As the Garden State and home to immigrants from around the world, New Jersey has an eclectic culinary history. To get a taste, here are some recipes submitted by your New Jersey Key Ingredients hosts. Have a recipe of your own to share? Head over to www.keyingredients.org to submit your recipe and be part of the American Cookbook Project!

WALNFORD

Chocolate Cornmeal Cookies

1 stick butter
4 oz semisweet or mix of semi and bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
chopped nuts (optional)

Melt together butter and chocolate. Add brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Then mix with flour, cornmeal, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder. Add chopped nuts (optional).

Chill the dough, roll into balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees until barely firm. Cool a few minutes on the sheet before removing to a rack.

Basic Cornmeal Muffins

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar, depending on desired sweetness
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk or buttermilk

Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Cream together sugar, butter and eggs. Then, add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk.

Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for approx. 15 min.

For fancier muffins add the extra sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, some grated orange peel, and 1/2 cup dried cranberries. Experiment with different flavor and texture combinations, dates and walnuts are tasty.

* Tip: For cornmeal crunch in your favorite recipe,
substitute 1/4 to 1/2 cup cornmeal for the equivalent amount
of flour in any recipe calling for at least 2 cups flour. This adds
texture and flavor without a significant change in leavening/density. *

WOODBINE

Vera Schweibinz Jewish Apple Cake

4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
½ cup orange juice
2 ½ tsps vanilla
3 cups flour
3 tsps baking powder
1 cup oil
3 cups sliced apples, ½ cup sugar, 1 tsps cinnamon (shake all in a bag)

Beat eggs. Add sugar gradually. Continue to beat and add orange juice, vanilla, flour, baking powder and oil. Mix well about 3 minutes.

Take half the mixture pour into greased and flour pan. Next add half the apple mixture. Repeat the process, rest of batter, rest of apples. Bake for 1 ½ hours at 350. Let cool for 15-20 minutes.

Mary Nevins and Pop’s Blueberry Buckle

9″square pan

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
½ cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups well drained dry blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup sifted flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter mixed

Cream together sugar, butter and egg. Stir in milk. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Blend in blueberries. Sprinkle top with sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter. Bake 45-50 minutes at 375.°

Beach Plum Sorbet
(care of the Cape May County Beach Plum Association)

2 cups beach plums
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
¼ cup honey
1 nectarine
Juice of 1 lime
½ cup orange juice

Boil beach plums with one cup of water until soft. Remove from heat & let cool. In a separate pot, make syrup of one cup of sugar and ¼ cup of honey by heating until dissolved. Remove from heat and add juice of lime and ½ cup of orange juice. Let cool. Take beach plum mixture and strain plums through cheesecloth, squeezing all the juices out into the syrup mixture. Cool the entire mixture, then place in an ice cream maker. If you do not have an ice cream maker you can freeze the mixture, then aerate it with a hand mixer and then re-freeze. Makes 8 servings.

Note: This version can be used to “cleanse the palate” between meal courses. For a sweeter dessert version, use 2 cups of sugar instead of the one cup sugar and ¼ cup of honey.

TUCKERTON

(All recipes from The Tuckerton Seaport Cookbook, published June 2005)

Gretchen’s Beach Plum Jelly

3 ½ cups Beach Plum juice
6 cups Sugar
1 Certo Fruit Pectin Pack

In a large pot, bring juice and sugar to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour in Certo. Boil for one minute at a rolling boil. Keep stirring. Take off burner and skim off foam with a metal spoon. Into sterilized pint glass jars (having boiled jars and lids for about 15-20 minutes) pour in the hot jelly, followed by a 12 minute water bath where sealed jars are submerged and boiled again to insure against botulism or whatever could possibly develop. Only small batches of jelly should be made at a time, as listed above. Each batch makes about 5 or 5 ½ pint jars.

Mrs. Richard’s Clam Pie from Wanda Parsons

1 double Pie Crust
4 large White Potatoes diced
1 large White Onion diced
25-30 Cherrystone Clams drained and ground in food processor – reserve juice
3 Hard-boiled Eggs
Pepper to taste

Add water to diced potatoes and onions to cover. Add pepper. Cook until tender. Drain and add approximately ½ to ¾ cup Clam juice. Add minced clams and cook until clams are tender, just a few minutes, otherwise clams will be tough. Put 1 pie crust in 9” pie pan. With a slotted spoon, fill the pie shell, sprinkle with flour and top filling with diced hard-boiled eggs. Add just a little broth so pie is not dry. Cover with the top crust, pricking with a fork. Brown in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes until crust is golden brown. Heat leftover broth and serve in a gravy boat to be poured over the pie when served. Serves 6-8.

Cold Blueberry Soup

1 pint of Blueberries washed
1 ½ cups Water
1/3 cup Sugar
½ tsp Cinnamon
4 Whole cloves
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Corn Starch
½ cup Dry White Wine
1 Tbsp Lemon rind grated
Sour Cream for garnish

Place blueberries, water, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in a saucepan. Bring all to a boil, partially cover and reduce heat. Occasionally stir the blueberry “soup” with a wooden spoon, crushing blueberries in the saucepan. Simmer until blueberries are tender (approximately 10 minutes). Stir in the lemon juice. Mix corn starch with the white wine to dissolve. Stir mixture into the blueberry “soup.” Return soup to a boil stirring constantly for 1 minute. Adjust seasonings—adding sugar, if needed. Remove cloves. Chill overnight. Garnish with sour cream or yogurt and grated lemon. Serves 4.

Captain Oppie Speck’s South of the Border Jersey Duck

4 large Ducks sinned and breasted
½ cup Flour
½ stick Butter
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 can (4 oz) green Chilies diced
2 16 oz cans stewed Tomatoes
2 dashes Tabasco
1 cup red Burgundy wine
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

Dust the duck breasts with flour. In a very large skillet (preferably cast iron), melt butter and oil over medium heat. Brown duck breasts in skillet over high temperature, heavy side down first for about 5-7 minutes. Pour out excess oil and add chilies and tomatoes. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine all ingredients. Sprinkle with Tabasco, pour in wine and stir again. Sprinkle garlic powder on top and cover skillet and lower heat. Cook for about 45 minutes stirring often. Serve with taco chips. Serves 6-8.

WOODBURY

MORRISTOWN

TRENTON

Pie-Eyed ~ The Recipe
(taken from Pie-Eyed, a documentary about Tomato Pie in Trenton)

Dough Ingredients:

(You can either make your own dough using the following recipe or you can purchase it at your local bakery or supermarket.)

.25 oz. pkt. active dry yeast
1/4 tsp. granulated sugar
3/4 cup 110° water
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water; allow to rest for 8 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt and pour yeast mixture over flour mixture and mix well with a heavy spoon. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes. Working from the edges to the center, press dough into a 12” circle. Place dough on a lightly greased pizza pan and stretch dough to edges. Spread sauce over crust and top with cheese and desired toppings. Bake in 500° oven for 8-12 minutes, or until edges are golden.

Sauce Ingredients:

1 can of plum tomatoes (preferably packed in tomato juice rather than a thick puree)
2 medium minced garlic cloves
3 or 4 leaves of fresh minced basil (or a shake or 2 dried minced basil – to taste)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Empty contents of tomato can into mixing bowl and mash the whole tomatoes into smaller pieces so that the mixture is pulpy. Add garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix. The sauce can be used immediately, but has a more refined flavor if covered and left in the refrigerator for about an hour. This sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for about 1 hour if properly covered.

Preparation and Assembly of your Trenton Style Tomato Pie

Ingredients:

Dough mixture
Sauce mixture
Equal parts of grated Romano and Parmesan cheese to taste
Grated or sliced mozzarella cheese
Preheat your oven to 500°

Start with a ball of dough approximately 3 to 4 inches in diameter or about the size of a medium fist. Roll it out to the size of the pan you are using. (A thin, 16” perforated aluminum pan is recommended.) Roll the dough out uniformly to a thickness of approximately 1/16” taking care not to make holes in the dough. (Sometimes holes are inevitable. If a hole does appear, just pinch the dough around it and close it up.)

Gently place the dough in the pan. You can either trim off the sides of the dough overlapping, or just roll it back until it fits in the pan. For a special treat, take some grated cheese and roll it in the overlapping dough. Brush on a very thin layer of olive oil. (Infused oil is great. I.e. basil, truffle, or garlic oil.)

Spread the grated cheese blend around the sides of the dough and very lightly toward the middle. (The cheese and the sauce will gravitate toward the center during cooking. This is the technique that will keep the tomato pie slice from “dropping” like pizza does.)

Sparingly, ladle the sauce mixture around the pie. (Again, not too much in the center of the pie. It’ll spread out while it’s cooking.) Now sprinkle (or place) the mozzarella cheese lightly over the top. Place pie in preheated oven for approximately 5 minutes.

Using a spatula, gently lift the edge of the pie and check if the bottom is browning. The pie should be a little crispy on the bottom. Don’t panic if the edges become a little brown. That’s good. When the pie is done, slide the pie out of the tray onto a dish or pan. Let it sit for about a minute.

Cut the pie across, then into small triangles.

Serve and enjoy!