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About a month ago I saw in a Shop Rite weekly flyer that they had ground beef from Pat LaFrieda. Some of you may have heard of them. They are a meat purveyor that started out in Brooklyn, NY and now occupy a larger facility on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen. Pat LaFrieda also supplies some of the best restaurants in Manhattan with their beef, veal, pork, lamb and poultry.

I was excited to see that I could purchase their ground beef here in New Jersey. I purchased a one pound Cryovac package on sale for about $6. The 80/20 blend was a mix of chuck, brisket and short rib. Last week I made two eight ounce patties and grilled them about 7-8 minutes per side. Oh my gosh, it was the best burger I've had. The meat was very flavorful, moist and oh so juicy. Even though it was an 80/20 blend, when cleaning the grill, I didn't notice much fat in the drip pan. I'm going to back to the Shop Rite on Route 34 to see if they still have the ground beef. 

I also read on their website Pat LaFrieda does home delivery! Delivery in the tri-state is free. However, this won't be an inexpensive purchase. If you're looking for something unique as a gift and want to replicate that steak or burger from a famous New York restaurant, here's your chance. 


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Every summer when our children were younger, I would a purchase sack of corn from Delicious Orchards (42 ears). With the help of my husband we would husk, blanch and then cut the kernels off the cobs to have and freeze it in our small freeze in the basement to enjoy summertime corn all winter long.
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When Wegmans first opened, they use to send a flyer out. In one of those flyers was a recipe for stir fry pork with snow peas in citrus soy sauce. It's a terrific recipe as it can be prepared in 30 minutes. If you click on the link for the recipe, most of the vegetables can be purchased pre-cut, however, I do my own vegetable prep.

I purchased Wegmans family pack (four tenderloins, two per pack) of pork tenderloins for $2.99/lb., which is a great price. The red pepper was $3.99/lb. as I believe the snow peas were too. I love their citrus soy sauce ($1.99 for 4 oz.), which really makes  this dish. Wegmans has other sauce and finishing butters, but this is the only I've tried.

Make sure you use a non-stick pan. I once again used my LeCrueset, but the meat stuck to the pan despite the fact that I used oil to saute the meat. While you're cooking the main course, cook your style of rice that you wish to serve the stir fry over. I used regular white rice. Dress it with either more soy sauce or Chinese mustard for some heat. The recipe serves four.
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I subscribed to Southern Living Magazine as it like for its articles on southern destinations, home decor, and gardening and, of course, southern food. When I needed a menu for guests that we had over recently, I turned to two recipes from the February 2011 issue. I've made Bourbon-Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin several times now and I did my version of Garlic Chive Mashed Potatoes.

​For my version of garlic-chive mashed potatoes, I took a head of garlic, wrapped it heavy duty foil and drizzled some EVOO over it. I preheated my outdoor grill to 400 degrees, but turned off the middle burner when I baked the garlic. It roasted for about 30 minutes. Instead of using pre-made potatoes, I made my own. Just make sure that you prepare the potatoes just before serving, otherwise the dish may become too heavy from the addition of the cream cheese. To round out the meal, I steamed some string beans and dressed them with a bit of butter and seasoned with salt and pepper.

As an appetizer, my friend brought her clams oreganata and I made tomatoes and mozzarella. Also, I finally got to make Joshua Wesson's White Sangria. My husband thought I could have used half of the amount of fruit in the pitcher. 
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I'm feeling inspired today after a trip to Delicious Orchards. Plum tomatoes were $1.29/lb. so I am making another batch of fresh tomato sauce. Corn season is dwindling down, therefore, I picked up some corn, 6 ears for $3.49, to make my corn chowder. New Jersey green squash was $0.99/lb. so I am thinking either grilled zucchini tomorrow night or zucchini muffins...which to choose, or both.

Then since I had the fig butter from Rook on a bagel, I picked up a jar of fig spread (Dala Original Fig Spread $5.25) to make my own flavored butter. Now I need to pick up at bagel somewhere.

Tomato season is short too; a ball of fresh mozzarella ($8.99/lb) will go with our garden heirloom tomatoes for a nice salad for tomorrow's supper.

America's Test Kitchen demonstrated a recipe for braised halibut with leeks and mustard. I have some fluke from my neighbor that I thought I would try it with, however, I forgot to get the leeks for the recipe. I'll see if Whole Foods has some reasonably priced leeks or I'll check the large ShopRite on Route 34. Back to cooking!

Photo from http://www.deliciousorchardsnjonline.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/outside.jpg
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Although it's been rather hot and steamy lately, I have been preparing dinner just about every night. Recently, I made two dishes that we haven't had in a while. The first dish I made was Chicken and Pasta Bake with Basil.  This recipe is from the magazine Cooking Light, March 1999. The next meal I prepared was Balsamic Chicken and Peppers, a Williams-Sonoma recipe that is prepared in thirty minutes. 

For the Chicken and Pasta Bake with Basil, you can use store bought rotisserie chicken. However, I cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which I purchased in a family pack at Whole Foods this week for $4.69/lb. This recipe does take a bit of planning as you must prepare the Asiago cheese sauce, pasta and broccoli. It took about 45 minutes to prepare the meal and another 20 minutes to cook. Look for my cooking tips in the in the recipe after the jump.
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At least one time during the summer, my husband likes to have supper on the beach. The last time we planned this, it was too hot and then we had late day showers. Tonight was supposed to be the night, however, it's been overcast down at the shore most of the day; so it was supper on the porch.

Instead of cooking, I went to Joe Leone's utilizing some of the funds on a gift card I have. I went to the store in Sea Girt and picked up a grilled chicken sandwich with roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella ($7.95), a roast beef panini ($7.99), which I wrote about before (thinly sliced roast beef, sliced tomato, caramelized onions and American cheese), potato salad ($3.99/lb)  and for dessert a raspberry square ($2.99 ea).  

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Although in my previous post I mentioned that my husband and I rarely eat beef, it seems this week, we've had it two nights in a row. However, Foodtown had flank steak on sale for $8.99/lb. I can't believe how expensive this cut of meat has gotten over the years. I felt like having some grilled beef, so I got out my recipe for spice-rubbed grilled flank steak, which is a recipe by Ruth Cousineau from Gourmet Magazine, August 2001. 
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Tuesday morning, I was browsing through my file of recipes of entrees, when I came across one that I haven't made in a very long time, Mexican Lasagna. Although the recipe lists lower fat ricotta cheese, 95% lean ground beef and an egg substitute, I went ahead and purchased whole milk ricotta, used two whole eggs and 80/20 chop meat. My husband and I rarely eat beef so I though the 80/20 combination would be more flavorful and moister.
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My daughter was down last Sunday, so we went to lunch at a fairly new place called The Grand Tavern, Neptune, which happens to be located in old Suddy's Mug Saloon.

The Grand Tavern is small; it has a slight industrial feel with the open ceiling and cement floor. However, the accent wall flanked with the red leather banquettes, warms up the space. 

Although I didn't go outside, I could see from the door, they have a small deck with a pergola. It's looking inviting. 


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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