Farm Fresh Collingswood Menu

Just finished writing the menu for Farm Fresh Collingswood where at least 12 of the restaurants in town are participating in a 5 day event where we all feature items that are available at the Saturday morning farmers market in town. We are all doing 4 courses for $28 from July 12 to July 16. The Tortilla Press is taking all size reservations. So call soon to reserve your spot.

Appetizers

Grilled Springdale Farms sweet corn with garlic chile butter, fresh lime & queso fresco

Open-faced market vegetable quesadilla with cilantro oil, sliced jersey tomatoes, & queso Oaxaca

Davidson’s Farms mushroom & grilled beef tenderloin mini tacos with fire-grilled tomatillo~chipotle salsa

Soup or Salad

Flaim Farms’s Squash blossom soup with zucchini, potatoes, poblano peppers& corn in a lightly creamed vegetable broth

Jersey tomato gazpacho with chile pikin & lime cucumber garnish

Mexican Cobb Salad with mixed lettuces, corn off the cob, black beans, bacon & queso fresco cubes tossed with roasted jersey tomato vinaigrette

Entrees

Chicken Mexicana roasted half chicken in a jersey tomato, onion, garlic & jalapeño sauce served with warm corn tortillas & grilled vegetables

Grilled Masa Cakes with fresh corn, lime, ancho chile & epazote served with quinoa & black bean chile (vegan option)

Tampiquena Platter of tenderloin of beef & twin cheese & onion entomatadas served with sautéed local vegetable medley & charro beans (celiac option)

Scallop & shrimp in a Flaim Farm cilantro pesto sauce garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds & pine nuts served with roasted eggplant

Grilled center cut pork loin with peach~serrano chile salsa & peach cider glaze served with coconut rice & sautéed garlic jersey green beans (celiac friendly)

Dessert

Flan with jersey blueberry compote

DiBartolos Bakery Gluten Free Boston Cream Pie

Peach & walnut empanada with cajeta & whipped cream

First Farm Fresh Event of The Season

On Thursday June 18th we will be holding our first guest farm dinner at The Tortilla Press. John Ebert co-owner of Springdale Farm's in Cherry Hills will be our guest farmer for the evening. If you have not attended on of our previous Farm Fresh Events, do not miss this one. John will speak about the operations of the farm, what they currently are harvesting & will be through the summer and I will speak about how we are able to feature their products in our cuisine. here's a link to the menu.

http://www.thetortillapress.com/farm-fresh-dinner.php

A little history about my relationship with Springdale Farms. In 1992 my wife Lydia & I purchased a small sandwich/catering shop in Westmont. Well business was really slow & after coming off a job of running a hotel kitchen doing about 2 million in sales annually, our $300 a day in sales was not very exciting (or profitable) We had a line of salads that we made for our parties & that we sold in our shop along with some quiches that & we started looking for another place to retail them. We sampled Springdale & began selling our salads & quiches at the market.

After we left catering, we moved to Collingswood & opened our restaurant. And what do you know but Collingswood had a Saturday Farmers Market and one of the anchor farms was Springdale. Fortunately, I had an outlet with the restaurant for their corn, tomatoes, squash, peppers & the fleeting but oh so amazing strawberry season. I've been shopping the farmer's market ever since & stop by the farm on my way into Collingswood whenever I need mid week produce or even a coffee & apple cider doughnut.

So, here is Thursday's Menu

Kennent Square Exotic Mushroom Empanadas with epazote leaf & black bean chile puree. I bought the epazote from the farms awesome selection of herb plants & hot house Jersey tomatoes in the black bean chile puree.

Boston Lettuce, goat cheese, roasted Jersey beets & toasted pine nuts with strawberry habanaro vinaigrette. We are featuring Springdales Boston lettuce & the last of their strawberries in the salad.

Seafood Teaser of pan seared sea scallops with diced zucchini & yellow squash in a creamed squash blossom sauce with sauteed Jersey spinach. Springdale will provide the squash & squash blossoms

Grilled Carne Asada with grilled local scallions topped with fresh lime & sea salt with roasted baby carrots

And to finish it off..............

Jersey Strawberry & Coconut Bread Pudding topped with Strawberry Compote & Whipped Cream. Cinnamon bread & straberries from Springdale.

All this for only $29.95 (does not include beverages, tax or gratuity)

We are still accepting reservations for this special event.

Tortilla Press Dinner Specials Friday June 5

Soft Shell Crab Salad, Mixed Lettuce & Citrus Vinaigrette $11

Pan Seared Sea Scallops, Chipotle Goat Cheese Sauce $21

8 oz. Filet Mignon, Mushroom~Rioja Sauce. Chipotle Mashed Potatoes $21

Grilled Salmon Fillet, Lemon Vinaigrette, Sauteed Jersey Spinach $19

Jersey Strawberry Tangle, Fresh Berries, Cinnamon~Sugared Tortilla Strips, Vanilla Ice Cream & Whipped Cream $6.5

New at Collingswood Farmer's Market this week

This week stop by for a free sample of our fresh squeezed OJ. We are offering a new service for people who would like to bring there own sterilized container for us to fill with juice. The price will be $6.5o for a quart or $12 for a half gallon. We'll fill your container while you wait. Just pop in the fridge when you get home & enjoy. Of course, if you can't wait till you get home, we still have our 12 oz. cups readyfor you to enjoy on the spot...cost is $3. We are also introducing our fresh squeezed lemonade - $2 for a refreshing 16 oz portion. Coming soon - our famous fresh squeezed margarita mix.

As usual, I'll be making quesadillas & will introduce a portabella mushroom (Davidsons Mushrooms) & zucchini (Viereck Farms) quesadilla in an ancho chile sauce with cheese. We will also be doing a spinach (Flaim Farms) & bacon quesadilla or a asparagus (Viereck Farms) & roasted red pepper (sorry, not local yet, but oh so delicious) quesadilla with just a touch of garlic. (Hey, here's a thought: preorder some for your dinner that night!)

If you'd like something sweet to snack on as you walk the market, we'll have our cinnamon sugared tortilla chips & brown sugar dipping sauce to take the edge off the morning hungries. They are our brunch starter chips & we serve them on Saturday & Sunday morning in place of our regular lunch chips & salsa.

In case you have not noticed we tweaked our red salsa recipe & now are using a base of the Jersey Fresh crushed tomatoes available at Flaim Farms table on Saturdays or the rest of the week at Springdale Farm market. It's a little bit heartier & a bit spicier than the old recipe so it sticks to our house fried chips perfectly. Try some at our Farmers Market & take a container or two home for the weekend. Remember, no preservatives so eat it by Tuesday night while it's still at its best. Hope to see you at the market where we'll be turning the freshest ingredients into delicous dishes. Chef Mark