it with browned butter and sage.  But recently I had a little  jar of HerbNZest Fennel Saffron Pumpkin Butter on hand, and realized that for a quick sauce I could mix some of that with a little leftover cream I needed to use.  (The “butter” seemed fairly concentrated so I only used maybe half the jar.)  It was delicious!

HerbNZest is locally owned by Deboleena Dutta, and she bills her products as “Natural, Artisan Foods for Simplified, Gourmet Meals.”  I bought  a bunch of these at the Whole Earth Center at holidays (they are also sold at Olsson’s on Palmer Square) and gave them away as little locavore gifts.  Of course I saved a couple for myself, and still have the Chipotle Cranberry Orange Relish. The other flavors were Chive Tomato Relish and Basil Peach Raisin Chutney.  A dollop here, a dollop there, these are an easy way to finish a dish in a flash, and at $4.99 for the 4.6 oz. jars I bought, you can try more than one flavor.  (There is a larger size jar available through the website, which is full of recipes, too.)  Next up, I’ll be trying the Chipotle Cranberry Orange Relish on baked chicken thighs soon!

Sometimes I have a hankering for that diner classic, French Dip.  I am perfectly aware that is really a way to use up leftover (or overdone) roast beef or stale baguette, but I love the sloppiness of dipping the sandwich into my cup of au jus and all that.  I may briefly dip the beef into the au jus before loading it onto the bread (although I didn’t in this case), but don’t like to see the thinly sliced beef get too well-done, so am quick and cautious about that.

I made this when I found especially rare deli roast beef, already sliced, in the pick-up case.  Normally I shun cold cuts, except in a case like this, or if I want to make a hoagie (rare).

But this day I grabbed that beef, and a baguette, and (I blush to admit) a packet of au jus mix.  (Maybe some time I will try Rachel Ray’s recipe for au jus.)  It was just what I wanted it to be, rare meat, chewy baguette, warm brothy sauce.

Here’s the latest news from Market Manager Judith Robinson:

January 12- The Princeton Farmers Winter Market takes place from 11am to 5pm inside the Community Room of the Princeton Public Library. We combine our farmers and crafters and artists for a colorful winter’s day!

January 19-The first in the Princeton Farmers Market Evening Series presents a showing of “The Big Uneasy” at 7:00pm. This award winning film depicts some shortsighted and environmentally damaging Army Corps of Engineer’s projects. Following the film will be a discussion led by Judith Robinson and Tracy Carluccio, the Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper, on the proposed Corps’ proposal to dredge our Delaware River and what the consequences would be.

February 9- The Princeton Farmers Market Winter Market inside the Community room from 11am to 5pm. Come and enjoy our farmers, crafters, and artists offerings!

February 16- The second Princeton Farmers Market Evening Series is “Talk With Your Farmers” at 7:00pm. We bring together three young women and one young man who have been interns on our local farms to share their experiences of work and learning.

March 8- The Princeton Farmers Winter Market continues inside the Library’s Community room bringing warmth and good food in the middle of winter from 11am to 5pm.

March 15- Another in the series of “Talk With Your Farmers” will be at 7:00pm in the Community Room. What is involved in raising pasture fed poultry and eggs and beef and pork? What are the benefits to the public in both diet and sustainability? Two New Jersey farmers will share their experiences and knowledge. The discussion will be led by Judith Robinson who had a flock of pasture fed chickens of her own.

April 12- The Princeton Farmers Winter Market has its final monthly market inside the Library’s Community Room from 11am to 5pm. May will bring the market back on its weekly schedule outdoors.

April 19- The Princeton Farmers Market will present a workshop led by Judith Robinson on “Starting Your Own Organic Garden.”

for more information go to www.princetonfarmersmarket.com or info@princetonfarmersmarket.com.

I just love the convenience of buying a big bag of greens, already stemmed and cut up, especially when the goal is just to make soup for workday lunches.  For me, it makes the difference between buying or not buying the greens, because for some reason, I find it onerous to wash a big bunch of kale in my sink, splashing water all over my crowded workspace, then draining it, and stemming and roughly chopping it on my (small) cutting board  By then, I’ve made a big watery mess and I haven’t even started cooking yet.  Basta!

But I did peel and cut up a sweet potato I needed to use, in place of the usual white potato found in kale soup - it added great color, and a lot of flavor interest.  I had cured Spanish chorizo that needed to be used, too, so this soup killed a lot of culinary birds with one stone, and really did take only a few minutes to put together.

As I wrote previously, I’ve been on a bit of a short rib binge. I’d given up on them last winter, as they seemed so ubiquitous, even in fine dining establishments, where we now seem to pay a fortune to eat economy cuts.  Trendiness, meh!

But then I found myself eying the inky dark short rib on polenta on my friend’s plate at Eno Terra one night.  It did look good.

Then my brother sent me a photo of his own (documented here),  and I loved the ones served at Metro North Grill shortly after that.  Then I made my own, pictured here on polenta, with Rogue Chocolate Stout, based on a recipe I found online.  These were quite good, and I’ve tried one or two others at area places, but Metro North still holds “the title” as of this writing.  Now I just have to get back to Eno Terra to try theirs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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