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This Week’s Menu Includes:

Sandwiches:

• Grilled Vegetable Panini on Ciabatta Roll w/Eggplant, Squash, Zucchini, Portobello, Tomato, & Herb Mayo
• Grilled Griggstown Chicken Salad Sandwich with Lettuce & Tomato
• Grilled Griggstown Chicken Sausage Sandwich w/Cubanelle Peppers, Mozzarella, & Basil Pesto
• Turkey Burger Sliders

Soup & Sides:

• Pasta Salad with chicken sausage, spinach, mozzarella, tomato and champagne vinaigrette
• Fruit Salad

This Week’s Harvest:

‘King Richard’ Leeks
Yellow Onions
Winter Squash Assortment (Acorn, Butternut)
‘Ichiban’ Eggplant
‘Ghostbuster’ Eggplant
Green Bell Peppers
‘Cubanelle’ Pepper
‘Jalapeno’ Pepper
‘Red Cayenne’ Pepper
‘Habanero’ Pepper
‘Toma Verde’ Tomatillos
Swiss Chard

Kale & Collards

Assorted Pumpkins (Pie & Long Island Cheese)

Sorrel

Sage

Leaf Celery

Crop of the Week: Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae (which also includes gourds).  It is a common name of or can refer to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata.

The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon, which is Greek for “large melon”. The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and later American colonists changed that to the word we use today, “pumpkin”.  The origin of pumpkins is not definitively known, although they are thought to have originated in North America. The oldest evidence, pumpkin-related seeds dating between 7000 and 5500 B.C., were found in Mexico.  Pumpkins are a squash-like fruit that range in size from less than 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) to over 1,000 pounds (453.59 kilograms).

Pumpkins are very versatile in their uses for cooking, from the fleshy shell, to the seeds, to even the flowers; most parts of the pumpkin are edible. Traditionally, pumpkin is a very popular Halloween and Thanksgiving staple. Although most people use store-bought canned pumpkin, homemade pumpkin purée can serve the same purpose.

When ripe, the pumpkin can be boiled, baked, steamed, or roasted. In its native North America, it is a very important, traditional part of the autumn harvest, making its way into soups and purees; in Mexico and the U.S., the seeds are often roasted and eaten as a snack. Often, it is made into pie, various kinds of which are a traditional staple of the Canadian and American Thanksgiving holiday.  Pumpkins that are still small and green may be eaten in the same way as squash or zucchini. Pumpkins can also be mashed (similar to mashed potatoes) or incorporated into soup.

Pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas, are small, flat, green, edible seeds. Most pumpkin seeds are covered by a white husk, although some pumpkin varieties produce seeds without them. Pumpkin seeds are a popular snack that can be found hulled or semi-hulled at most grocery stores. However, roasting pumpkin seeds (usually scooped out of jack-o-lanterns) is a popular Halloween treat. Pumpkin seeds have many health benefits, some of which include a good source of protein, zinc, and other vitamins, and are even said to lower cholesterol. One gram of pumpkin seed protein contains as much tryptophan as a full glass of milk. Pumpkin seeds are a good source of magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and phytosterols.

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin)

Herb of the Week: Sorrel

Common Sorrel or Garden Sorrel (Rumex acetosa), often simply called sorrel and also known as Spinach Dock or Narrow-leaved Dock, is a perennial herb that is cultivated as a garden herb or leaf vegetable (pot herb). This is not related to Jamaican sorrel (roselle).

Sorrel is a slender plant about 60 cm high, with roots that run deep into the ground, as well as juicy stems and edible, oblong leaves. The lower leaves are 7 to 15 cm in length, slightly arrow-shaped at the base, with very long petioles. The upper ones are sessile, and frequently become crimson. The leaves are eaten by the larvae of several species of Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) including the Blood-vein moth.  It has whorled spikes of reddish-green flowers, which bloom in summer, becoming purplish. The stamens and pistils are on different plants (dioecious); the ripe seeds are brown and shining.

Common sorrel has been cultivated for centuries. The leaves may be puréed in soups and sauces or added to salads and shav; they have a flavour that is similar to kiwifruit or sour wild strawberries. The plant’s sharp taste is due to ascorbic acid.

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrel)

Recipes:

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin Pie Pastry Shell

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Sorrel Soup

Sorrel-Stuffed Lamb

This Week’s Harvest

• ‘King Richard’ Leeks
• Yellow Onions
• Winter Squash Assortment (Acorn, Butternut)
• ‘Black Beauty’ Eggplant
• ‘Ghostbuster’ Eggplant
• Green Bell Peppers
• Purple & White Bell Peppers
• ‘Cubanelle’ Pepper
• ‘Jalapeno’ Pepper
• ‘Red Cayenne’ Pepper
• ‘Habanero’ Pepper
• ‘Toma Verde’ Tomatillos
• Swiss Chard
• Kale & Collards
• Sage
• Leaf Celery

Announcements:

-Please read our new “Featured Business of the Week.” This week’s featured business is…

Featured Business of the Week: The Brothers Moon

Fine food in a Casual Atmosphere

7 W. Broad St. ~ Hopewell, NJ ~ 08525

609-333-1330 ~ Fax 609-333-1410

www.brothersmoon.com

The Brothers Moon opened in March 2001. We are an 80+ seat full service restaurant and bakery, deli/take out, and caterer. We feature a seasonally changing menu with daily specials. Our cuisine is New American with a healthy feel, served in a casual upscale setting. There is outdoor dining when weather permits, and the restaurant is available for private parties.

Chef Will plans his menu in synchronicity with the true seasons of the earth. He takes pride in keeping in touch with nature by visiting and purchasing from local farms. These farmers provide The Brothers Moon with the best food available. Take out cases are filled with the freshest salads, soups, cheeses, specialty meats, olives and breads, as well as an extensive selection of delicious and beautiful pastries and desserts from our own ovens. Gourmet coffees are ready and piping hot. Health-conscious and vegetarian foods are always available. We offer many non-alcoholic beverages.

Chef Will Mooney is the executive chef and owner with his wife Beth. He has an extensive background in fine food. A Culinary Institute of America graduate, Chef Will has worked at The Hotel Pierre (NYC), Forsgate Country Club, The Frog and the Peach, Stage Left, Patina (LA), The Peacock Inn, The Stockton Inn, Wild Oats, and Bon Appetit. He has been a private chef and has taught cooking classes at the Princeton Adult School

and Princeton University Hospital Fitness and Wellness Center. Chef Will also hosts cooking classes at his restaurant and privately in homes. He proudly participates in several local charitable benefits each year, such as “Taste of the Nation,” “Big Brothers Big Sisters,” “March of Dimes Star Chefs,” among others.

The Brothers Moon has received several noteworthy reviews in The New York Times, Star Ledger, Princeton Packet, Trenton Times, US 1, New Jersey Monthly, NJ Life, NJ.com, and The Home News, among many others..

Located in the heart of Hopewell Borough

Lunch11-2:30 Tuesday thru Saturday

Dinner 5-9:30 Tuesday thru Saturday

Brunch Sunday 10-2 Dinner 4-8

Closed Mondays

Catering available

Cooking Classes

Crop of the Week: Cayenne Pepper

The Cayenne, or Guinea pepper, or Bird pepper is a hot, red chili pepper used to flavor dishes and for medicinal purposes. Named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, it is a cultivar of Capsicum annuum related to bell peppers, jalapeños, and others. The Capsicum genus is in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) along with Eggplant, Tomatoes, & Potatoes.

The fruits are generally dried and ground, or pulped and baked into cakes, which are then ground and sifted to make the powdered spice known as cayenne pepper.

Cayenne is used in cooking spicy dishes, as a powder or in its whole form (such as in Sichuan cuisine) or in a thin, vinegar-based sauce. It is generally rated at 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville Units. It is also used as a herbal supplement, and was mentioned by Nicholas Culpeper in his book Complete Herbal.

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayenne_pepper)

Cayenne Peppers can also be easily dried for year-round use.  Instructions for various drying methods can be found through this link: http://www.g6csy.net/chile/drying.html

Herb of the Week: Lemon Balm

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), not to be confused with bee balm, Monarda species, is a perennial herb in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.

It grows to 70-150 cm tall. The leaves have a gentle lemon scent, related to mint. At the end of the summer, small white flowers full of nectar appear. These attract bees, hence the genus name Melissa (Greek for ‘honey bee’). Its flavour comes from the terpenes citronellal, citronellol, citral, and geraniol.

Lemon balm is often used as a flavoring in ice cream and herbal teas, both hot and iced, often in combination with other herbs such as spearmint. It is also frequently paired with fruit dishes or candies.

The crushed leaves, when rubbed on the skin, are used as a repellant for mosquitos.  Lemon Balm is also used medicinally as a herbal tea, or in extract form. It is claimed to have antibacterial & antiviral properties, and it is also used as a mild sedative or calming agent.  The extract of Lemon balm was also found to have exceptionally high antioxidant activity.

Lemon balm should be avoided by those on thyroid medication (such as thyroxine) as it is believed that the herb inhibits the absorption of this medicine.

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_balm)

Recipes:

The Brothers Moon Muhammara – Hot Pepper Dip

Portobello Mushroom Soup

BBQ Lime Chicken