Jersey Bites

As you know, here at Jersey Bites we love to feature home grown Jersey products that we have found to be outstanding and unique. It’s always great too when there’s a story behind them. Fourth Creek’s Red Pepper relish was the invention of Fair Haven native, Barbara Schiavetti .  Her son, Andrew, launched the Fourth Creek Food Co. because of her and her amazing recipes.  In his own words  “Whether we were with family or friends, at dinner, a sunset barbecue or a cocktail party, my mom’s Sweet Red Pepper Relish made anything from hot dogs to baked brie that much more memorable.”  Andrew is passionate about his Mom’s precious recipe and wants to share it with the world.  “How could we keep a clean conscience by keeping such an amazing thing all to ourselves?”  Locations for purchase are listed below and we’ve provided some terrific recipes just in time for the Big Game. You can let them know what you think of their product and share you own recipes on their Facebook page.

Fourth Creek Swedish Meatballs

* 1 large egg

* 1/4 cup heavy cream

* 1 large slice good sandwich bread (crusts removed and bread torn into 1-inch pieces)

* 8 ounces ground pork

* 1 small onion, grated on large holes of box grater (about 1/4 cup)

* 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

* 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

* 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar

* 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 8 ounces 85 percent lean ground beef

* 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

* 1 jar FCFC Sweet Red Pepper Relish

Whisk the egg & cream in medium bowl then add the bread and set aside. In a separate bowl beat (a mixer if you have one, or just use a cake mixer & a regular bowl) pork, onion, nutmeg, allspice, pepper, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder on high speed until smooth and pale, for 2 minutes. Mash bread/egg/cream mixture until no chunks remain & add to the rest of the ingredients & continue to mix for 1 minute more until smooth. Add beef and mix on medium-low speed until just incorporated, about 30 seconds to form the meatballs, use about a tablespoon of the mix to create a roughly 1 inch meatball.

Either fry the meatballs in the 1 ¼ cup of vegetable oil, or for a lighter version you can bake them on an oiled sheet (or if you have those “mini-muffin” baking trays, they work great for this application) at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

You can either pour a a jar of FCFC Pepper Relish over the meatballs, or dip at your leisure. If you’re baking the meatballs you can spoon some relish over each meatball with about 5-10 minutes left to go in the oven to create a glazed effect.

Fourth Creek Zesty Cream Cheese Dip

Whipped cream cheese works great here because it’s easy to mix out of the package and you don’t have to spend time softening regular cream cheese.

* 1 container whipped cream cheese (usually 8-12 oz)

* ¾-1 cup FCFC Sweet Red Pepper Relish

Mix until desired consistency is reached. Adjust amount of SRPR to taste.

Fourth Creek Superbowl Sausage Sliders

To modify for sliders, look for slider rolls & only put one link/patty per sandwich. It is best to use short Italian links for this recipe.

* 4 Links of HOT Italian Sausage

* 4 Links of SWEET Italian Sausage

* 4 slices of Vidalia Onion

* 4 Portuguese hard-rolls, small size (or slider buns)

* Dijon Mustard to taste

* Fourth Creek Sweet Red Pepper Relish to taste

Slice each sausage link lengthwise down the center, about ½-¾ deep into the link. Flatten/spread (gently) each butterflied link into an even patty, the result will be a flat sausage patty with the casing on one side with other side exposed. Start the sausage non-casing side down on a hot preheated grill or skillet first, flip & cook to your desired finish. (Starting with the casing-side down first can cause the patty to curl too much making even cooking on the other side difficult). Lightly butter (if desired) & toast the Portuguese Rolls on the grill. Spread the Dijon mustard on the bottom half of each roll, stack one HOT or SWEET patty on each roll & top with an onion slice and plenty of Fourth Creek’s Sweet Red Pepper Relish.

Where to Purchase:

Sickles Market, Little Silver

Dearborn Market, Holmdel

Fairwinds Deli, Fair Haven

Rumson Wine & Liquors

Monmouth Meats, Red Bank

Cheese On Main, Ocean Grove

Bayhead Cheese Shop

Alan’s Orchard, Westfield

The founder of Fourth Creek Food Co., Andrew Schiavetti,  was born and raised in Fair Haven, NJ where he currently resides.  He was exposed to food and restaurant culture at an early age helping his father collect wine and sneaking away to spend time in the kitchen at his family’s favorite Sunday night restaurant.  He continued following his passion for food on family trips over the following years across five continents.  After graduating college Andrew began a career in banking and finance handling high net worth clients and internal restructuring projects at the Bank of New York before pursuing an MBA in entrepreneurship and developing an interest in small business.  After Babson Andrew became a Director at the Receivables Exchange providing small businesses efficient access to much needed credit in a tight lending environment.  But soon his love of fine foods and the desire to start his own small business conspired to bring him back to his first passion and Fourth Creek Food Co was established in the summer of 2010.