Sweet Corn Salad

I've finally slowed down on buying corn.  When it first appears

at farmstands in the beginning of July, I can't get enough of it.

Now, once a week will do, and leftover ears are usually cut down

and mixed with diced Kirby cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions,

cilantro, a can of beans (any kind will do - these happen to be pintos),

olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and cumin.  Not too

much cumin, but just enough to notice.  For an hour before dinner,

continue folding the salad every ten minutes or so to keep the

ingredients coated.  Cool, crisp, and refreshing.  When you're 

done eating, you'll be going back to the bowl with your fork for

just one more flavor-bursting bite after another.  Until someone 

tells you to cut that shit out. 

Can't beet 'em

I had been asking for beets at one of my favorite farmstands

for a week or two, and today they got sick of me asking.  The 

farmer went out back and pulled 2 bunches for me while I waited.

Within an hour they were trimmed, washed, and roasted in their

skins with olive oil until a knife easily went through them.  Roasting

as opposed to boiling the beets retains all of the juices and the 

deep red color and concentrates the flavor of the beet as well. 

When cooled, rub off the skin, slice the beets, and mix with a 

sliced onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Simple. And phenomenally delicious.  

Comfort

Check out the veil of smoke escaping from the grill and

 then being sucked up over the lid.  Ghostlike, it clings

to the exterior of the dome and then releases at the top.

With the indirect cooking/smoking of the rib-ends and

potatoes complete, more charcoal was added and

soon the marinated flank steak would be grilled.

Of course, Jersey sweet white corn was also served,

and all the while dark & stormies were consumed.

This test rib yelled out to be eaten.  Barely clinging to its

own serving utensil, the meat, cartilage, and fat slowly

receded from the bone, leaving a perfect, tidy mouthful

of smoky heaven.  I'm hungry again just writing this.

A Must-Stop

We drove our younger daughter to camp in the Poconos this

morning, travelling north on rt. 31 and then east on 46 on our 

way to the Delaware Water Gap.  While passing through Buttzville, 

I couldn't help noticing Hot Dog Johnny's, a throwback roadside 

mecca of  deep-fried hot dogs and draft birch beer.  Note to self:  

Stop there on the way back, at any cost.  Do not eat a single bite of

food between now and the moment you pull into that parking lot

on the way home.  The lot was empty at 8:00 a.m., but surely they'd 

be jamming at lunch time.  My intuition proved to be accurate as the 

place was abuzz with travelers of all shapes and sizes.     

We waited only a couple minutes in line, and when I got to the

window, I realized how customers were served so quickly.  I

naively asked if there was a menu to see, for I had scanned the 

walls and found nothing of the sort.  The reply was no.  I then 

asked what they had, and in a single breath, the girl behind the

counter said, "hot dogs, fries and soda".  Then give me two hot

dogs with pickles and mustard, fries, and a birch beer.  My order

was taken so quickly, I had forgotten to ask about the buttermilk,

which apparently some people drink cold from a mug with their

dogs and fries.  Next time......Buttermilk?  

We found a picnic bench out of about a dozen, which on the average, 

turns in around ten minutes or so.  The birch beer was deep red and

delicious, the fries were crispy and salty (perfect), and the dogs were

pretty average, truth be told.  A little bit wrinkled from the deep fryer,

they were good, not great.  Didn't matter.  This place smacked of

Americana and to pass by would have surely amounted to treason.

And far be it from us not to be American-like.

Full Swing

New Jersey farmstands are just about in full swing, with the 

world-famous sweet white corn, tomatoes, and yellow peaches 

headlining the bill.  The Kirby cukes make great asian cucumber

salad, and the beans are rock hard and dark green, picked this

morning.  I try like hell not to buy vegetables in the grocery store

from July thru September, relying on the bounty of the local stands

instead.  Yeah, you may pay a bit more for certain items, but just

knowing that the stuff is that much fresher makes it all worthwhile.

A close blogging friend put it best: "There's a lot to be said for letting 

fruit and veggies ripen in the field instead of a warehouse."  This 

produce I consider to be 'artisanal', in that it takes more time to 

nurture, to mature, and to bring to market than mass-grown and

harvested crops.  There's a difference in the look, feel, and taste

of these fruits and vegetables.  And they might not always appear

as perfect as their store-bought cousins.  Billy Crystal once said,

"It's not how you look, darling, but how you taste."  Or something

like that.  By the way, this white corn was " the most obscenely 

sweet and juicy, kernels pop in your mouth, where did that ear 

just go? corn"  I've had in about ten months.  I'll be leaning over 

the sink later-on tonight devouring the rest of the leftover ears.

Even if I'm not necessarily hungry. 

BTW, is anyone else's basil exploding? 

  

Okay, summer's finally here in NJ

I can without hesitation say:  Summer's here in New Jersey!

For the last week or two, my eyes have been trained to the

roadside for 'Sweet Corn' signs, and this morning my patience

paid off.  We passed a couple of familiar spots before pulling in

to our go-to stand, Krowicki's of New Egypt.  They were selling

bread and butter corn, not my favorite but still good, at $5 a dozen.

The only stand on our normal route that sells a baker's dozen.

Mrs. Krowicki assured me that the B&B is first to mature, and

the sweetest of the bunch.  I disagree.  Their Silver Queen is by

far the most obscenely sweet and juicy, kernels pop in your mouth,

where did that ear just go? corn I've ever had.  I've spoken with

people from Iowa and Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Maryland 

and Long Island, all claiming theirs to be the best of the best.

How do you spell the sound you make with your mouth when

you completely dismiss something someone just says to you?

Atlantic City sea scallops accompanied the corn, with

soybean/chile paste, and cherry tomatoes, mozzarella,

thyme, basil, and chives in a pile to the side. 

Oh yeah.  We bought the first of the Jersey peaches this

morning too.  The juice ran down our cheeks all the way

down to the boat.