Local Holiday Fare

These three local spot are personal favorites of mine. Get to know them better and check out their sites for more info:

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Balasia is offering our Very Vegan Christmas Feast!

For those of you who may be Vegan or know or love someone who is, Chef Wendy is preparing a Vegan Christmas/Holiday Feast with all of the fixings!

Available for 1-100 People (gluten-free available)

There will be:

• Homemade Whole Grain Bread Stuffing with Rosemary and Garlic
• Parsley and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Butternut Squash soup with Ginger
• Homemade cranberry sauce with clove and orange zest
• Roasted Sweet potatoes with carmelized walnuts
• Roasted Vegetables with garlic, soy butter and herbs
• And your choice of homemade seitan with baby bella mushroom gravy, Coriander mustard baked tofu, or pineapple baked vegan ham
• Finished with a Pumpkin Dessert of your choice (pie, cake, or cheesecake)

Call 484-330-6405 to place your order!

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Black Forest Deli

Week before the big Holiday - Haven't Ordered your catering platters from us yet?
Well, what are you waiting for? Place your orders Today!
Check out Our full menu bethlehemdeli.com

Need a gift for someone ? Get them a Gift Certificate from BlackForest Deli.
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/blackforestdeli or become our fan on Facebook: BlackForest Deli & Catering You can get our daily updates, specials, and a chance to win a FREE lunch! We deliver - Try our food - you wont regret it!

Soups of the Week: chicken noodle / russian borsch / minestrone / halupki

HALUPKIS ARE BACK - PLACE YOUR ORDERS QUICK as they go way too fast - 2 for $6

• MOB Special is back - as this was our very popular sandwich a few months ago, its back as a triple decker with turkey, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and honey mustard - $7
• Reuben Wrap - a mix of fresh corned beef and pastrami with saurkraut, swiss cheese and russian dressing - warm of course - YUM - $6.50
• R u hungry sub? - roast beef, ham, turkey, coleslaw, russian dressing and lettuce - $6
• Salad of the Week - mixed greens, crunchy apples, mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, tomatoes, nuts, cucumbers topped with our homemade tuna salad - $7
• Hot Sand Of the week : Homemade Meatball Parmesan - $5
• Panini of the week: thinly sliced roast beef, horseradish spread, hot peppers, tomatoes,
• onions, spinach grilled to a crunch - $6
• Veggie Sand of the week - Egg Salad Sand - with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers - $5
• Yummy Sides : macaroni / coleslaw / potato salad / deli pickles / yogurt w/fruit / brownie

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We’re excited to announce a new product – Sustainable Business GIFT BASKETS!

Promote the “Eat Fresh, Buy Local” concept - just in time for the gift-giving season. Our baskets feature Back Door Bakeshop goodies, Tallarico’s chocolates, Counter Culture coffee from Wired Cafe, and more.

Available in three sizes: petite $18, mid-size $25 and colossal $55!

And a reminder: whether you’re entertaining at home, visiting family and friends, or whooping it up at the workplace, you’re gonna be looking for something sweet to go with that fabulous meal. You know we’ve got you covered!

A quick call or email is all it takes to order apple and pumpkin pies, chocolate cake, carrot cake and all the amazing goodies you’ve come to expect. Party trays feature cookies, dessert breads, lemon squares, magic squares, cappuccino brownies and the stars of it all - espresso shortbread! We can gift wrap any tray - a fabulous end-of-year giving idea!

The full updated menu is available on our Web site – www.backdoorbakeshop.com
Follow us on Twitter: @backdoorbakeshp or become a fan on Facebook: Back Door Bakeshop
To order, call 610-625-0987, or send us an email: info@backdoorbakeshop.com

Local Flavor - Part II

A couple Thursdays ago a few of the kids and I made our way across town to the Bethlehem Farmers' Market. I haven't been there very often since we moved from the South Side and I was pleased to find that it was still there. The venue has changed, it used to be held in a large parking lot and now is set up at Campus Square at Lehigh University.

I was very happy to find that Suyundalla Farms was still there. They were one of the first vendors at the market and are the only surviving original vendor. Kudos! They still sell some of the finest produce and have branched out into selling fresh lamb products.

Our first stop was their stand and these are a few of their wares:

Garlic scapes

Snow peas

Beautiful red cherries

Napa cabbages

Cucumbers

We took home everything above, except for the Napa cabbage, and added some of their broccoli and fresh lamb sausages as well.

We stopped by Bechdolt's Orchard stand for fresh honey and then hit up The Flour Shop for a loaf of truly awesome semolina bread.



I could go on about that bread, but I've come to the conclusion that I need to do a full review of this bakery. If you live in the Lehigh Valley and haven't been there yet (the store is located at Macada Plaza - 2980 Linden Street ), you really need to stop by and pick up some baked goods. These guys know their stuff - trust me on that one.

So, here is what we ended up with:



Broccoli, cucumber, snow peas, garlic scapes, honey and semolina bread.

I threw the lamb sausages on the grill with the scapes, sauteed the broccoli and snow peas, sliced the bread, and we had a terrific meal that evening - well worth the just-over-3-mile-walk.

Local Flavor - Part I

I was afforded the small luxury yesterday of stopping by a local farmers' market, Elias Market at 3131 Linden St. Bethlehem (Phone: (610) 867-8111). I've driven by many times and used to shop there often when it was Pichel's Farm Market. I'm not sure why I haven't been in since it changed hands, but I made a point of turning in instead of driving by this time.

I'm very glad that I did. Elias Market (I believe it's in the same family as Elias Farm Market in Allentown) is one of those stores I'll be frequenting from now on. I was on the lookout for hazelnuts and, having had no luck finding them, I decided to check at Elias. Elias is owned by a Middle Eastern family and sells one of the largest selections of Middle Eastern foodstuffs anywhere in the Valley.

I was wide-eyed at the varieties of falafel (there's one brand at my usual store), the cans packed with stuffed grape leaves and the many, many bags of seeds, nuts and grains available. I found those hazelnuts at a very good price and dried chick peas and sesame seeds to boot. I'm not talking those small cellophane bags stapled with headers, covered in dust and overpriced - I mean large plastic bags, overfilled with fresh legumes and seeds and priced just right. I also purchased a bucket of falafel mix. I had to stop myself from overbuying since I had really only gone in with one thing in mind and had already overdone it without even canvasing a quarter of the store.

I had already picked up peaches and seedless grapes (99 cents a pound!) before I got through the doors of the store. They draw you in with all that lovely and affordable produce out front. It really isn't my fault.

Anyway, once I headed toward the checkout I caught the rest of the produce inside and had to see it. On the way to the produce, however, there were stacks of large whole wheat pitas and I had to have a package. Then I saw a basketful of beautiful tiny plums labeled simply, "Local Plums". They were gorgeous in that basket with tiny little leaves poking out of the mounds of large marble-sized fruit. I had to have them.

As I picked them out I told Katie, who was shopping with me, "We'll make a tart with these. I'll mix up a lovely almond crust and cut them in half. Then we place them upside down all over the crust and bake it. It'll be beautiful; you'll see." She just nodded her head and smiled, grabbing as many little plums as she could fit in her small hands.



When we passed the apricots, which were perfectly dainty, but still larger than the plums, she asked if we could buy some. I told her they would be perfect in that tart with the plums and she loaded up a bag with them.

Then, I saw plantains, and with everyone so enamoured with those tostones I made, I picked up 4 and then headed to the meat counter to see if I could find chorizo. They didn't have chorizo, so I asked for the next-best and often used replacement, pepperoni. There were plastic containers filled with pre-cut pepperoni, but I wanted some I could cut myself. The sweetest older man ever waited on me and instead of telling me, "That's all we have", like I would have heard at any other store, he promptly reached under the counter and pulled out two lovely and rustic looking sticks of pepperoni for me. He and the other woman behind the counter were two of the nicest workers you could ever come across.

We grabbed a seedless watermelon on our way out and I couldn't keep my eyes on my purchases - there was still so much to see there and I know for certain that I'll be back very soon.

Now what?

So, what to do with all that produce we bought? So far I have made more gumbo (can't ever get enough of that), fresh salsa, chili with an extra helping of veggies, the corn on the cob was your basic slathered-in-butter feast, cantaloupe was eaten as-is and with cottage cheese, and on the chopping block next is peach pie, a Georgia Cheesecake Pie, apple pie, breaded and fried squash, ratatouille, the acorn squash will be simply roasted, the baby yellow tomatoes are great in a salad and those cherries are just fine as is.

We had the angel food cake with freshly whipped cream and the shoo fly pie didn't last long enough for me to know exactly who ate it.

Click the linked words above for recipes and here are two more:


Fresh SalsaPrintable Recipe

3 large ripe tomatoes skinned, seeded, and chopped
1 small white onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
jalapeno or Serrano chiles (as many as you like) stemmed,
seeded, and chopped (or 1 small can of chopped mild green chiles)
1/4c. chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
1 lime-juiced
1t. kosher salt
1t. sugar if the tomatoes are acidic

Combine all and mix well.
Allow flavors to blend for at least 1 hr.
Taste for seasoning and serve at room temperature.
Refrigerate unused portion.

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Anne's Ratatouille
Printable Recipe

1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 T olive oil
1 small eggplant cubed
1 medium zucchini cubed
1 medium green pepper seeded and diced
1 can (15 oz.) tomatoes, chopped and undrained
10 mushrooms (white button) sliced
1 t each basil and oregano
1 t salt
1 T parsley chopped
1/3 c Parmesan

In a large skillet cook onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.
Add remaining ingredients except cheese and stir well. Cook on low, stirring once in awhile, about 25 minutes until tender and liquid has evaporated.
Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Serve warm or cold.