@BurlCoNJ Burlington County Community Gardens #GardenCuizine @JerseyFreshNJDA Support your local Farmer's Market

Burlington County Farmer's Market is in full swing!

Beautiful summer weather to enjoy our first visit, since the pandemic, to support our local Farmer's Market. The 68-acre, former dairy farm, Burlington County Agricultural Center is located on Centerton Road in Moorestown NJ. Produce is sold every Saturday through October 30th.

The property is a working farm. You'll find everything from seasonal produce to farm animals, vendors with art, live music, pickles, eggs, cheese, soaps, you name it. There are even private parties and events that can be booked in their beautiful farmhouse and kitchen.

Check out a few other of my pics on Instagram.

Burlington County Ag Center has beautiful community gardens alongside the produce marketplace. Get a few steps in and enjoy your walk around. Each plot is fun to visit. 

The gardeners all take care in displaying their veggies, herbs and flowers in a creative fashion with garden art, gates, flags and signs. It always brings us joy to visit other peoples gardens. 

photo by Harry Wind

We enjoyed meeting Pete, a 90 year old Army Veteran retired from Lockheed Martin, covid survivor, 3 x's cancer survivor - now gardener! He was visiting his plot and other gardeners.

Hope to see you again soon Pete! We will be back to see what's growing and blooming.

Happy and Healthy Gardening!

Related Links

Find a Market Near You

Photos and blog post Copyright (C) Wind. All rights reserved.

Farm-to-Table Cranberry Farming video #GardenCuizine #cranberrybogs #cranberries @pinesadventures @pinesalliance

New Jersey
Farm-to-Table
Cranberry Farming
Video

As you know from my previous blog post, we recently explored a NJ cranberry bog with Pinelands Adventures. Harry and I toured just a small portion of Quoexin Cranberry Company's 1,000 acre farm. You may enjoy this video by SavetheSource.org, which features the fourth-generation cranberry farm owner, Tom Gerber, talking about his background and historic family farm. 

Farmer Gerber is dedicated to growing cranberries and educating people about the importance of agriculture and water preservation in the NJ Pinelands.
Blog post Copyright (C) Wind. All rights reserved. Video by SavetheSource.org.

Hand picked our first Jersey Cranberries! #gardenchat @PinesAdventures #GardenCuizine @JerseyFreshNJDA @USCranberries

Vaccinium macrocarpon

Harvesting
Jersey Cranberries!
High in Vitamin C and dietary Fiber

New Jersey ranks in the top 5 in the nation of Cranberry producers. Wisconsin and home of Ocean Spray in Massachusetts are also top producers. October always features tours for Cranberry Farms during harvest season. We finally got a chance to attend one yesterday! We drove to New Jersey's Pinelands where cranberries (and blueberries) grow and thrive.

Dry Harvesting at Quoexin Cranberry Co. in NJ 10/28/17

The sandy soil, pH and water in New Jersey's Pinelands is perfect for growing cranberries. Here is my recap of our fantastic tour hosted by Pinelands Adventures to one of the oldest independent cranberry growers in NJ: Quoexin Cranberry Company located in Medford, NJ - owned by Tom and Christine Gerber. 

As supporting members of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance we received a discount on the cost to attend, which was an added bonus.  

Quoexin Cranberry Farm features 50 beautiful acres of pinelands and cranberry bogs. "The cranberries color up late September," according to our tour guide Rob Ferber, Director of Pineland Adventures. 

Both cranberries and blueberries have a long history of cultivation in the Jersey Pines. Quoexin farm operated their first bogs as far back as 1835-1840.

I always thought cranberries grew in water. This trip taught me that cranberries actually grow on short vines in soil. Flooded bogs with red berries floating on the top are examples of wet harvesting. The wet harvesting method is used for the bulk of Jersey cranberry harvesting. The bogs are flooded with water and cranberries float to the top to be scooped.

Farmers who sell cranberries as fresh fruit use a dry vs. wet method of cranberry harvesting. Bogs are not flooded with water. Instead, they are raked out of the cranberry vines with special equipment that look like lawn mowers.

Quoexin Farm uses self-propelled Western Dry Picker equipment that has a burlap bag in the back to catches the cranberries as they get pulled off the weedy vines. 

Quoexin Farm owner Tom Gerber looking over a fresh Cranberry Harvest

As the bags are collected they are dumped into large holding bins before going to the packing house for sorting.

We were able to get up close to the cranberry bog edge. Once up close, we could see the red berries all over the low growing vines. This was the first time I ever picked cranberries! The raw cranberry's tasted good and not as tart as I expected.

 

Cultivars of cranberries include:

• Howe (discovered 1843 in East Dennis, MA)
• Champion
• Early Blacks (discovered 1852 in Harwich, MA)
• Jerseys
• Wisconsin Gray Leski #1
• Stephens - (discovered 1940 in Whitesbog, NJ)
• Ben Lear

The Jersey Pinelands sits atop the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer, a water source with 17 trillion vital gallons of water.

After the tour, for dinner we used some of the fresh cranberries in a dish called Ruby Chicken. We will make it again! It combines cranberries with flavors of orange, cinnamon and ginger.

This trip reminded us not to wait until Thanksgiving to enjoy fresh cranberries. We plan to keep enjoying them in recipes and will look for Top Crop brand, which is the label to support this local NJ farmer.

We really enjoyed visiting Quoexin Cranberry Farms beautiful property. Thanks to Tom Gerber and family and Rob and to all involved. We look forward to more outdoor adventures and learning more about our states precious resources, environment, history and where our foods come from.

I planted a few sprigs of fresh cranberry vines in one of our raised beds. It isn't very sandy and is certainly not a bog. But, we'll see... today is raining and maybe some will take root and we can have the thrill of picking a handful of our own cranberries in the New Year!

Nutrition Data Cranberries
Excellent Source: Vitamin C, dietary Fiber
1 cup chopped (110 grams) = 51 calories, 15 mg (24% DV) Vitamin C; dietary Fiber 5.1g (20% DV); Vitamin E 1.3mg (7% DV) and other nutrients. 
Cranberries also contain proanthocyanidins that can enhance gut microbiota. Cranberries have bioactive catabolites that have been found to contribute to mechanisms affecting bacterial adhesion, coaggregation, and biofilm formation that may underlie potential clinical benefits on gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections, as well as on systemic anti-inflammatory actions mediated via the gut microbiome.*
http://advances.nutrition.org/content/7/4/759S.full 
 
Related Links
SavetheSource.org

7 Things You Didn't Know About Cranberries 
Health Benefits of Cranberries
The Cranberry Story 
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Happy National Nutrition Month! #NNM #FamilyMeals Eat More Fruits and Vegetables @Fruits_Veggies #GardenCuizine

2017 NNM display board by dietetic intern at Inspira Health Network

Happy National

Nutrition Month®!

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends one way to celebrate National Nutrition Month® is to commit to trying a new fruit or vegetable each week as a family. Don't you think that's a great idea? 

Let us know what you try. My family just tried cactus for the first time and even mom enjoyed it!

Related Links
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Ideas to Get Involved in National Nutrition Month®
Photo and blog post Copyright(C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Quick Summer Slaw #cabbage #GardenCuizine #HealthyColeslaw #recipe

Quick Summer Slaw
High in Vitamin C 

Visit your local farmer's market during the summer for great prices on veggies. Yesterday, we picked up a few heads of locally grown cabbage for under $5.00 at our local farmer's market. This recipe only uses half the whole green cabbage and a small portion of the red cabbage, leaving the rest to use for other recipes. Who says you can't eat healthy on a budget?

Summer coleslaw is healthy and affordable and makes a great side dish for summer BBQ's and family summer meals. We enjoyed this homemade coleslaw with fried Flounder and brown rice! We have plenty of leftovers for sides with lunch and for toppings on sandwiches.

Yields 2 lbs Coleslaw
16, 2-ounce servings
Ingredients 
8 cups (712g) green Cabbage, shredded
1 cup (89g) Red Cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 carrot (30g), peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup lite mayo (60g) (for vegan, use soy mayo)
1/4 cup (56g) plain Greek yogurt (or soy yogurt)
2 Tablespoons capers (18g) (optional)
2 Tablespoons pickle or caper juice
2 Tablespoons (10g) apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill
2 teaspoons sugar (8g) (don't freak out about using real sugar! remember this makes many servings and 2 teaspoons is only 8 grams of sugar)
1/4 teaspoon (1.5g) salt
pinch ground black pepper

Putting it all together

• Wash cabbage and pull off outer leaves. Cut green cabbage in half. Put away and save one of the halves for use in other recipes. Cut half of the cabbage into wedges around the core. To save time, I used a food processor for chopping some of the cabbage wedges; be careful not to over chop. Thinly slice remaining green cabbage. Total shredded green cabbage should be about 8 cups. Place in a large mixing bowl.
• Cut a small piece off the red cabbage. thinly slice 1cup and add to green cabbage bowl. Store the rest to add color to salads and for use in other recipes.
• Wash and peel one carrot. Cut in half and thinly slice. Add to the cabbage bowl. Eat the other carrot half or save for other recipes.
• Add the mayo and remaining ingredients and toss until well blended. cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Buon Appetito!

GardenCuizine Nutrition Data Summer Slaw: 2-ounce serving (~62g)
Diabetic Friendly: 3g net carbs 
Excellent Source: Vitamin C
Store bought coleslaw: higher in saturated fat and calories; often contains corn syrup and preservatives vs Homemade: only 31 calories, Total Fat: 1g; Saturated and Trans fats: 0g; Cholesterol: 2mg; Sodium 111mg (5% DV); Total Carbohydrate 4g; Dietary Fiber: 1g (5% DV); Sugars 2g; Protein 1g; Vitamin A: 457 IU (9% DV); Vitamin C: 19.9 mg (33% DV)

Related Links
Cabbage Health Benefits

Photos and recipe Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Nutritious KALE salad by Chef @SeamusMullen #GardenCuizine @pfizer @SpiritOfWomen @InspiraHN @arthritis_org

Kale Salad

with Fruit and Heirloom Veggies 

Yesterday, celebrity chef Seamus Mullen took a drive from the Big Apple to visit South Jersey to share his tips on living and cooking with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). He was diagnosed with RA in 2007. Seamus prepared an inflammatory fighting veggie recipe - kale salad. The event took place at Appel Farms and Music Center in Elmer, NJ.

Chef Mullen made diet and lifestyle changes to deal with RA swelling, stiffness and pain – a challenge for chefs especially, since they stand long hours on hard kitchen floors and have to be able to bend their fingers around and grip chef’s knifes. Rheumatologist Dr. Barry Shimmer spoke before the cooking demo about the clinical diagnosis and the importance of communicating disease symptoms to your doctor.

Seamus lived in Spain for years and enjoys cooking Spanish cuisine. He was Executive Chef and Partner of Boqueria’s flagship Spanish restaurant when it opened in New York's popular Flatiron district in 2006. Five years later (August 2011) he opened Tertulia in Manhattan’s West Village. Tertulia’s boasts 2-stars from The New York Times and 3-stars from New York Magazine. 

Chef Mullen's latest culinary venture is about to open real soon this Fall - a tapas and wine bar El Colmado located at 600 11th Ave, NY, NY in Gotham West Market. Despite such a busy work schedule, Seamus has committed himself to spread the word about RA and share his story and love of cooking in hope of inspiring others to improve their diet and lifestyle. You may find kale in some recipes in his cookbook released last year: Hero Food: How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better - Andrews Mcmeel Publishing.

Kale - Brassica oleracea

“Kale is delicious,” said Chef Mullen as he prepared kale salad. “Kale is dense in micro-nutrients,” including vitamins A, C, B6, dietary fiber, thiamin, riboflavin, calcium and potassium. Tuscan kale (also known as Dinosaur kale) is a popular kale cultivar you can grow at home or find at farm markets. He tore Tuscan kale off the ribs and set it aside in a salad bowl and added whole grapes and Spanish Marcona almonds. 

Chef Mullen used a food processor to thinly slice nutrient-rich, locally grown patty pan squash, heirloom watermelon radish and shallots that he added to the kale. The salad was seasoned with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper before being tossed with creamy vinaigrette - Yum! Kale has been a favorite of mine for decades. 

Honey Buttermilk Vinaigrette 
Ingredients for the flavorful vinaigrette dressing included: buttermilk, garlic, champagne vinegar, honey, dill, salt and fresh ground black pepper. Olive oil was blended in last and slowly to maintain an emulsion.

The kale salad was delicious considering kale can be a tough green. In years past kale was most often relegated as a garnish or only served in health food restaurants, but today, thanks to more delicate varieties like Tuscan Kale, you see home cooks and chefs using raw kale in everything from salads (especially kale Caesar salad) to smoothies.

Event sponsors included Pfizer and Spirit of Women.
Related Links 
Rethink RA with Chef Mullen 
More about Rheumatoid Arthritis
Photo collage and blog post Copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.

@TheDeersHeadInn Sautéed Diver Scallops w/ Spinach, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives and Feta over Capellini #GardenCuizine

Mediterranean Scallops

The Deer's Head Inn

Elizabethtown, NY

What a pleasure it was to luck out and discover a restaurant in the gateway to the Adirondack High Peaks with a chef who is generous with nutritious garden vegetables. I'm not sure if it was Chef Matt Baldwin who prepared our meals that hot Saturday, July 20th, evening - the night of the Elizabethtown Day fireworks - but kudos to all who worked that night; we really enjoyed our meals.

The photo shows their Mediterranean Scallops dinner entree, which featured sautéed Diver Scallops with Spinach, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives and Feta over Capellini served with a generous side of steamed asparagus.

The Deer's Head Inn is located in the Adirondack mountains in the home of the Essex County seat - Elizabethtown, NY. We stumbled across their historic Inn (est. 1808) and restaurant after having to go into E-town to get our car repaired. Our server couldn't have been nicer too. We will surely return the next time we visit this quaint and charming town.
photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Make your own ricotta and mozzarella cheese! @cherrygrovefarm #GardenCuizine @NOFANJ

Ricotta and Mozzarella
Cheese-making Class 

at Cherry Grove Farm!

As Harry and I set out for Cherry Grove Farm in Central New Jersey, we knew we were headed for a fun experience. We handmade ricotta, stretched mozzarella and stuffed ricotta burrata balls from grass fed whole cows milk. Even when we were in Sicily last spring we didn't get the opportunity to make or even observe how ricotta cheese was made. My last real cheese-making adventure was when I attended the Academy of Culinary Arts and learned how to make farmers cheese.

• Cheese is an excellent source of protein and calcium, but can be high in sodium and saturated fat - so enjoy in moderation. 
• What's nice about organic farm cheese is that the milk is more nutrient-dense from pastured cows that feed on organic grasses and weeds like clover. For example, some milk may have a yellow hue, a visible sign of having more beta-carotene. 
• Milk from free roaming pastured cows also contains much more beneficial conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than milk from grain-fed cows.
• Making ricotta and mozzarella is easier than you may think. But, before you make your own cheese at home it helps to understand curds and whey.

Bariatric clients may like this information too because whey protein is recommended initially after weight loss surgery as an excellent form of supplemental protein.

What is Whey Protein?
Remember the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet, who sat on a tuffet, eating of curds and whey? Well, curds come from coagulated milk. And, whey comes from the leftover liquid when milk coagulates and the curds are removed. Whey is a byproduct in cheese-making and is used to make ricotta.

Ricotta
Whey cheese is ricotta. Ricotta means "recooked". it is made from the leftover fluid after straining out the curds, which are coagulated proteins in cheese-making. Proteins are coagulated by low pH and high temperatures. Milk can be coagulated through the action of adding acid such as lemon juice or citric acid powder to the solution. Time and temperature become important elements in the cheese-making process. 

In Sicily we had plenty of tastings though of warm, fresh made ricotta from sheep's milk. Molded Sicilian ricotta was served on the table with fresh bread. In Sicily, we used fresh ricotta in Italian Cassata - a classic Sicilian dessert. Ricotta is also popular in cannoli and in savory eggplant and pasta dishes.

Here in the US, most ricotta is made from cow's milk versus sheep's. There is a distinct difference in taste - with sheep's milk having more flavor, and cow's milk ricotta being more bland.

Cheers to Cherry Grove's cheese-making class!
In the cheese class, we didn't make Ricottone (whey only) ricotta, we made a ricotta variation from whole milk that some call farm cheese. The results are similar. Ricottone is finer in texture. Farm cheese has delicate ricotta curds that can be used as you would Ricottone or made into mozzarella like we did in the class. In the class, we took our stretched mozzarella and stuffed it with a creamy ricotta filling to make burratas.

Cherry Grove has over 50 milking cows that graze on 230 acres of certified organic grass pastures located in Lawrenceville, NJ. Cheese-maker Sam Kennedy, CIA graduate, uses their fresh milk production for making artisan cheeses that are sold at their farm and to chefs, restaurants and stores in the tri-state area.

I first visited Mercer County as a food vendor with my former health food store and restaurant, Garden of Eden Natural Foods and Country Kitchen, Inc. We proudly served organic foods at the NOFA Organic Country Fair on the grounds of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed. NOFA-NJ is dedicated to supporting sustainable food and agriculture throughout New Jersey. 

If you live in the area and get a chance, visit Cherry Grove Farm for some sustainable agriculture fun. In addition to providing cheese-making classes, they have a small market that offers organic eggs, hormone and antibiotic-free meats and of course, their award-winning artisan cheeses.

Here are a few photos we took at Cherry Grove Farm

Thanks for a fun cheese-making class! 

GardenCuizine Ricotta Nutrition: Based on USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference calculated by Diana Wind, RD
Excellent Source: Protein, Calcium, Phosphorus, Selenium
Good Source: Riboflavin, Vitamin A
Whole milk Ricotta: 1/2 cup (124g): Calories 216; Protein 14g (28% DV); Calcium 257mg (26% DV); Magnesium 14mg (3.5% DV); Phosphorus 196mg (20% DV); Selenium 18mcg (26% DV); Riboflavin 0.24mg (14% DV); Vitamin A 552IU (11% DV); Vitamin D 12 IU (3% DV)

Related Links
Making Mozzarella, a Hands-on Affair
Ricotta recipe and using leftover whey
New England Cheesemaking Supply Co 
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.