Hot From The Kettle: Meatballs in Sunday Gravy with Johnny Meatballs

BY  |  Wednesday, Mar 30, 2011 3:30pm  |  COMMENTS (10)

Last week, the Meatball King of New Jersey, Johnny “Meatballs” DeCarlo,  visited the Kettle Kitchen to teach us the secret to his famous meatballs.

Between you, me and the blogosphere, the secret is: caramelized onions.  I didn’t grow up with  caramelized onions in my meatballs, but after enjoying a couple, it’s a pretty good idea.

If you’re in the mood for some meatballs,  you could pick up a six pack of Johnny’s Meatballs in Sunday Gravy at Corrado’s.  Or, if you’d like to make them yourself, watch the video to see how Johnny does it and follow the recipe below.  Salute! Continue Reading

What Coffee Does Baristaville Brew?

BY  |  Monday, Mar 28, 2011 2:30pm  |  COMMENTS (49)

I love coffee almost as much as I love wine. In fact, I’m not much of a likable person before I’ve had my double shot in the morning.

I grind and brew Kirkland Guatemalan whole beans – yes, Kirkland!  So I wonder, what brand of coffee does Baristaville brew?

Take our poll below, then, if you happen to be a fan of Eight O’Clock Coffee, you’ve got an opportunity to “Snag a Bag.”

Eight O’Clock coffee has created personality descriptions for 11 of their coffee varieties. Until March 31, the 151 year old brand is running an 8-day Facebook promotion where fans of the brand’s Facebook page comment below the SNAG A BAG  photo they love best. Each day for 8 days, Eight O’Clock Coffee will give one commenting fan per photo a free bag of coffee. In total, fans will snag 88 bags of “The Eight.”

If I neglected your favorite brand, write-in suggestions are welcome! Continue Reading

Hot From The Kettle: Rose Mediterranean

BY  |  Wednesday, Mar 23, 2011 3:40pm  |  COMMENTS (4)

Toward the end of last year I received an email from Baristanet reader, and fellow foodie and wine enthusiast, Conan.  Conan suggested I visit the new restaurant, Rose Mediterranean, located at 435 Bloomfield Avenue, in Caldwell.

It took a few months, but finally, two weeks ago I made my way over to Caldwell to visit chef and owner of Rose Mediterranean, Joe Albergo.

Joe Albergo is Italian, and was raised by his grandmother, Rose, in Brooklyn.  But don’t expect standard Italian restaurant fare at Rose Mediterranean.  Joe has developed a menu that reflects his diverse culinary travels to places ranging from New Orleans and Miami to Spain, Jakarta, the Philippines, and England.

Watch the video to see Chef Joe prepare one of Rose Mediterranean’s most popular dishes, Pato con Higos (Duck with Figs):

Continue Reading

Hot From The Kettle: The New Jersey Food and Wine Festival

BY  |  Monday, Mar 14, 2011 4:30pm  |  COMMENTS (17)

Francesco Palmieri, The Orange Squirrel

Over the weekend approximately 1050 people attended the Grand Tasting at the New Jersey Food and Wine Festival.

Some of the finest chefs from New Jersey and New York were in attendance serving creative fare, while chatting it up with guests, sipping wines and sampling each others dishes.

The playful, artistic and extraordinarily talented owner of The Orange Squirrel, Chef Francesco Palmieri, riffed on a NJ favorite, creating a shooter of Bufala Mozzarella with Marinara foam. Continue Reading

Lots of Locals at NJ Food & Wine Festival

BY  |  Thursday, Mar 10, 2011 5:30pm  |  COMMENTS (11)

From March 11 – 13, the upscale, four-season property, Crystal Springs Resort, in Hardystown and Vernon, NJ, will host the third annual New Jersey Food & Wine Festival. The three-day bacchanal will feature lavish dinners and copious elixirs of red, aged, and bubbly persuasions, and even a few cigars.

The weekend’s events will include dinners, tastings, and seminars featuring celebrity chefs and New Jersey natives such as Food Network’s newest Iron Chef Marc Forgione, Top Chef Season 7 Winner Kevin Sbraga, Top Chef All-stars contestant Angelo Sosa, Umberto Campos, Jr, owner of Lorena’s in Maplewood, Thomas Ciszak of Chakra in Paramus, Ariane Duarte of CulinAriane in Montclair, James Laird of Serenade in Chatham, and Franceso Palmieri of The Orange Squirrel. Continue Reading

Hot From The Kettle: St. James Gate Publick House

BY  |  Tuesday, Mar 08, 2011 4:30pm  |  COMMENTS (5)

I love a good Irish Pub as much as I love conch shacks and cured pork. St. James Gate Publick House, 167 Maplewood Avenue, is everything an Irish Pub should be – and a wee bit more.

St. James exudes the quintessence of an Irish Pub; it’s warm, inviting, convivial, comfortable, and just a little bit dark.

The story behind the restaurant is just as authentic as the floor boards, which were sourced from Guinness vats in Dublin, Ireland.
Continue Reading

Johnny Meatballs Seeks Assistant for HFTK Video

BY  |  Friday, Mar 04, 2011 12:00pm  |  COMMENTS (6)

Meatball lovers, hold on to your hats! On March 18, Hot From The Kettle will be shooting a video from the Kettle Kitchen with the Meatball King of New Jersey, Johnny “Meatballs” DeCarlo.

Johnny’s looking for a Meatball Making Assistant to help him out during the video shoot!

Post your answer to the question below in the Comments Section on Hot From The Kettle to win a chance to work along with Johnny as he creates his saucy balls. The winner will also receive a six pack of Johnny’s Meatballs, and a signed copy of his book, “My Big Friggin’ Book.” Here’s the question:

If you could have a dinner date with any celebrity chef, who would it be? And what would you eat?

From the answers received, Johnny “Meatballs” will select his favorite response, and name the winner on Hot From The Kettle on Monday, March 14, 2011. Continue Reading

Hot From The Kettle: Organic. Local. Sustainable. Market in Montclair

BY  |  Monday, Feb 28, 2011 4:30pm  |  COMMENTS (5)

Last month Hot From The Kettle visited Market, now located at 12 Church Street, Montclair, to experience their new Church Street digs, and their new executive chef, Tre Ghoshal.

Chef Tre joined Market in November 2010. Chef Tre, who is of East Indian descent, has been cooking since he was thirteen. “It’s all I know,” he says.

And cooking is all he needs to know; he’s a natural.  Chef Tre is imaginative, passionate, artistic, and intuitive. He prepares his dishes with confidence and moves about the open air kitchen with fluidity and focus. Continue Reading

Hot From The Kettle: Montclair’s Aroma Palace

BY  |  Tuesday, Feb 22, 2011 3:30pm  |  COMMENTS (19)

When I was in college I worked for a man who came from Southern India, his name was Desai. His wife, Lhata, would send us all kinds of southern Indian fare to snack on.

We received packages of spicy naan flecked with fenugreek, yogurt that was sweet and thick and topped with crushed pistachios, and tiny spicy balls. . . . I don’t know what they were, but they were good too. Continue Reading

Hot From The Kettle: The Burger of Baristaville

BY  |  Thursday, Feb 17, 2011 4:30pm  |  COMMENTS (22)

UPDATE: This poll is closed. The winner is Smashburger with 41% of the votes. Tierney’s came in second place with 29% of the votes.
Last month we asked the beef eating members of Baristaville to name their favorite burger.

The post hung on the food page for a month and garnered 51 comments.

The list has been narrowed down to the top six most frequently mentioned burger joints. 

Have your vote, it’s the Official Best Burger of Baristaville Poll:

UPDATE: This poll will close on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 4:30 pm.

Featured Comment

Perhaps yesterday's heavy police presence would have been better applied to Mission Street than to the Montclair State campus.
Posted by
cathar

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