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Hon Sushi: Japanese and Korean Cuisine on Route 1
Fire Viking Roll |
Hon Sushi serves Japanese and Korean cuisine in Lawrenceville, NJ. Owners John and and Kim Lim wanted to offer traditional Japanese and South Korean food but with a modern twist. I recently did a tasting of their menu with several of my foodie friends. I was particularly amazed at the variety in the menu and was informed by the manager that they had specialized chefs for each type of cuisine.
Seaweed Salad |
If you are looking to have a start off with something refreshing, try the Seaweed salad.
Shrimp Tempura |
On the other hand, if you are craving something fried, try their Shrimp Tempura. I was impressed with their version which was not greasy and reminded me of the Tempura I had tried in Ropongi Hills in Tokyo.
Tuna Tar Tar |
My favorite of the evening was the Tuna Tar Tar with a side of avocado salad. There is heavy use of avocado in Hon’s food but given that I love avocado, I didn’t mind that. Rather, it lent a good textural offset and modern touch in the dishes that I tried.
Kalbi Stew |
For the main course, I would recommend the Kalbi Stew, especially if you are looking for something hearty. The beef fell off the bones with large chunks of potato, carrots, and shitake mushrooms in a a thick garlic stock. If you are looking to impress your guests over a celebratory dinner, order the Fire Viking Roll where the chef uses vodka to flambé shrimp tempura topped with avocado. The flame not only creates a dramatic visual presentation but also imparts a smoky flavor which is offset by the subtle smooth texture of the avocado and the crispiness of the shrimp tempura.
Spicy Mexican Roll |
If you would rather go for a roll for your main course, try the Spicy Mexican Roll with spicy yellow tail with guacamole sauce. A friend ordered the Shrek Roll and if the name didn’t give it away already, this roll had avocado, shrimp tempura and cream cheese roll rolled in a light green soy paper.
Hon has several gluten-free options and vegetarian options on the menu.
Hon’s location within Mercer Mall is convenient especially for office-goers. It may not appear at first glance to be a family-style restaurant, but I found it appropriate for a nice night out in town. Check out their full menu at http://www.honsushi.com/ or visit the restaurant at 3349-68 Brunswick Avenue in Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Phone:609-269-5800.
Rudie is Dutch, and this shows in his love for and knowledge of cheeses. In fact, Rudie’s passion for educating his customers about cheeses evident from the manner in which he strikes up conversations about the origin, flavor profile, and suggested pairings as he offers a taste (tasting before a purchase is mandatory and very much in line with Rudie’s philosophy of sharing his knowledge). The Palmer Square store will carry over 200 assortments of cheeses, as well as gourmet olives, meats, and condiments.
It was not a surprise therefore that I turned to Rudie’s expertise when I was trying to write about suggested cheese pairings for HerbNZest condiments (launching in July 2011). Rudie graciously agreed to offer his suggestions.
For HerbNZest Basil Peach Raisin Spread Rudie suggested The Delice de Bourgogne which is an aged French cow’s milk cheese from the Burgundy region of France. Given its rich and creamy texture and pungent flavor, it pairs well with HerbNZest Basil Peach Raisin Spread which is sweet and tangy with a fresh basil undertone.
For HerbNZest Chive Tomato Mustard Spread, Rudie recommended The Zamorano which is a aged hard sheep’s milk cheese made in the province of Zamora, Spain. Due to its rich texture and piquant and nutty flavor, it pairs well with the tangy and savory HerbNZest Chive Tomato Mustard Spread with its heat finish.
Tre Piani hosts The 2011 Central NJ Slow Food Winter Farmers Market featuring local food delights
The Slow Food Movement started in Italy in 1986, based on the belief that “industrialization of food was standardizing taste and leading to the annihilation of thousands of food varieties and flavors. With the preservation of taste at the forefront, the Slow Food movement seeks to support and protect small growers and artisanal producers, support and protect the physical environment, and promote biodiversity”. According to Jim, “Slow Food is basically the opposite of fast food, a return to local traditions and flavors, a return to the table, and a return to the know how of where food comes from”.
Slow Food events such as this Winter Farmers market is committed to showcasing small farms, and locally produced, unique food and production methods. So, I decided to hold the February meetup for my foodie group, New Jersey Foodies at Tre Piani. The format of the meetup was quite open, with most of us meeting in front of Tre Piani and walking around the market meeting the local producers and sampling and buying their food. One of the Vendors, Randy of “Randy’s Gourmet” is in fact a member of our foodie group so it was great seeing our friends both as providers and supporters of the local Slow Food movement. All in all, a great start to the weekend, meeting friends and stocking up the pantry with local goodies.
Vendors at this market included the following:
Cherry Grove Farm
North Slope Farm
Beech Tree Farm
Village Bakery
Lillipies
Valley Shepherd Creamery
Davidson’s Exotic Mushrooms
Randy’s Gourmet
Grab ‘Em Snacks
Pure Indian Foods Organic Ghee
Tassot Apiaries
Hopewell Valley Vineyards
Bobolink Dairy Farm
John Henry Goldman and the Straight Jazz Quartet entertained the local market participants and shoppers.
Note: words in quotes have been taken from http://www.slowfoodcentralnj.org/About_Slow_Food.html
The Peacock Inn at Princeton: a gastronomical delight!
Once we were in this 18th century recently renovated Colonial mansion, our car was parked by the valet service,our coats were checked and we were escorted to our velvet-lined seats in the dining area. Almost immediately, we were handed the wine list and menu.
For my main course, I ordered the Ricotta Gnocchi with Asparagus and Tomato Confit in Portobello-Parmesan Butter. I was surprised by the lightness of this dish despite its rich appearance and sound. The tomato confit lent the bright color and slight acidic flavor atop a fresh soft ricotta gnocchi while the asparagus added the needed crunch against the smooth buttery base. All in all, this was a great choice from the point of view of color, flavor and taste and especially welcome after my rich Foie Gras experience.
Our friend, Jon selected the wines for the night, the 2008 Sancerre from Chateau de Sancerre and a Petite Sirah.
Executive Chef Manuel Perez has managed to deliver a New American Cuisine within a classic and elegant setting. For further details on location, history and menu, please visit http://www.peacockinn.com/
Food-critic Teresa Politano shares Celebrity chef stories at Wharton New Jersey event
Then, she read from her book, the inspiring story about Donna Tuscana line of Tuscan chocolates and its visionary and master chocolatier, Diane Pinder, who has hand crafted artisan chocolates using a combination of unique and exotic flavors such as sea salt and olive oil with Belgian chocolate. In the book, Teresa has managed to capture not only the cooking styles of chefs but also their backgrounds that have influenced and carved their respective personas. For instance, in case of Diane, her training as a critical care nurse positioned her to work well in her partnership with the legendary Craig Shelton to craft unique confectioneries. Teresa brought in 12 varieties of Diane’s Tuscan chocolates, each one unique in its flavor.
NJ 101.5 Radio host Dennis Malloy wears his Chef hat at Mrs G T.V. & Appliances game day cookout
With Food Network’s John Sowienski as his sous chef, Dennis cooked many game day delights like stromboli, potato volcano, cheese steak roll-ups, and quesadillas (some of his recipes have been covered in this Examiner article). Throughout the demonstration, Dennis interacted with the crowd, sharing tips, anecdotes relating to his Italian and Sicilian heritage, food and travel, highlighting his radio personality. One of his questions for the crowd was “who is your favorite star chef?”. The crowd and Dennis’ consensus was “Bobby Flay”. Given that Dennis frequents Philadelphia, I remarked that Bobby Flay had opened “Bobby’s Burger Palace” in Philadelphia which Dennis agreed to check out.
Some tips shared by Dennis (and John) were:
2) Use sea salt rather than table salt : sea salt retains all the sea mineral and freshly ground sea salt tastes better and is more potent than regular salt
3) Use pesto over chicken cutlet: Dennis grows his own basil for the fresh taste and flavor. He uses the commonly found Genovese basil variety usually.
4) Use parchment paper to store pizza dough or to cover and pound your chicken cutlet. You could use wax paper as well but not in the oven. Parchment paper is cheap and clean-up is easy.
For his cooking, Dennis used Miele appliances:
1) For baking: Miele’s master chef line of convection oven with touch pad, LCD display, context sensitive control panel and chef settings. Miele representatives demonstrated that if you identify the type of food you are cooking and the oven will automatically select the proper operating mode for perfect results every time.
2) For cooking: Miele induction stove top with touch pad controls, safety lock, and memory features. This technology uses a non-contact method of heating using magnetic fields to transfer energy directly to cookware so that the induction element stays cool, while the target object heats up rapidly for extremely efficient cooking so that the stove top can be used as extra counter space as soon as a cookware is removed.
Mike Rothwell of PQM and Debbie Schaeffer of Mrs G take a moment to talk about their family-owned businesses’ support for the community |
Mike Rothwell, VP and General Manager from Pennington Quality Market and Debbie Schaeffer, President & CEO of Mrs G TV & Appliances shared their philosophy and history as family-owned and operated businesses. Debbie talked about how Mrs G succeeded through generations by not only applying savvy business practices such as being part of a national co-op with $14 billion in purchasing power to offer low prices ton customers and offering exceptional customer service but also partnering with local businesses such as PQM to support their local community and each other. This event was another testament to the community outreach by 3 businesses: Miele, Mrs G, and PQM to bring foodies and Dennis’ fans together to share laughter and fun over some good game day food! Audience was treated to food from PQM and some lucky audience members went home with raffle prizes: broadway tickets to Phantom of the Opera and a Miele vaccum.
Yum…Yum is all I can say for this quick n easy recipe.
Ingredients: for hummus
1 small can of chick peas (cooked)
2 tablespoons of tahini
1 red Pepper
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup water
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp dry chives
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Ingredients: for garlic bread
2 slices of whole wheat bread
1 clove of garlic
8-10 italian capers
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
black pepper and salt: use shaker to sprinkle on top
Method: for hummus
Baste the red pepper in olive oil and roast in the oven at 450F for 15 minutes until skin starts peeling off. Peel off the skin in cold water. In a food processor, add chick peas, tahini, garlic, water, roasted pepper and blend.Slowly add the olive oil, paprika, salt, and lemon juice and blend again. Serve in a bowl, top with more oil, and chives. Add a dollop of HerbNZest tomato spread on top to finish off.
Method: for garlic bread
Rub the garlic clove over the bread (for more garlic flavor, you can chop up the garlic and add it on top of the bread. Drizzle with live oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, add capers and toast in oven for 1-2 minutes until light brown. Serve over the hummus.
Enjoy!
Crispened Tofu Salad
Ingredients for the salad:
1 packmedium firm Tofu: slice into 1/2 inch by 3 inch pieces
Plum Tomato 1 medium (could substitute with tomatoes of your choice) diced
Cucumber 1 small diced
Carrots diced
Lettuce 6-10 leaves chopped
Dry ginger powder 1tsp
Dry onion powder 1tsp
Sesame seeds 1 tsp
Salt pinch
Cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp
Orange zest 1/4 tsp
Vegetable Oil
Ingredients for the dressing:
Mayonese 3 tbsp
Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp
Water 2 tbsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Black pepper 1/4 tsp
Preparation Method (for salad)
Season tofu using all the spices and oil and bake in oven for 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Then turn up to heat to broil for last 5 minutes to crispen the top. Remove and place on a bed of chopped lettuce and vegetables.
Preparation Method (for dressing)
In a food processor, add all ingredients (other than olive oil) and blend slowly while adding olive oil slowly.
Pour the dressing over the salad slowly and you’re ready with this wonderfully delicious heart healthy meal.