By Eileen Goldfinger, food editor @Blogfinger and Paul Goldfinger, official taster and photographer @Blogfinger.
On Oct. 20 and 21, 2018, (next weekend) is the 35th Chatsworth Cranberry Festival. It’s fun. Read about it at http://www.cranfest.info.
This is a very crowded event in the Pine Barrens, about an hour from here. The best bet is to go on Sunday morning early and park along the side of the road.
New Jersey is one of the most important cranberry growing regions in the world with over 3,500 acres devoted to the crop. In the US, we are second in size to Wisconsin and Massachusetts. Cranberries are grown in bogs where the soil and water requirements are quite complicated. The harvest is usually complete by the end of October.
In New Jersey, most of the growing occurs in Burlington County, around Chatsworth, where the annual Cranberry Festival will be held this month.
We go to the Festival to enjoy this unique cultural event—-Appalachia in Jersey. Hear bluegrass music and buy fresh picked cranberries. Eileen purchases her usual 7 pound box.
In 2015 we were away for the Festival, so we drove to Tabernacle, NJ ( BF search Tabernacle)) down the road from Chatsworth, one week later, and visited Russo’s Farm Market where Eileen purchased her supply of cranberries.
She makes fresh cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and freezes the rest of the berries in small Ziploc portions to use throughout the year. Fresh cranberries can be purchased at Wegmans and Delicious Orchards.
Below is Eileen’s recipe for homemade cranberry sauce. It’s a treat for your company on Thanksgiving, so don’t get bogged down with that gelatinous canned stuff.
EILEEN’S CRANBERRY SAUCE:
1 cup of water
1 cup sugar
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 orange, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/8 cup Grand Marnier (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix sugar and water in a medium sauce pan.
Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar.
Add cranberries and bring to a boil; then reduce the heat and gently boil for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat.
Cool to room temperature.
Add diced orange and zest and Grand Marnier.
Refrigerate.
Makes approx. 2 cups of cranberry sauce. In general, if used as a condiment, it will serve about 4 people.
BETTE MIDLER You can’t hurry cranberry sauce or love.
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs cut into one inch pieces
1/4 cup searing flour
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 2 inch strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into small cubes
1 stalk celery, cut into small 1/4 inch pieces
5 ounces crimini or white button mushrooms, 5 ounces, cut mushrooms in half
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
14 ounces canned plum or cherry tomatoes
1 medium onion, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup unsalted chicken broth
1/2 cup red wine
6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
16 ounce package of frozen peas
5 small red or butter potatoes cubed
Using a medium size sauce pan, fill three quarters with water and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until they are fork tender. Then pour off water and place the potatoes aside.
Combine flour with black pepper and lightly coat chicken pieces with flour. Heat oil in a 5 quart Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Brown the chicken in small batches. Remove from pot and set aside on a plate.
Add celery, carrots, onion and garlic to Dutch oven, lower the heat and cook until the vegetables wilt, approximately 10 minutes.
Stir tomatoes, wine, and broth in Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, add chicken and peppers to the pot. Simmer covered for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
After the one hour make sure the chicken is fork-tender. If not, cook until its is fork tender.
Taste sauce and adjust seasoning ( more pepper and salt if necessary.) Add mushrooms, peas, and potatoes. Cook another 15 minutes.
Add some additional chicken broth during the cooking process if the liquid begins to evaporate.
PUCCINI. “O Mio Babbino Caro.”
Red wine is a must. We had a Foris Pinot Noir (2014) from the Rogue Valley in Oregon—-Wegmans selection. The bread is a Bastone, a crunchy-crusted Italian loaf from Mario’s in Fort Myers, Florida—by way of Sicily.
2 tablespoons canola oil (may need more for cooking)
1 tablespoon butter
1 ½ – 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seafood Seasoning
Prepare crab cakes
Place crab meat in a large bowl. Gently pick through the meat and remove any shells. Add the cracker crumbs ( I place the crackers in a zip lock bag and pound them with a wooden mallet or rolling pin to make the crumbs), Old Bay and chives.
Gently mix these ingredients together, use your hands, and break apart some of the larger pieces of crab.
In a separate bowl whisk the mayonnaise, egg, and mustard together. Stir this into the crab mixture using your hands. Be careful not to break the pieces of crabmeat.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This will help form the crab cakes and prevent them from falling apart.
Scoop approximately ½ cup amount of crab mixture in your hands and carefully form cakes about 1” thick. This should make 6 crab cakes. Place them on a tray until all cakes are formed.
Cooking crab cakes
Heat a 12” non-stick fry pan or cast iron pan (my preference) over medium heat.
Add the oil and when it begins to simmer add the cakes to the pan. Cook cakes for 4 minutes or until they turn golden. Lower the heat to medium low, add the butter to the pan and turn the cakes over.
Cook them for 4 minutes or until they turn golden.
Serves 3
STUART MATTHEWMAN from the movie Twin Falls Idaho. “Amapola”
3/4 pound of cod fillets, cut in four inch pieces, or any other white mild fish
6 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 medium carrot, peeled, small diced
1 celery stalk, small diced
1 shallot, small diced
parsley, fresh, several sprigs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup unsalted chicken broth
2 tablespoons of margarine (or butter)
14 ounces canned plum or cherry tomatoes with puree
Preheat broiler.
In a 10 inch cast iron pan heat margarine and add carrots, celery, shallot, garlic, parsley and salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until the vegetables begin to soften, approximately 10 minutes. Stir ingredients in the pan, and if they seem to be sticking to the pan add a little of the chicken broth.
Next add the tomatoes with the puree, the chicken broth, and white wine. Stir and break up the tomatoes into bite size pieces. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Add fish fillets and shrimp. Cook them in the sauce for 3 minutes.
Turn the fish over and place the pan on a rack 8 inches from the broiler element. Cook for 5 minutes. Serve with a crispy French or Italian bread.
Serves 2
FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE: “The Saturday Night Fish Fry” from the original Broadway cast recording of the show Five Guys Named Moe.
Place chicken on baking sheet. Sprinkle them on both sides with saltand black pepper and rub them with olive oil. Bake them for 35 minutes or until they are baked through. Half way through turn chicken parts over and finish baking. Remove from oven and set aside. When chicken is cool cut it in bit sized pieces.
Filling:
In a large Dutch oven melt butter and saute onions and carrots for 15 minutes. Add flour and cook over low heat , stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Slowly add the chicken stock to the pot. Simmer over low heat until stirring until sauce becomes thick. Add 1.2 teaspoon of salt , 1.2 teaspoon black pepper and fat free half and half. Add the chicken, peas, whole onions and parsley. Mix well.
Assembling:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
You will need two 9-inch pie plates.
Roll out a sheet of pastry on a floured surface , one for each pie plate. Place in plate and press pastry into plate. Trim off excess pastry. Prick the pastry thoroughly with a fork. P lace aluminum foil onto the surface of the pastry. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and remove foil.
Divide filling in half and place in each pastry lined plate. Roll out two more pastry sheets on floured surface. Place one on top of each filled pie plate. Pinch the edges of the dough to make it stick and seal all around the plate. To make a lattice top, cut top pastry into long strips and weave in and out on top of the filled pie plate . In either case brush the top pastry with an egg wash (one egg whisked in a small bowl) and sprinkle with sea salt.
Place pies on baking sheets in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour or until the top crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
Note: Don’t bother the cook while she is timing the pie:
PALAST ORCHESTER and MAX RAABE: “As Time Goes By.”
Photo by Eileen Goldfinger. Re-posted from 2013 on Blogfinger.net
3-4 pounds chicken, cut in 4 inch pieces, wings cut at the joint
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup vegetable oil
5 tablespoons searing flour
2 bell peppers, any color, cut in ½ inch strips
1 large onion, diced
12 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
½ cup red wine
½ cup chicken broth
1 28 ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crush by hand
½ cup marinara sauce
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (this is spicy)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Sprinkle flour on both sides of chicken pieces. In a large fry pan, heat vegetable oil and brown chicken on both sides. Remove chicken from pan and set aside and discard the oil.
In a 5 quart Dutch oven, heat the olive oil. Add onion and peppers. Sauté on medium heat for 10 minutes. Lower the heat and add the garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, San Marzano tomatoes, wine and broth; stir and simmer at a low heat for 30 minutes. Add oregano, red pepper flakes and black pepper, cook for 5 minutes.
Add chicken pieces to the sauce. Make sure the chicken is covered with the sauce. Cook at a simmer for 1 hour with pot cover ajar. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a small amount of broth. Stir occasionally to make sure the chicken does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Taste sauce to adjust seasoning. If you want it spicier, add more red pepper flakes. Remember you can always add more but if you put too much in you can’t remove it.
Add mushrooms, stir and cook on low-medium heat for 30 minutes.
Serve over pasta.
Serves 4
SOUNDTRACK: Luciano Pavarotti, from the film “Quartet.”
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 2 inch strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into small cubes
1 stalk celery, cut into small 1/4 inch pieces
5 ounces crimini or white button mushrooms, 5 ounces, cut mushrooms in half
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
14 ounces canned plum or cherry tomatoes with puree
1 medium onion, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup unsalted chicken broth
1/2 cup red wine
6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Combine flour with black pepper and lightly coat veal with flour. Heat oil in a 5 quart Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Brown the veal in small batches. Remove from pot and set aside on a plate.
Add celery, carrots, onion and garlic to Dutch oven, lower the heat and cook until the vegetables wilt, approximately 10 minutes.
Stir tomatoes, wine, and broth in Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, add veal and peppers to the pot. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
Cover the pot and cook for 1 hour. Continue to stir occasionally. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning ( more pepper and salt if necessary.) Add mushrooms and cook another 15 minutes or until the veal is fork tender.
Add some addional chicken broth during the cooking process if the liquid begins to evaporate.
Serves 2-3 people
PUCCINI. “O Mio Babbino Caro.”
Editor’s note: The version photographed above contains two additional ingredients: In the last 15 minutes of cooking, add half cup of frozen peas. Separately peel, dice and boil a russet potato until it is fork tender—-serve with the stew.
Red wine is a must. We had a Foris Pinot Noir (2014) from the Rogue Valley in Oregon—-Wegmans selection. The bread is a Bastone, a crunchy-crusted Italian loaf from Mario’s in Fort Myers, Florida—by way of Sicily.
Prepare 1-2 days before serving Preheat oven 350 degrees
5-6 pound brisket
freshly ground black pepper
paprika
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cooking onions, diced
4 carrots, peeled, cut in ¼” rings
4 stalks celery with leaves, ¼” slices
1 package (8-10 oz) fresh crimini or white mushrooms, thinly sliced
5 small cans of whole white potatoes (drained of the liquid)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 8 oz jars beef gravy
1 cup red wine
1 box low sodium beef or chicken broth
½ cup marinara sauce
Rub paprika and black pepper on both sides of the brisket (approximately 2 tablespoons of paprika & 1 tablespoon black pepper.)
Heat a large oven proof pan (with cover) on the stove. When pan is hot place brisket in pan and sear until meat turns brown. Turn meat over and sear on the other side. Remove brisket from pan and set aside.
Add oil to the pan and heat medium low. Add onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté on medium low heat for 15 minutes. Next add garlic, 1 jar beef gravy, red wine, box of broth, and marinara sauce. Stir the liquids with the vegetables and add the seared brisket to the pan. Place the cover on the pan and put it in the oven for 3 hours. Half way through the cooking time, turn the meat over and continue cooking with lid on pot.
After the 3 hours remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool. Place meat and gravy in a closed container and store in the refrigerator until the morning of the day you plan to serve the meat. Remove congealed fat and take brisket out of container (scrap gravy off the meat). Slice the brisket in ¼” slices on the diagonal, against the grain of the meat. It is very important that you slice against the grain or the meat will be tough and stringy.
Preheat oven 250 degrees.
Place the meat in the original pot. Add the gravy, all the potatoes, mushrooms, and 1 jar beef gravy. Place cover on the pot and place in the oven for 2 hours. I serve the brisket right from the pot it was cooked in. Serves 8
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A taste of Jewish history: It’s now 5777 by the Hebrew calendar, and Rosh Hashanah is upon us. The Jewish New Year is a serious religious event, but, like so many of our holidays, food is a big deal, especially traditional recipes. There are a lot of moving parts, but if Eileen leaves out anything she hears about it.
We eat apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year. Pomegranates have a similar purpose. (Although the Chinese like this too.) We have round (goodness without end) egg breads (challah)–often with raisins. Some of our foods are so good that they show up at multiple holidays. For example there’s chicken soup with matzoh balls and/or noodles. Then there is sweet Kosher wine and, the piéce de résistance—pot roast.
Of course Jews were scattered all over the world for thousands of years, so there are variations in the foods. If you are in the north east, brisket is usually used, but if you head to other parts of the country, the pot roast is made with different cuts of meat.
Many Jews that one might meet in New Jersey and New York are from families that escaped from eastern Europe during waves of immigration during the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. So they brought pot roast with them. On the other hand the Sephardic Jews in Deal might have couscous, leeks, pumpkin and fish with the head still attached.
My family, like most others, wanted to be Americanized as soon as possible. And that included customs, dress and language. But the foods were never forgotten. They spoke Yiddish at home because of the grand parents, but they always spoke English elsewhere.
Here is Mandy Patinkin who made an album of songs sung in Yiddish, and in this song he celebrates America–not the old world, but the new…..
Eileen (left) and Myrna Goldfinger. Chester, NJ. c.1995.
By Eileen Goldfinger, Food Editor @Blogfinger and Paul Goldfinger, Regular Editor@Blogfinger
Most Jewish families have a favorite recipe for what has been called “heaven in a bowl” (Jaimie Oliver). It is a “classic comfort food” and has been part of Jewish tradition since medieval times.
Jewish Chicken Soup is often prepared to make the sick feel more comfortable. The Huffington Post says that is “has healing powers,” and the University of Nebraska documented some health benefits (anti-inflammatory effects) for colds; probably due to breathing in those delightful fumes.
Eileen follows the tradition of my Mom’s family who came over from Eastern Europe (Poland) shortly after the turn of the 20th century. They settled in Bayonne, New Jersey where they lived in a small row house on the Boulevard. There were 9 children. Grandpa Chaim was a tailor. He sewed uniforms for the Czar until he got to New Jersey.
Grandma Helen was a little gray haired lady with a tiny kitchen where she turned out phenomenal traditional foods. I previously posted the photo of my Mom’s 4 brothers in uniform, newly returned from WWII. As a kid I loved to meet my cousins in Bayonne where we would search the attic and basement for souvenirs from the Pacific and eat all those treats which we craved at that little house.
My mom, Myrna, known also by her Jewish name–Malka, was best known for her soups, and the one I loved so much was her chicken soup with matzoth balls and/or noodles. She always said that she had two “secret ingredients” which Eileen divulges below (with asterisks.)
Never try this recipe without those two items. Sometimes Mom would exaggerate, like when she would tell her students that my Dad was in the FBI and wore a secret code ring. They loved her because she told stories and because she would dance and sing at the drop of a hat.
Mom’s soup is great anytime, but especially for a cold day or if you have a cold..
So here is Myrna’s recipe for Jewish Chicken Soup. (Shared by Eileen Goldfinger, Food Editor @Blogfinger.net)
1 4 pound whole chicken, quartered, skinned; wrap it in a cheese cloth and tied with cotton string
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
4 carrots, peeled
2 cubes chicken bouillon*(see below for amount)
1 1/2 bunch fresh dill*
1 bunch fresh flat-leafed parsley
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
water
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste
Heat oil in an 8 quart stock pot; add onions and celery; sauté for 10 minutes, until they wilt.
Cut 2 carrots into rounds and 2 carrots lengthwise and then in half. Add carrots to pot. Add chicken to pot and fill with water two inches above the chicken.
Bring to boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Take ½ of the dill and parsley, tie them together with cotton twine, and place in pot. Break bouillon cubes into pieces and add to pot. Then add ½ teaspoon black pepper to pot; stir.
Place cover on pot, leaving it ajar; simmer for 1 hour.
Remove dill and parsley from soup and discard. Remove the lengths of carrot from pot, mash them and put them back into pot.
Taste soup; add more pepper and salt according to taste. Add 4 tablespoons of chopped dill to soup.
Serve with cooked thin noodles or matzo balls. (Matzo balls can be purchased in the kosher, refrigerated section of some grocery stores).
Serves 4 (PG note: where it says to leave the pot ajar, it doesn’t mean to replace it with a jar. Also, some people throw out the chicken after that, but I have always loved boiled chicken with Heinz ketchup.)
Mom adored Broadway show music, and she sang those songs all the time around the house. The last show she saw on Broadway was her very favorite, Oklahoma. Eileen and I took her and bought her an official T shirt which said “I’m just a girl who can’t say no.” She was thrilled.
This song, “People Will Say We’re in Love” from Oklahoma is performed by Alfred Drake and Joan Roberts; written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and would have brought tears to her eyes.
Eileen’s lobster salad. Photo by Eileen Goldfinger © 
