Selling Jersey tomatoes at the Asbury Park farmers market on Saturdays, Sunset Avenue. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©
By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger, Editors @Blogfinger.
Good news for tomato lovers: the local farmers are producing wonderful, juicy, tasty Jerseys now. We tried them at Wegmans and at the Saturday Farmers Market (Sunset Ave.) in Asbury Park.
Wegmans is charging $3.00 a pound while the AP Market current price is $2.50. When selecting Jerseys, look at the top. If the red goes to the stem, they are ready to eat. Otherwise, if it is greenish there, you can let them ripen at home for a day or two.
We learned that from Laurie at her Neptune Market which is now closed. She is missed by many. She used to sell corn by a 90 year old farmer named Donald who was still active, but he died a few months ago.
Will the tradition of Jersey farmers markets continue?—-Yes, but their prices have gone up. If you discover any great farm stands, let us know.
The Jersey tomato crops are always precarious and can be ruined by bad weather such as a series of torrential rainstorms. Watch for bargains into September when you can buy them in volume and make your own sauce (or “gravy” as the Italians say.)
These Jerseys and zucchini are from the AP market. Blogfinger photo. 8/15/15. ©
Here’s a report from Laurie’s Market two years ago—photos and information. This time last year, the Jerseys were sad.
Eileen’s Caprese Salad recipe: (This photo was made using Florida tomatoes which are not as good as our August/September Jerseys) Caprese salads are always a big hit, but get fresh mozzarella, preferably from an authentic Italian market. (There are a few around here.)
RECIPE: Eileen Goldfinger recommends a Caprese salad if you have good tomatoes. Cut some thick slices of tomato and matching slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. Then layer the slices in an alternating pattern with a leaf of basil on each slice of cheese.
Then prepare a vinaigrette by mixing 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, pinch of salt, some freshly ground pepper to taste, and 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard. Whisk the mixture until the ingredients are blended and then drizzle on top of the salad.
PINK MARTINI: “Hang on Little Tomato.”
And here is FRANK SINATRA regarding a tomato he found in Italy:
I’ve been mostly buying from the Sunday Jersey Fresh market in Asbury next to Moonstruck (mostly because I can walk!). There are only a handful of farms and many are organic so they are more expensive, BUT I will say what interests me is the age of the farmers. To Paul’s point, it is a significantly younger generation of farmers — I would guess the median age to be early-30s. (The people manning the stands are the actual farmers in many cases.) I think they’re powered in part by the growing popularity of slow cooking and farm-to-table movements but I am definitely hopeful this is the sign of good things for the future of farming in the Garden State!
This Italian says it’s sauce to Beezee! LOL
Matts in west belmar (aka lake como) on 71 has jersey tomatoes for $1.59/# w bruised and smal ones for $0.99!
http://www.mattsfarmmarket.com
Let’s start a fight:
That’s SAUCE. Not gravy, not ever.
Medical note: Tomatoes contain the anti-oxidant lycopene which has been found to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Here is a BBC link:
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28950093