An outing to pick Jersey Fresh apples at one of the Garden State’s pick-your-own farms is a magnificent way to soak up the splendor of late summer and early autumn days with their comfortable temperatures and beautiful golden light. The added bonus is toting home a bounty of sweet, tart, and crunchy goodness. Add your freshly harvested apples to homemade pies, cobblers, and applesauce; or pop them into lunch sacks.
If you’re venturing out to gather apples, keep these tips in mind. Look for apples free of marks and bruises and fruit that feels firm, not soft. Be gentle when picking and handling the apples so they don’t bruise. Be sure not to miss the prepared baked goods, apple cider, local honey and fruit jams and preserves often available in the farm’s market. When you get home, transfer your fruit to plastic bags and store it in the fridge. Be sure to wash the apples well before eating or using them in your favorite recipe. To prevent sliced or diced apples from turning brown, squeeze a little lemon juice over them.
No time to venture out and pick your own? Don’t fret. About 30 varieties of Jersey Fresh apples will also be available at supermarkets, farmers markets, and roadside stands around the state. And while they’re all delicious on their own (no pun intended), they can also be added to salads, or cooked up in applesauce or baked goods. Try a mix of several varieties to create your signature dish.
Apple lovers are beyond thrilled to find fresh apple cider available at some NJ farm markets and roadside stands. Freshly pressed apple cider is aromatic with a crisp, sparkling sweetness that tastes like fall in a glass (or mug). Even the deep golden color is fall-like. Apple cider is delicious icy cold, warmed with spices or at any temperature in between. Fresh apple cider happens to pair perfectly with another delectable bit of apple-y wonder found at NJ farm markets: cider donuts.
It’s been said that, the magic of a great apple cider is in the craftsperson making it. The fruit must be picked at its peak of flavor and pressed before flavor begins to decline. Combining the perfect blend of apples renders a cider with a flavor that balances sweetness, tartness, and aroma.
And here’s a quick cheat sheet to remind you of what’s what when it comes to apple tasting.
Sweet: Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Delicious, and Macoun.
Sweet with a touch of tart: Jonagold, Macintosh, and Empire.
Slightly tart: Cortland, Stayman/Stayman Winesap, and Jonathan.
Green and quite tart: Granny Smith
Freeze well: Cortland, Golden Delicious, Empire, and Jonagold.
Click here to find Jersey Fresh farm produce in your county. Noted below are just two of many farms that offer pick-your-own events.
Johnson’s Corner Farm
133 Church Road
Medford
609-654-8643
Apple picking starts in early September. Fall Festival weekends are popular events featuring live music, a corn maze, moon bounce, hayrides, and a food tent. The Harvest Gift Shop, Animal Farm, and Discovery Barnyard will keep the family entertained on a beautiful fall day. Don’t miss the wonderful farm market and mouthwatering apple cider donuts. Check their Facebook page for calendar updates.
Battleview Orchards Farm and Country Store
91 Wemrock Road
Freehold
732-462-0756
How fitting that Battleview Orchards has been owned and operated for four generations by a family named Applegate? Since 1908, New Jerseyans have flocked to the farm. Fresh pressed cider and apple cider donuts are available at The Country Store along with freshly baked pies, breads, and other baked goods. Call ahead or check their Facebook page to see if picking is available.
The atmosphere in the restaurant is friendly and unpretentious (very “come to my house for dinner”). Gaccione and her staff truly make you feel welcome. The first time I visited (unannounced), we arrived a little early, and our table wasn’t ready, as the restaurant was slammed with the first dinner seating. The hostess came back two or three times to let us know she hadn’t forgotten about us, and to offer us something to drink while we waited. Once we were seated, we had a prime view of the open kitchen. (Leia’s takeaways from working at Bobby’s restaurants obviously stuck with her.) The kitchen staff was humming like clockwork, great music was playing, and fabulous food was being delivered to the guests.
Of course, I couldn’t resist trying a couple of the new CPK cocktails. Loved the blueberry ginger smash (Jack Daniels, agave nectar, Domaine de Canton ginger, fresh blueberries, lime, and cranberry juice) and the hand-shaken agave mojito (Bacardi Superior rum, fresh agave sour, fresh mint, lime, and organic Hawaiian sugar cane)! Let me tell you, I consider myself a mojito maven. If there’s a mojito on the menu, especially in the summer (or when I need it to be summer), I’m ordering it. And the mojito I had at the Paramus CPK was one of the best ever!
Eyrich and I chatted about the kickstart that their service model is getting. Unlike the generic, blah, chain service you might be accustomed to (“hello, my name is _____, and I’ll be your server today”), CPK encourages their wait staff to be professional, but have fun and “be who they are.” This was evident with our server, who gave us great info about the dishes we were considering, but also provided a bit of his restaurant industry background to make it more personal. In addition, as part of CPK’s reinvention, management has installed an “idea line” that any employee can call with a suggestion for a new dish, which may end up on the menu.
I diced the tomatoes and placed them in a medium saucepan with the vinegar and salsa mix, brought everything to a boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Viola! We have salsa! At this point you can either cool the salsa to room temperature, ladle it into a jar and keep it in the refrigerator and enjoy it for up to 3 weeks or you can place the jar in the canning rack, submerge it in boiling water and preserve the salsa so you can enjoy it within the year. I decided to keep one jar for now and preserved the other.
During a recent visit to 
New Jersey diners have many Asian restaurants to choose from and I think most people are more familiar with Cantonese or Szechuan styles. I asked Lin what makes Shanghai cuisine different from cooking in other parts of China. He told me that it’s much lighter, and with subtle spices. Not overwhelming or heavy. A good example of this was a unique dish that I’ve never seen anywhere else: pumpkin with salted egg yolk. This dish consisted of thinly sliced pumpkin coated with egg yolk and lightly fried. Crispy, delicious, and addictive!
