Cherry Grove Farm - The Best of Lawrenceville NJ

 New Jersey has amazing farms which have a wide variety of fresh made and organic products. Cherry Grove Farm in the quaint town of Lawrenceville right outside of Princeton. The town itself is like an American version of a Jane Austen setting.

The farm is a dairy farm , rare in New Jersey and known for their homemade mozzarella and burrata. There are several animals for petting and just nuzzling.

                             Here is an adorable baby goat. It has the softest fur and sweetest disposition.

                   This is the sheep and goat. There's also a chicken coop and fields full of cattle.

                                      Here is the sheep, possibly a ewe, along with that adorable kid.

Cherry Grove is also known for their small country store. I couldn't get over the variety and array of fresh made products.It was hard to choose  what food to buy.

                                          They have a fig almond spread and a red pepper tapanade.

These are the preserves and jams.It was hard not to pass up the bread and butter pickles and pickled green beans.

Cherry Grove Farms also has a fantastic array of bee products from honey to pollen. I want to get the pollen on my next visit.

    I decided on the Weaver's Orchard's applesauce and Oak View Acres strawberry jam, these coming from the heart of Amish country near Reading ,PA.  not  all that far from Lawrenceville. I plan on serving the apple sauce with veggie pancakes and the jam slathered on croissants.

Cherry Grove Farms is the perfect fall outing. Take a ride there to see the animals and try their amazing array of different preserves, cheeses, jams, honey, and applesauce. Enjoy  a fall day in the country

Cherry Grove Farm is located at 3200, Lawrenceville Road , Lawrenceville ,NJ. It's right off the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 206

The Popularity of Birria

A classic Mexican dish is once again being embraced by the US. Birria, a kind of stew is being embraced by  - well - everyone . This blend of meats , veggies and chilis is coming into its' own, in a variety of ways. There are birria pizzas and fries along with fries and even in pho and tortellinis. Yet, the original recipe is the best.

Tejal Rao wrote about this in today's New York Times Food section. Birria is a classic Mexican pot dinner first written about in 1945 by Josefina Velazquez de Leon  a cookbook writer who traveled through Mexico. It was recorded in a Mexican cookbook, Platillos Regionale de la Republoca Mexicana. Thar recipe called for a whole sheep to be rubbed with a paste of lightly roasted ancho peppers cascabel, a small round pepper and seasoned with cinnamon, cumin and oregano.It draws from Indigenous pre-Columbian cooking rituals.The sheep is put into a pot sealed with masa or corn meal, then tucked into a fire pit to cook slowly like barbecoa.It' was served in bowls with a dribble of tomato salsa and some of the cooking sauces . This included the rendered animal fat, and the pot liquor known as consome. The present day version splits off into variations. There's one made with oxtails , and one made vegetarian with the addition of mushrooms. You could also use goat or lamb too , along with beef shoulder as the accompanying recipe suggests.

The recipe is being a ht with younger generations. Before it was thought of as an older person's dish  according to chef Teddy Vazquez who almost turned down a cooking job in Tiajuana. It was considered either a hangover cure, something to eat with the parents and grandparents on Sunday after church. He updated , went back to Los Angeles and started to sell birria taco to factory workers. He recalibrated the spices and got excited by the consome and the crunch of the tortilla cooked up in the rendered fat. So did his customers. He went from one truck to fifty , selling combo plates of tacos,quesadillas , tostadas and mulitas, a kind of grilled cheese with meat and a cup of the consome.He's even thinking of making a ramen with the birria, He's thinking of serving it when the customers get tired of the regular which won't happen soon. Josef Centanao owner and chef of Los Angeles' Bar Ama has created a vegetarian version. He does cook other versions that include beef chicken , llamb and even tofu. His other meatless version has mushrooms which gives the stew an eartiher flavor. He adds ginger too for zing to spike up the taste . Other chefs add vinegar and different spices. It's a creative way  of claiming it as your own.

BIrria is being embraced by everyone. It's no wonder. It's a flavorful bowl of meat  or veggies and spices that is perfect on its' own or in tacos or quesdadillas.

Homemade Yogurt Tasty Goodness

Nowadays we're dazzled by the variety of yogurt in our supermarkets.It' whipped, sprinkled  with candy ,topped with nuts.It's French style Greek style , old school style. It's just too much. A simpler and much better version is the homemade kind - one made in your kitchen,

Melissa Clark knows this and wrote about it in an extensive column in yesterday's New York Times Food section.It's the easiest foods to make yet it does require some thought and good choices. You being with the starter - namely the good bacteria that will ferment the milk,Ms Clark suggests thinking of it like the sourdough starter that results in a crusty, tangy  bread.The two bacteria that are used the most are Lactobacillus delbruecki subspecies bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. The first turns laciose into lactic acid and  is what gives yogurt its' tangy or sour taste. The second breaks down lactose into a digestible fatty acid. Where can these be had? In any live plain yogurt. Remember to look for the words "live""living" or "alive" in the ingredients ass.It has to be without preservatives but with an enjoyable flavor.  This is what will flavor your finished product.Another option is heirloom yogurt starter usually found online and at some health food stores. For a nondairy yogurt,use a commercial yogurt probiotic powder or capsules . A vegan non dairy starter can be used as well.

What about the milk? There are several options, such as cow's milk.There are two types, one known as creamline or non homogenized milk and homogenized. Creamline will produce a yellow layer that will sit on top of the yogurt. Homogenized is smooth throughout and won't separate. Ms. Clark recommends choosing pasteurized milk for the best results.Don't use sterilized or ultrapasteurized (UHT).The pasteurized kind produces a better flavor and ferments more willingly. Another variable is the fat content. Fat adds creaminess and body. The less milk fat, the thinner the yogurt's  texture. For a really rich one add cream.If you're worried about calories,then just use the 2% kind. Keep in mind you can also use goat's, sheep and even buffalo milk.For the best non-dairy cashew milk works the best. Another one is soy which also produces a rich, creamy mouthfeel. As for making the yogurt itself, it just cooking the milk and cream until the liquid simmers - about 110 to 120 degrees F. Let it cool until ipleasantly warm ( Ms. Clark suggests just stick a pinkie in to test)Transfer half a cup of warm milk to a bowl and whisk in the yogurt starter. Stir this into the pot of remaining milk.Set it someplace warm, such as the top of your fridge;Let it sit for six to twelve hours or until it tastes tangy.

Nothing beats a cup of homemade yogurt. It's just plain and delicious, made in your kitchen. Best of all it's just a simple fermentation without all those commercial bells and whistles.

A Perfect Tea For Coleridge

Today is Samuel Taylor Coleridge's birthday and for many of his fans, including myself , this is a day to celebrate the great poet's birthday.He was born in the lovely Devonshire town of Ottery Saint Mary , where cream teas and other good food abound.This is English country food, of the finest farm to table and sea to table variety. Devon is a coastal county or shire located on the English Channel.It may be the birthplace of Coleridge but its main seaside town, Torquay, became famous thanks to the hilarious TV show "Faulty Towers" over forty years ago.The area boasts true farm to table cuisine.One of the most famous dishes is the pasty.This is a small, handheld pie stuffed with meat, usually beef or sausage.The pastry is buttery and flaky ,a melt in your mouth treat, especially if the filling is juicy and tender.Another tea or lunch time treat is white pudding, a highly spiced pork sausage.Mutton, lamb and beef are abundant here and everyone from visiting foodie's to locals can enjoy a variety of different roasts and stews .Since there are plenty of creameries, there is also plenty of good cheese.A favorite and decadent treat is fried cheese.This is when small wedges of different cheeses are breaded and then deep fried .A dash of tart lignon berry jam.They also love potted cheese, basically leftover cheese mixed with butter an, pounded for malleability and then poured into a pot.Sometimes sherry is added for zing and then it's served with bread or crackers.There is some good cheese here, from the cream cheese like Curworthy and Sharpham, a Devon take on the French Brie.Surprisingly seaweed plays a part in the diet too, thanks to locals gathering it up from the Devon coast. It's not as popular as it once was, however some chefs are cooking with it and appreciate it's nutritional value The county is also famed for it's cream teas.This is a proper English tea but with clotted cream generously dotting scones along with a healthy scoop of homemade jam.Most usually serve the tame and almost boring strawberry jam but some prefer the highly tart and eye opening rhubarb and gooseberry sorts.Devon is also known for their apples and these along with apple cakes abound here.Some recipes have been handed down since Elizabethan times and I'm sure Coleridge enjoyed a few during his boyhood in the Devon countryside?Clotted cream also figures in fudge as well.Creameries featuring fresh made ice cream is sold throughout the area, some creameries even using clotted cream as a base. Samuel Taylor Coleridge grew up with some of the freshest foods for his time.They can still be enjoyed today, thanks to the purity and abundance of meats, fish produce and dairy.Devonshire food is the food of poets, supplying them with sustenance for centuries.

In The Agrihood

Everyone has his or her idea of the perfect neighborhood.Most prefer a quiet block while other ps want easy access to stores.Many people are getting a kind of combination of that in the agrihood.This is a new concept based on an old idea with families in one area relying on a farm for food.It's a great idea and the ideal location for families. this new food and housing trend was covered in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.Kate Murphy wrote the piece after visiting one such community in Gilbert Arizona.The neighborhood is called Agritopia.Thanks to the real estate bust of 2008 halted construction however developers turned in another and very new direction: developing farm focused tracts.There was a need for them.After all people were discovering eating farm to table was healthier and what better way than having a sustainable farm within walking distance.The neighborhood boasts not only fresh produce ,meats ,eggs and even honey but also a restaurant that uses the raw ingredients.Residents pay $100 a month for their supplies of just harvested eggs, honey and produce.Other agrihoods are now in such diverse locations as Idaho to Vermont.There are only five in existence in the US now but six more are being built. Life in Agritopia is blissful.The homes are one story with big front porches and close proximity to the sidewalk.This encourages neighbors to chat and enables a sense of community.As for diets, families have come to appreciate fresh ingredients .Kids growing up here will more or less be imbued with a taste for the natural instead of fast or microwaved foods.The Phoenix agrihood has 160 acres with veggies from artichokes to zucchini along with fruit trees such as nectarines Apples, peaches and dates, that even include olive trees?There is livestock ,with chickens and sheep for fresh egg and meat.The farm is separated from the community by grapevines and blackberry brambles.Everything is sold from a centrally located farm stand where the restaurant also is located.It runs on the honor although there is that fee. Everyone craves the perfect life.An agrihood can give that,along with good food and healthy ingredients.It's a step towards living in a true utopia.