Manoff's Farm Market Stand

In my opinion, the best farm to go to for strawberries, peaches and nectarines, and apples in season.  

Way out of the way in Solebury, Bucks county off of route 263, about 3 1/2 miles  north of Peddlers Village.  

Year after year the most consistently sweet fruit. 

The princess of peaches.  The queen of peaches was visiting the vet with her Golden Retriever.

She sometimes has slices of pie for sale, whole pies, and brownies some insane  baker makes with 4 kinds of Valrhona  chocolate. 

Home smoked Salmon, easy dinner.

To home smoke some salmon:

Took some of this.  It can be any commercially available spice rub.  Rubbed it onto 1 1/4 lb flesh of salmon, skin on.  

Soaked some wood chips (buy them at any hardware or kitchen supply store), wrapped them in heavy duty aluminum foil. 

Put the package of chips over low heat, under the grill of my barbecue,  

Put the rubbed salmon on a piece of foil on the other side for 30 minutes, heat off.  Closed the grill.  

Simple nuff?

Serve it with lemon wedges.  And whatever side you'd like.

Pinot noir, of course.  Or Sauvignon Blanc if you want a white wine.

Dessert option 1:  available at all of the many Russian food stores along Bustleton Ave.

 

Dessert option 2:  available at Manoff's Orchard in Solebury, Bucks County.  Awesome early season apples.  And they still have great yellow nectarines.  Go ASAP.  Usually closed Sundays.  Don't miss the good stuff this time of year.

Green tomatoes, not fried

If you grow tomatoes and you have deer wandering around, you know that they often hit the plants.  Which leads to plenty of unripened, green tomatoes on the ground.

Most of the recipes online tell u to make fried green tomatoes.  

Barb ain't frying the tomatoes, so we did a search and came up with many more options. 

Tonight we made grilled marinated green tomatoes.  The recipe was for a green tomato caprese.  I'll attach a link for the basic Green Tomatoes Caprese.  

Barb substituted the honey with 3 packets of Truvia.  We didn't have white Balsamic vinegar, so she used white wine vinegar.  Since we didn't have mozzarella, she sprinkled half the plate with some crumbled goat cheese.  Garnished with some chopped Taragon which we have a ton of in the garden.

The dish was both sweet and tart.  

I don't hate the deer quite as much.

Remember when u cook your steak, use this quote by Woody Harrelson in 'The Cowboy Way':  "Rip off its horns, wipe it's ass, and throw it on the plate."

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-green-tomatoes-caprese-50400000113392/

Noord Eetcafe

Last time Craig LaBan gave a byob a 4 Bell review was for Django a million years ago.  In doing so he made it impossible for me to get back into my favorite dining spot.

He has recently redeemed himself by giving 3 bells to a place I'd have never discovered until it was too busy to cop a reservation.  Thanks Craig.  

(I'll try to set up a link to his review at the end of my posting.)

Street parking wasn't too bad at 6 on an August Saturday night. After Labor Day, good luck.

Chef in the open kitchen.  The chef comes out often. The 

manager and entire staff is very friendly and helpful.

Menu was well-written, precisely translated.  Dishes were all generously portioned and not too pricey.

Two of the three Holland Sliders. (The apps got hit quicker than I could grab the camera.). A big hit for people who are fans of Herring stands in Amsterdam. 

Mussels in an herbed sauce ( a special last nite, I believe.) Served with some really great French fries.

Bitterballen...nothing bitter about these braised, then fried pork meatballs. Served with a nice grainy mustard

and salad.

This Portobello and Toasted Walnut pâté came in a little jar that reminds me of fois gras jars you can get at farms in France.  

The rustic toast, pickles and beets made this a "wowza" dish.

A ridiculously great dish: Smorrebrod.

House smoked fish and great stuff around it.  Perfect with the homemade dense bread they bring to every table.

Best rabbit dish I've had in years.  Confit with smoked sausage, lardons, baby turnips, and great sauce.  

Seared diver scallops over tomato salad was a special.  Shared by the girls who were ready to explode at this point.

Mussels, clams and prawns with braised cabbage, pork sausage and caraway.

When it was all eaten I picked up the bowl and drank the broth.

Since we were all totally stuffed, it made sense to order all three deserts.  (Does that seem like a rational pattern of thinking?). 

Chocolate brioche bread pudding, Almond butter cake, and a fresh blackberry and blueberry parfait.

All of them ruled.

If you are lactose-intolerant, do not miss this restaurant.  But do take a Lactaid pill before you go. 

Seriously, the best new restaurant in Philly in years. 

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/craig_laban/20130811_Noord_A_chef-owned_BYO_s_ode_to_the_North_Sea.html

Really nice Rose for $9.99

Excellent Rose just delivered from WTSO.com. 60/40 Cinsault/Grenache.  Both varietals throw off high alcohol. This wine had nice nose and medium dry fruit.

Great "Friday afternoon Summer wine" and very affordable at $9.99.

AMAZING SCALLOPS!!!

From Barbara Patrone Leonard

AMAZING SCALLOPS!!! ((SHARE to keep on your page))

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh bay or sea scallops
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour for dredging
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped shallots (2 large)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, cut in half

Directions:
If you're using bay scallops, keep them whole. If you're using sea scallops, cut each one in half horizontally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss with flour, and shake off the excess.

In a very large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over high heat until sizzling and add a single layer of scallops. (Do not crowd the scallops in the pan.) Lower the heat to medium and allow scallops to brown lightly on one side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take 3 to 4 minutes total.

Melt remaining butter in the pan with scallops; add shallots, garlic, and parsley and sauté for 2 more minutes, tossing the seasonings with the scallops. Add the wine and cook for 1 minutes longer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon juice.


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Morning truffle overkill?

Picked up some organic eggs and a summer truffle at the Wrightstown farmers market on Saturday.

The summer truffles are very mild and require a greater amount to give u the full flavor u expect from truffles.  Also, a whole lot less money.  

Nice start to a busy day.

Might shave some truffle over whatever Barb comes up with at dinner time.

Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout

Rude name, yummy beer. (And I'm no beer guy).  Hints of chocolate and nice stouty flavor without being too heavy or bitter.

Lobster and White Burgundy with Nacks

Thursday night after Bob left, Barb decided to oven roast some tomatoes for the next night.

She topped them with a little olive oil, garlic, and a touch of kosher salt. 

200 degree oven 8-10 hours.

Before serving, she chiffonaded some basil and drizzled some old balsamic.

Jodi and Gary came to open a white Burgundy (Capitaine-Gagnerot Ladoix Premier Cru) that they had brought home from France this summer. 

I went to my cellar and whipped out an old red from the same winery (Capitaine-Gagnerot Chory-les-Beaune from 1995).

Absolutely sure the red would be over the hill junk....surprisingly, it was great.  Relearned about well made old reds.

Simple dinner:  

Guacamole from Newtown market.

Grilled figs with goat cheese, pepper and Balsamic  vinegar (can u say: leftovers?).

Bought seven 1 lb lobsters (steamed  in the store), grilled some corn, warmed up leftover zucchini.  No butter, except for bread. 

Cut up fruit and half an apple pie for dessert.  

A little Calvados to finish.  Beautiful night at home with my wife and friends.

Dinner for Bob Levine

Hosted our friend Bob last night whose wife is in Peru doing volunteer work with orphans.

Found that this great white was intact and delicious. 

Super Pinot Noir for when you want to entertain a friend who appreciates good Pinots.

Fresh figs done on grill, off-heat with goat cheese and ground pepper, sprinkled with aged Balsamic vinager, over arugula.

Bob plated his own dish:  Grilled salmon over corn salad with zucchini.

Cut up fresh fruit, also drizzled with aged Balsamic.  Tis the season.

August, Wednesday night Steak

Grilled up a Strip steak. Copped some fresh Morels (thanks Brian). Barb had made some butters this Spring. Took out a Chervil, chive, shallot and olive oil butter. Two thin slices on aluminum foil on the grill along with the morels.

Nuked some local corn. Grilled zucchini, then the steak to perfect done-ness.

A well named wine that was okay to drink, but nothing special. About $11.

Invitation for comments/e-mails

I welcome comments and feedback.  If you would like to comment on my blog, please e-mail me at Josheatsanddrinks@gmail.com.  I will then include you in my google+ account.
This is a new work in progress, so I am learning about these things as I go.

Brian's in Lambertville, NJ. Tasting menu

Fabulous tasting menu at Brian's last night. He's doing an encore tonight.

Chilled Beefsteak Tomato Soup with

  Blue Crab Salad

Scallop with Cauliflower and Truffle 

  Essence

Sweet Corn Soufflé with Butter poached 

  Lobster

Local Fluke Quenelles with Crayfish

Ballottine of Poussin Summer 

  Chanterelles and Potato Crepe

Strip loin of Beef with Carrot Mousse

Port Wine Poached Cherries with 

  Delice de Borgogne

Plum Tart

Local Peach and Sauternes Sorbet (forgot to take a picture)