If you like your pulled pork with a side of sweat, Saturday’s Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival at the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival was the place for you. Beer Bites Editor, Peter Culos, and I fought the heat with the rest of the loyal beer and barbecue fans to sample some of our area’s best bites and of course, get a quick glimpse at two of my favorite Food Network Stars, Paula Deen and Tyler Florence.
Despite the heat and sweat pouring down my back, we were able to make our way around to sample some good beer and some mighty fine ‘Cue. The best part about these events for me is meeting the owners and chefs who are so passionate about their restaurants and their food. I chatted for a while with Bob, from Bitter Bob’s in New Hope who told me the big reason he opened his restaurant was that he couldn’t find any good barbecue in his area. We also talked about how hard it is to make everyone happy when it comes to barbecue, because we all have our own definition/preference of what sauce is the “right sauce.” After sampling his Pulled Pork over Mac & Cheese, I can testify he’s done his homework. Their dish was probably my favorite of the day.
Local Smoke BBQ from Cookstown and Neptune City, New Jersey were there with their stuffed jalapeno popper wrapped in smokey bacon. This was a favorite bite for me as well. You might remember them from the Barbecue Competition at Monmouth Park last year. They also recently competed in the New Jersey State Barbecue Championships in Wildwood. I was a judge at the Monmouth Park event, and still have dreams about their barbecue chicken.
Some of the other participants included Rosey’s BBQ from Ambler, Pennsylvania with Chef Chad Rosenthal at the grill. Rosey’s served up a Sliced Smoked Turkey sandwich that was a nice change from all of the barbecue sauce slathered meats being served.
Chef Zakary Pelacci, the award-winning Chef and Founder of the Fatty Crew, which owns and operates the critically-acclaimed restaurants Fatty Crab and Fatty ‘Cue, was serving up Pork Burgers and Lamb Burgers at the Amstel Light booth. (Amstel Light was the official sponsor of the event.)
Tuckahoe Brewing showed up with their Marshallville Wit which you would expect in the summer but then made the gutsy call to pour their Steelmantown Smoked Porter along side it. It was oaky and peaty and well suited to anything a barbecue could conjure up. The liquid version of hardwood charcoal. I’ve developed a taste for the spicy flavor of rye beers lately and Turtle Stone’s is a great example. However, their American Stout was roasty, smooth and dry enough to cut through the inevitable fat you will encounter with any barbecue fare. Boaks had a bunch of beers but the Wooden Beanie had to be the best. Dry vanilla goodness just begs for barbecue! Jersey’s biggest craft brewer, Flying Fish poured the expected summer offerings, but I was happy to see their Abbey Dubbel on the table. It’s what you expect from the style; cherries, raisins, and some brown sugar. I’d like to use it in a barbecue sauce. These may seem like unlikely beers for a blistering summer day, but they aren’t as heavy as you think and barbecue never tasted better!
Stay tuned for more coverage of the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival later this week. You can check out all of our pictures of the Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival on Facebook.
Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival, Thursday- Sunday, July 26th-29th. Festival will enjoy four days of events, tastings and celebrity chef appearances that showcase the city’s abundant culinary offerings. 
Hot Air Balloon Festival, Friday- Sunday, July 27th-29th. The Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning is the largest summertime hot air balloon and music festival in North America. From twice daily mass ascensions of over 100 special shape and sport hot air balloons, to headlining concerts, non-stop family entertainment, hundreds of crafters and vendors, great food, fireworks, a balloon glow, a 5k run and more, the festival is jam-packed with stuff to do. This year there will be a special Breakfast with the Balloons VIP ticket available for Sunday. 
Sunset Lobster Bake, Saturday, July 28th at 6pm. Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes NJ. The event promises to be a night of great music, food and wine! The cost is $85.00 a person which includes appetizers, dinner, a selection of Unionville wines and sangria and a Unionville logo wine glass! Live music all night performed by Brian Erickon. Register online.
An Evening in Our South Jersey Garden, Culinary Workshop, Tuesday, August 7th from 6pm-9pm. Culinary Workshops Offer Taste of Global Cuisine at Atlantic Cape. Learn how to get the most out of your farmers market or garden co-op. Receive tips on preparing locally grown eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes, and end the night by making strawberry-rhubarb pies and blueberry desserts. To register, call 609-343-4829 or visit 
Shore Chef Crab Cake Cook-Off, Saturday & Sunday, August 18th & 19th from 12pm-5pm. Monmouth Park. Shore Chefs compete for the best crab cake award and the coveted People’s Choice Award. Taste fare from your favorite local restaurants. Crab cakes, fried catfish, and clam chowder bread bowls are just a few of the favorites. 
Chili Cooks Against Cancer, Saturday, August 25th from 11am-6pm. West Windsor. The ICS Sanctioned contest includes three chili categories – Red Chili, Verde (green) Chili and Salsa ICS Sanctioned contest includes three chili categories – Red Chili, Verde (green) Chili and Salsa. Chili Lovers? Come out and taste Chili or volunteer to be a judge, either way you’ll have a wonderful time. Kids Activities and Live Entertainment as well as beer! Click for details.
Alice Szigethy opened her Lake Hopatcong restaurant, Alice’s, in 2009 to the pleasure of lake residents and weekenders. The establishment overlooks New Jersey’s largest lake and offers gorgeous views from inside the restaurant and on its expansive patio area.
If you think gazpacho is the only soup you can have in mid-summer, ladies and gents, this chowder is going to change your mind. The sweetness of fresh summer Jersey corn is a perfect counter-balance to the richness of the cream and the starchiness of the potatoes. For this recipe, I traveled into Morris County to obtain fresh veggies from Pine Brook’s 
Ingredients:
First, prep the veggies. Shuck and de-silk the corn. The easiest way to take the kernels off is to stand the cob up in a big bowl, stump-side down. Using a smaller paring knife, cut down the side of the cob as deep as you can. You know you’ve gone too deep into the cob when it’s hard to run the knife down. Do one side, then twist the cob and cut down the next side. Rinse, repeat. When done, dice the onions and carrots and mince the garlic.
Brown the bacon over medium-low heat to render out most of the fat. When crispy, scoop out the bacon with a slotted spoon, put it on a plate, and try not to eat it. Dump the onions, carrots and garlic into the bacon fat, and cook until the vegetables start sweating and the onions become slightly clear, usually around 10 minutes. Peel and dice the potato while you wait. When the onion mix is ready, add in the chicken stock. If you’re using stock in a large tetrapak, it’s the whole box you want to use – 32 fluid ounces. Bring the stock to a boil, then add in the corn and the diced potatoes as well as some salt and freshly ground pepper.
Boil then simmer this until the potatoes are tender, but not falling apart, about another 10 minutes. In the last few minutes of the simmering period, throw in the fresh chopped thyme. When the potatoes are cooked through, pour in the half & half, and make sure the mixture doesn’t boil – keep it at a gentle simmer until slightly thickened.
You can finish the chowder 2 ways: super-chunky, or puree it into something slightly smoother. If you like chunks, just serve the soup as-is. If you want to go the smoother route, use a blender (or stick blender) to puree a portion of the chowder, then add it back into the main section. You can either add whatever’s left of the bacon into the soup itself, or use it to top individual bowls. The chopped fresh tomatoes can also be used to keep the chowder even lighter.
Megan Myers is an aspiring 
I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Washington would have served in their heyday a nice roasted chicken, maybe some homemade chicken soup and of course, a Cherry Pie for dessert. I’m pretty sure Charred Peach Salad or Crab Asparagus Ravioli was not on the menu. Lucky for us, at George & Martha’s American Grille in Morristown all the bases are covered. This restaurant offers traditional items (sometimes with a twist) while also presenting visitors with innovative and new dishes to try.
Appetizers started off with a Country Chicken Vegetable Soup ($6) that was simply delicious with it’s homemade chicken stock and in-house prepared spinach dumplings. A crispy Baby Iceberg Wedge ($7) salad was next and, although pretty basic, it shined with the addition of a pickled onion topping. Although we both enjoyed the Iceberg salad, the Charred Peach ($11) salad was our “greens” winner. The browned peaches that were oh-so sweet complimented the bitter arugula bed perfectly. Fried sweet potatoes covered the salad and became a clever mimic to croutons.
Some attendees around us were already talking about the Crispy Crab Cake ($10) that followed our salads and right away I knew why. The panko-crusted pan-seared patty was full of tender lump crab that was seasoned slightly enough to let the flavor flair. The meat fell right apart when forked which did make eating them a bit difficult. However, with the accompanying corn jalapeno salad, each forkful was quickly recovered and devoured. Last, but certainly not least, was the Fresh Spinach Artichoke Dip ($7). If I could have jarred this and taken some for later that night or the next day I would have! Note that Chef Michel uses fresh, not frozen, spinach here while emulsifying it in a fontina, parmigiano and roasted garlic béchamel sauce. And if that alone wasn’t enough to make you grab a spoon, he serves it along side crispy homemade potato chips that were salted and fried to glistening greatness. What a way to end the starters line up.
For our first sampling of dinner entrees, we were given George’s Grilled 14 oz. Pork Chop ($21). Although the meat was a touch too tough for me, I did enjoy the spinach risotto that was served with. It showed kitchen skill in that it was both al dente and creamy. Another spark here was the roasted peaches placed beside the chop for they sweetened and lightened up such a hearty dish. The 8 oz Hanger Steak ($18) soon came out and this was cooked much more to my liking. The grilled tomato gratin and mashed potatoes that surrounded the meat were good enough to stand alone yet truly accentuated the beef. A moist Roasted Goffle Farms Chicken ($13) was the next entrée for us to try. The summer succotash of white beans, tomatoes and fresh herbs, was a thoughtful partner for the protein as it was dressed just enough to let the chicken take the leading role. The next entrée was my favorite of the night: Crab Asparagus Ravioli ($19). The pasta rounds came doused in a roasted corn and leek cream sauce that I couldn’t get enough of. It was almost pure silk in texture and coated each ravioli beautifully so. I found it difficult to find the crab in the ravioli but enjoyed the asparagus filling immensely. The final dish for us to taste was the Pan Roasted Barnegat Sound Scallops ($23). Underneath the seafood was a tart and crunchy apple celery salad that was tossed in olive oil. It was clean and bright in both flavor and appearance but most importantly provided a stage for the scallop to star. And boy was it the star; plump, juicy and seared to impress.
The general public can support the FoodBank’s efforts and receive 10% off tickets to three areas of the festival: Grand Market, Define Cheese Steak, & Sweet & Stylish. The discount code is: CFBNJ. Chefs and students from the Community FoodBank’s Food Service Training Academy will play active roles in the Define Cheese Steak, & Sweet & Stylish events during the festival. Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City is proud to present the fourth annual festival, which will feature a collection of the world’s most renowned chefs, icons, TV personalities and experts. Included are Anne Burrell, Tom Colicchio, Robert Irvine, Aaron Sanchez, Buddy Valastro, Andrew Zimmern and Paula Deen.
New Brunswick Restaurant Week, Now – Saturday, July 28th. TWO full weeks of local restaurants offering special deals to participants. Get out and explore downtown New Brunswick. Click for a list of participating restaurants and their offers.
Ice Cream Festival, Saturday, July 21st from 11am-5pm. The 10th Annual New Jersey State Ice Cream Festival held in Downtown Toms River hosts ice cream eating contests, ice cream tasting and voting, games, rides, vendors, and food. For more information,
Rock Hops, Saturday, August 11th starting at 1:30pm. Mercer County Park, NJ. A beer & music festival celebrating grass roots Americana, music and craft beer. Click here for more information.
For months now I’ve been hearing about Porta in Asbury Park. Every time the topic of new restaurants pops up, people can’t stop raving about Porta. Have you been to Porta? Oh, you have to try Porta. Porta, Porta, Porta.
We sauntered in at our usual early bird arrival time (I hate crowds, and natural light makes for the best food photos. And, yes, I saunter, got a problem with that?)
Inside, the casual atmosphere continues with more picnic style tables, rustic cement floors, and old wooden doors (Porta means door in Italian if you haven’t figured that out.) of varying shapes and sizes covering the far wall of the main dining room. The pizza ovens which came all the way from Italy to serve up their perfect pizza, are open to the room and tended by a flurry of mostly men who are very entertaining to watch. There was one female, however, braving the fiery heat, Fredrica Vilardi, Porta’s Head Pizzaiola.
So, upon his recommendation we ordered the Three Trees salad (radicchio, Belgian endive and arugula with roasted prosciutto, toasted almonds, pear, rosemary-shallot vinaigrette) and in this case, the salad tastes a lot like the name implies. Let’s just say, its very healthy. As my dining companion said, “tastes like someone did a bit of foraging for the ingredients.” I don’t think that is the case, but it was a tad too rustic for me. Didn’t you say 3 Cheese Salad? I needed to sprinkle some parmesan cheese on it because as we all know trees taste better with Parmesan cheese. Doesn’t everything?
While we waited for our pizza to get built and then baked in the 900 degree oven, (I honestly have no idea how hot the ovens are, and I’m enjoying a cocktail, so work with me.) I decided to try one of their signature cocktails. I’m not much of a cocktail lover. Most of them are too sweet for my liking, but the Limoncello caught my eye with fresh squeezed lemon juice, Absolut vodka, and simple syrup. Very little simple syrup, it was quite tart and deliciously fresh. As we sipped our drinks we watched all the entertaining scenes unfold in front of us; pizza bakers, patrons piling in to gather at the long communal tables, the bar filling up with sun bathers filtering in off the beach and the band starting to crank up in the park, and that fabulous breeze wafting in through the open doors. “Wow, I could sit here all night.” The bar is a large U shaped structure made from the wood they removed from the ceiling during renovations. It’s very rustic and “beachy,” white washed and worn. Porta is a very casual place, but you can come in dressed up for a night on the town without feeling strange. I imagine the place has a night life of its own as it had been a number of different night clubs before Porta moved in.
Trinchero Family Estates and R & R Marketing, a premier distributor of fine wine & spirits, have partnered with JerseyBites to uncover the best Crab Cake in New Jersey. Over 30 chefs/restaurants from all over the state have entered NJ’s King Crab competition, with voting happening during the months of July & August. For the latest list of participating chefs/restaurants and to cast your vote, click http://www.jerseybites.com/njkingcrab/.
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