I am so excited about this Giveaway. Trinity Restaurant, one of my absolute favorite places in Monmouth County, has offered to give away a Valentine’s Day Dinner for two to one very lucky Jersey Bites fan and their special Valentine.
Just leave a comment below and you will be entered to win. Make sure you leave a contact email so we can get in touch. The value of this fabulous 5 course meal for two is $150. It does NOT include tax, gratuity or drinks. We will choose the winner tomorrow Saturday, February 13th at 5pm with the help of Random.org. No substitutions. This prize must be used on Valentine’s Day. After you check out the menu below, you won’t want to miss this opportunity. As I said, Trinity is one of my favorite places and a gorgeous setting for a romantic Valentine’s Day Dinner. Click here to read the review I wrote back in 2008. Maybe I’ll see you there. (that’s a hint to my Valentine.)
Valentine’s Day Menu 2010
5 Course Prixe Fixe Menu, $75 per person
Includes:
Rose Petal Entrance, Champagne Welcome, Natural Candlelight, Flowers & Music for Lovers
Menu
Choose One:
Sashimi Tuna Tartar
Yuzu Caviar, cucumber, home made togarashi cracker, wasabi emulsion
Jumbo Lump Crab Cake
With Asian pear slaw, wasabi dijonaise
Sautéed Hudson Valley Foie Gras
Local apple fritter, sauternes gelee,& apple gastrique..$10 supplement
Chinese BBQ Braised Pork Belly
Pickled onions, cilantro chutney & lotus chips
Oyster Bisque
With American paddlefish caviar, fuille brique & crème fraiche
Organic Green Salad
with Grapefruit Citronette
Choose one:
Grilled 8oz Filet Mignon
Walnut-blue cheese butter,Yukon gold potato puree, seasonal vegetables and port reduction
Brown Butter Crusted Cod
Truffled mushroom-spinach-golden beet ragout, local sweet potato puree, apple cider reduction
Butter Poached Lobster
Potato gnocchi, baby spinach, lardons, pearl onions and buerre fondie..$10 Supplement
Crescent Farms Duck Duo
Sautéed Breast and Crispy skinned Confit, maple sweet potatoes, bacon braised cabbage and black truffle jus
Grilled Jumbo Prawns
Lump crab potato puree, exotic spice buerre blanc, seasonal vegetables
Chocolate Euphoria
Prices & Menu Subject to Change
Don’t miss this opportunity. Leave a comment below to enter.
Owners (husband and wife team) Tommy and Yvette Bonfiglio, greeted us with genuine smiles and eyes gleaming, anxious to tell us everything about their new restaurant which opened on December 28, 2009. We met first with ‘bubbly’ Yvette who is as energetic and dedicated as they come and had so much to tell us. Then Tommy welcomed us with words of pride about his restaurant and his success at seeing everyone so happy eating his ‘pizza done right’. Tommy explained how he traveled for three years tasting pizza around the region before he perfected his “passion-infused” pizza! As we spoke, I saw them both keeping watch over their customers and obviously enjoying the evening dining with family.
This weekend is going to be a great one for staying inside and cooking. As weather.com is so gently putting it this morning, we’re supposed to get “walloped” by a pretty big snow storm. So, the grocery stores are going to be packed, but if you want that perfect pot of chili ready for game day, I’m sure I’ll see you there. Here are my picks and some guest picks for some super Superbowl menu choices. I don’t list wings but you can bet we’ll have them at my house. The recipe I use is nothing more than coating the wings lightly with seasoned flour, deep frying them and tossing with the hot sauce recipe right off the bottle of Frank’s Hot Sauce.
Many of you already know that Twitter and I are quite an item. I realize the little blue bird does not appeal to all, but for the 20 + million people using Twitter, it’s a down right addiction. So, when Wine Twits contacted me to tell me that they were throwing a Sip and Twit event at 
hicken Stock Recipe: Throw your chicken carcass, picked fairly clean, into a large pot. Fill the pot up with water until the chicken is 3/4 covered. Add 1 onion roughly chopped, 2 celery stalks washed and roughly chopped, use the greens if you have them and 2 carrots washed and roughly chopped. Add a 2-3 bay leaves, about 10 peppercorns and about a teaspoon of salt. That’s it. Just let it simmer until the stock is a nice deep tan/brown color. I let it go for hours. Strain through a sieve into a large bowl. It makes the house smell great and produces a fantastic stock.
Before a much planned visit to the “Big Apple” I went to the internet to find a French restaurant for dinner on one of my few precious date nights out with my husband! In my ‘internet travels’, I came upon CERCLE ROUGE on West Broadway, a quaint French restaurant that I just have to share with all of you!
My husband (and assistant in this outing) chose the Truite Amandine (almond trout with haricots verts, steamed potatoes, and lemon brown butter). Let me say that fish is not one of my favorite meals, but, after one ‘bite’ we shared the rest of the dish – and he mine!
As if the meal could not get any better, Chef Pierre Landet came out to greet us with my favorite French dessert – Crème Brulee (French for ‘burnt cream’)! This incredible French dessert (brunt cream, crema catalane, or Trinity cream) consists of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. It is served cold, or with the custard cold and the caramel warm and can have one of many flavors: lemon zest, rosemary, chocolate, a liqueur, fruit, etc. Ours was served with two fresh raspberries on top.
Beverly A. Beveridge, Monmouth County Regional Editor, jerseybites.com
Guest Bite by Melissa Yurasits
Melissa Yurasits: Grew up on the Jersey Shore and returned to the Garden State after four years of living in Boston for college. Works in publicity/promotions by day but at night loves checking out new restaurants or cooking up new recipes with her boyfriend in their Jersey City apartment. Can’t name a favorite food, except for anything and everything cooked by her Dad, who doesn’t believe in recipes (but it turns out amazing everytime!).
extraordinary distillery.
I don’t know what I was thinking or expecting, but I was completely taken off guard by their menu. For some reason, after my brunch at Langosta Lounge during Jersey Shore Restaurant Week, I had the impression it was a Mexican restaurant. I hadn’t taken the time to look at their regular menu, so the “Langostarita” pictured here with fresh lime, triple, and tequila with a splash of ruby red grapefruit (delicious) and the “Breakfast Burrito” had shaped my first impression.
If you are a Cilantro lover, you are going to love this dish. I happen to be a huge fan of Cilantro but I know many people who absolutely hate it, so if that is you, I apologize. I promise to bring you a Cilantro free recipe next time around.
Carefully add meatballs to stew; gently press into liquid to submerge. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro over. Cover pot; place in oven. Bake until meatballs are cooked through and carrots are tender, about 35 minutes. Sprinkle spinach over stew. Cover and bake until spinach wilts, about 5 minutes longer. Gently stir to mix in spinach, being careful not to break meatballs. Remove cinnamon sticks. Season tagine with salt and pepper.
I just love the name of this restaurant. The owner shared with us that this restaurant was his “plan B.” His Plan A had been a bed and breakfast, but after talking it over with family, he decided on Plan B and I personally am very happy he did. Peter and I stopped into 
For dinner, Peter ordered the Steak with Blue Cheese and Eggplant Fries. I had to try a bite and wow, one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. I ordered the Fish of the Day which was Monk fish, lightly fried served over a salad with the tiniest baby beets. The fish came wearing this funny sombrero, which I soon realized was a large ravioli filled with a sauce meant to enhance the fish and salad. Like I said, very inventive and delicious.
