Bellvale Farms Creamery

WOW!

Took the family for a nice drive to upstate NY, about an hours drive from Bronxville, NY.

stopped at a few farms along the way and found this gem.

 Bellvale Creamery has its own cows and then uses the cream to make ice cream. That's all they do. Unbelievable. about 30 cows does the trick, It was the BEST ice cream I have ever had , and I am an ice cream buff. I had the coffee, baby had vanilla and mommy had pistachio.

 

http://bellvalefarms.com/creamery.html

 Bellvale Creamery on the top of Mt. Peter is a "must-stop,” even for hikers on the Appalachian Trail, which passes through from New Jersey into Harriman State Park. Their ice cream is beyond fabulous, attests this writer – homemade – with dangerously addictive, yummy flavors, (one with chunks of fudge inside) and the view over Warwick is great.

First, the aroma of fresh-baked waffle cones greets you as you walk through the door. Then you might notice some of the delectable, seasonal berries that could be in any one of the more than 20 flavors of ice cream.

Locavore Salad

I am trying to eat food that is locally grown and in season. When you eat this way you are considered a Locavore. I guess it can be considered trendy, but I feel this is the way it should be. It seems natural to eat food that is locally grown.

This salad I created yesterday contained locally grown baby fennel from Satur Farms on Long Island NY. They were soooo full of flavor and fresh.

The tomatoes from another local farm in NY are called "sungold" cherry tomatoes from Pedersen Farm.
They grow vegetables and plant and run a farm stand at the southeast tip of Lake Chautauqua.

The cucumbers were from Wells Homestead Acres, an 11th-generation farmer in Riverhead, NY. Lyle Wells grows asparagus in the spring, zucchini in the summer and squash in the autumn.

I dressed all in an EVOO and red wine vinaigrette. Delicious!

So do what you can to make your next meal a local event!

P.S. I got all these great foods from FreshDirect.Com.

Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana

Pizza has been on a tear recently. Everyone and his brother can tell you where the best pie is.
From Coal to wood and gas fired. Ovens handmade in place or imported from Italy, its all out there.
Frank Pepe's has been around since 1925 and has recently opened a new location in Yonkers, NY.
Great place with a limited menu of just pizza, salad and drink.
On this night we had their famous clam pie with no cheese and no sauce and a plain with cheese. Both pies were awesome!
The crust is both crispy and chewy with the right amount of black burn underneath from the coal ovens.
The pies come severed on paper on a sheet pan.
Check it out the web sit listed here http://www.pepespizzeria.com/index.php . If you get a chance and go you will not be disappointed.

Pasta al Pesto

 

It's hard to believe that this tasty dish is so easy to prepare and with very few ingredients.

Pasta, in this case Linguine, is enrobed with basil, cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt and pine nuts.

I stopped measuring for this recipe a long time ago but it goes something like this.

- Fill your blender with fresh washed and dried basil leaves.

- add one clove of garlic, cut into 2-3 pieces.

- add about 3-4 tablespoons of cheese either pecorino romano or parmesean.

- pulse the blender while streaming in EV olive oil until it starts to churn on its own about 1 to 1 1/2      cups of oil.

This will make about 2 cups of sauce for about 1 pound of pasta.

While the pasta is boiling, lightly toast pine nuts until golden brown.

Mix the drained pasta with the sauce and sprinkle the pine nuts over the top. 

ENJOY!

-A nice variation is to add split raw cherry tomatoes and grilled shrimp to top the pasta.

 

Sunday Supper

Again it simplicity. For this Sunday it's red sauce over pasta, breaded chicken cutlets and and green salad.

For the sauce, I used a can of whole peeled plum tomatoes from DOP San Marzano. Today we used Cento brand.

I poured the can into a blender and on high speed let it go for about 1 minute. Meanwhile I browned a clove of garlic, peeled and cut into 2-3 pieces, in some olive oil. When the garlic was a little browned I poured the sauce from the blender to the post and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.

I boiled the pasta. Today it is a brand I bought at Eataly in a blue bag called  Gragnano - Alfeltra.

I like a little grated Locatelli over the top.

For the Chicken cutlet I bought no hormone no antibiotic chicken breast. Skinless and boneless. Then I butterfly them to the thickness that I like and pound a little more.

I dredge them in an 2 beaten eggs (pastured). Then I dredge them in a mixture of plain breadcrumbs, Locatelli cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Then I fry in olive oil until nicely golden brown. I will hold them in a warm oven while I fry in batches. 

Enjoy.

Poolside Steaks

Simplicity at it's best!

These came from FreshDirect.com. Shipped out to Amagansett, NY shrink wrapped in a thick ply vacuum pack. I ordered them as 1 1/2" thick bone in NY Strip steaks. OMG. Let me tell you folks, I don't know if it was the fresh sea air or the steaks but these were the best steaks I ever ate, in my life. I cancelled a reservation at The Palm because I know I will be disappointed after these steaks.

Fresh Direct 1 1/2" thick bone in NY Strips

Here is the simplicity. Just give them a heavy dose of Kosher salt on each side and let them sit as the coals get ready. That's it!

Then throw them on a real hot grill. A glass of Cote du Rhone will help the chef.

hot grill - cote du rhone

Here is my grilling trick. I call it the 2 minute trick.

I only cook for 2 minutes each side at a time until its done. Ok here is how it works.

For my 1 1/2" thick bone ins, I am thinking around 6 minutes per side, with the grill hood off, for perfect med rare towards med not towards rare.  So I cook 2 minutes TURN, 2minutes TURN, 2minutes TURN, 2 minutes TURN, 2 minutes TURN, 2 minutes DONE.

Poolside Steaks

Lobster After Labor Day

Lobster After Labor Day

 

 

 

 

There is NO law that says you can't have lobster after labor day.  These were very good but I do believe the best lobster is found in the winter months. I think it has to do with the harder shell and colder water. We have had them in the beginning og the Summer but at this time of year they are a bit different. These we had today had very soft shell. I could actually snap and then tear the claws apart. I did not need a craker at all. The meat was very sweet and tasty. We dipped the meat in melted butter that we spiked with fresh lemon juice.
The potatoes that we boiled were locally grown in cutchouge, NY. Amagansett is a beautiful place any time of year. The bi-colored was from Altobelli Family Farms very sweet. Also locally grown.

Two cool Branzinis meet one hot Grill

This has to be one of the summer's easiest and most delightful grills.
We start with 2 cleaned Mediterranean seabass. I left the head and tail on and butterflied the middle for stuffing of thyme and lemon.

Simply stuff the whole thyme branches and lemon slices into the cavity with a bit of salt and tie with kitchen twine.

 I made a charcoal fire in my Weber Performer Grill. I filled the chimney starter full and laid the lit coals on one side of the grilling area, leaving the other half with no coals for indirect grilling on the second half on the process. I rubbed the fish with olive oil and salt. No pepper. Pepper burns.

I brush my grill grates and rubbed a paper towel with some canola oil over the grates to lube them up.
Put the fish down on the hot, hot grill. No chance for any sticking. Lubed grates and very very hot!

Give them a turn after 2-3 minutes.

Another 2-3 minutes on this side. Then move theses beauties over to the other side of the grill that has no coals under that side. Close the lid. Position the air vents fully opened over the side with the fish so the smoke and heat go through the fish. The temp gauge for the grill will read @400F. Let it go for a total of 10 minutes more turning the fish over in 5 minute intervals. Total cooking time will be between 15 and 20 minutes.
 I made some boiled fingerling potatoes and some broccoli rape sauteed with garlic and oil.

OMG!
I took them off the grill and drizzled more EV olive oil  over these bad boyz.  Careful of the bones.
SO SO Good.
Buon Appetito.

Eataly NYC - First Impresions- No eat in Eataly unless you Waitaly

Get there early! Eat before you go.

For the time being at least. I have to think that this is feeding on the initial MEGA HYPE this place has right now. My wife, 2 year old daughter and I paid a visit to Eataly on Saturday 9/4/10. We arrived at 12:30pm and there were no outside lines to get into the place. But when we left at @1:30 the lines were literally down the block and around the corner on both 5th ave entrance and 23rd st.
I felt very lucky we got there early because I don't think we could have waited on this huge line with our 2 year old. I am not sure I would have waited if it was just my wife and me.
Anyway, we walked into the 5th ave entrance and I was immediately filled with jitters like the proverbial kid in a candy store.
At this entrance you are at the Cafe/Gelateria and then go in to the candy and chocolate area. Wow, I was very overwhelmed! I was a little confused which is very unlike me. I really couldn't figure it out. It may have been the crowd of people already in the store or me trying to figure out what I was looking at.
The first impression is that it's nothing like you have seen before, in the way that it is not organized like anything you have seen before, which can be exciting but can be confusing. Like, "what is this I am looking at", "what do I do now", "where do I go next" etc. How do I behave in this environment? How do I get the experience?
I was letting it try and find me, so we looked at things briefly as we passed them quickly because we were getting pulled down the main isle by the people ahead and behind us. No time to dwell just keep moving.

The way Batali and company portray Eataly is that it is part grocery store part restaurant. They want you to get the idea of how to cook the ingredients then sell you the ingredients and go home and cook them. Sounds like a great idea. But, the big BUT today was that we could not experience how they cooked the food!
There are 6 places to eat inside Eataly and each of them, we were told had 1 to 1 1/2 hour waits to be seated and we just couldn't wait that long. I hope to go back to taste because the food looked incredibly beautiful, fresh and very tasty.

So around and around we went being driven by the herd of people behind us and following the ones in front of us through this amazing feast for the eyes. But I felt like my eyes were deceiving me. Not a lot looked familiar to me and I have been around. We walked through a place where people stood at bar tables and ate cured meats on wooden boards and sipping wine. This looked great but out of place like it was in the wrong place. I had a shopping cart doing some food shopping, right? What are  these people doing here? I felt weird about it.

I wanted desperately to put some goodies into my cart but that was getting  hard to do . Which is weird for me because I wanted to fill up. But I started to put things in now. A package of prosciutto and a package of hot soppressata. Did I just buy a prepackaged cold cut!!!!! OMG I did!!! what the hell am I doing? How could this be? I have NEVER done this before. There was no sign of anyone cutting it fresh just these prepackaged stuff. So my mind told me that if Batali thinks it's ok, I'm ok too...I think.

There were other things in there besides the 6 restaurants. There was a butcher and a fish counter.

Ok here we go. I know meat. It really looked like top quality stuff but a very very small selection. Mostly beef, and I later thought that beef looks best in  a butcher case. No chicken or fowl, weird. Very little pork, veal, lamb. Maybe one or 2 representative cuts for each genre but that's it. I did see something I don't see every day which I bought and later braised at home. Pork Shanks. They came out great. Braised with porcini,
wine, bean etc. We also bought some great looking dry pasta in red and blue bags and canned tomatoes called TERRA AMORE E FANTASIA . At $6.80 per can they had better be GREAT!

 We bought a loaf of bread and some sweet pork sausage too for today.

We were so hungry at this point so we decided to check out because you can't eat in Eataly unless you Waitaly. We went across the street and nabbed an outside table at the Shack Shack and had a great European roadside lunch. We spent about $80 in there and will have had lunch and 2 great dinners for 2. I don't think anyone will be doing their food shopping here Its not set up for it. Too many missing variables. Since yesterday I have been thinking why Batali and co. would spend the millions to open this place. Then the only reason that made sense popped into my head, the question I kept asking was. "Why would a restaurant mogul open a grocery store...?" the Answer: Because it's not a grocery store it's a food court with 6 restaurants in it. I think it's that simple. When you go there let me know what you think.