Welcome to the Goughryn Farm Catalogue. The products offered have been carefully selected to meet our high standards of quality and value. Each item comes with our 100% satisfaction guarantee. If for any reason you aren't completely happy with your purchase, simply return the item or the unused portion and receive a prompt refund or replacement.

In the spring and fall when you visit the Pleasant Hill stand you will be delighted if you try some of Kurt's pick your own products. The spring abounds with strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb. The fall holds a bountiful harvest of pumpkins, Indian corn, squash and gourds. Throughout the year is a selection of farm fresh items including tomatoes, asparagus, peppers, corn, eggplant-- just about everything a "garden state" has to offer. The best part is that most all of what Kurt sells is grown right here in Chester by Kurt himself.

So please stop by and visit anytime, bring your family and take one of the complementary old-fashioned hay rides offered during strawberry and pumpkin seasons. For exact directions or for seasonal pick your own information please call Alstede's Farm Market at 908-879-7189.

Jams Jellies & Preserves

The secret to a good jam is using only the most flavorful fruit canned when their flavor is at its peak.

The jellies and jams on the next sevral pages come from Kitchen Kettle in Lancaster County PA, the heart of Pennsylvania's "Amish" country. Without a doubt they are some of the best jellies, jams and spreads we've ever tasted.

Of particular note is the pepper and tomato jams. The pepper jam is often called the "caviar" of Lancaster County PA.-- no, not because it's fishy-- because it is sweet, sour and tart, reminiscent of the best Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. The tomato jam is both sweet and a little spicy but not hot.

Jellies, Preserves & Dressings

Jellies are made with the juice of the fruit. A good jelly should be clear with a bright color. It should maintain its shape and quiver even out of the jar. The best jellies, and we have tasted them from all over, have a sparkle or a glean.

You'll find that the jellies we sell sparkle with delight and taste delightful as well.

Preserves are made with large or whole pieces of fruit The secret to spectacular preserves is undamaged blemish free fruit handled with care from the vine to the jar. We're particularly proud of our selection of preserves and hope you'll enjoy them as well.

A good natural dressing separates in the bottle and you won't find any artificial emulsifiers in these. So get your favorite greens ready and dig in.

All Fruit, Syrups & Relish

All Fruit Spreads are special. All fruit means what it says-no additives --no sucrose --no dextrose and no artificial substitutes. What you get is the natural taste and sweetness of the fruit with a little bit of white grape juice (fructose) added for a little extra sweetness. It doesn't get much simpler or tastier than that.

Syrups give you the wholesome flavor of fresh fruit with nothing artificial --No binder --No gums-- with a natural acidifier, citric acid, which adds a little tartness and intensifies the taste. These syrups are just waiting to be poured over ice cream, waffles or your favorite desert.

The secret to a good relish is in the brine. These relishes have just the right mix of sweet & sour so the taste is fresh and the colors are bright. Each jar is hand packed to insure a good mix of vegetables and to prevent bruising. I like all of the relishes but am particularly fond of the pepper relish (k172) as the final topping for a world class hamburger or hot dog.

Butters

Butters are the time honored way to preserve fruits. "Putting up" butters was a chore during each harvest season for many of our forefathers. These butters are made using fresh fruit in this age old way. There is nothing artificial about these butters. Please note that the Peach and Pumpkin butters are only made in season so supplies are limited. What's not limited is the old fashion taste and flavor.

Imported Marmalades & Preserves

The Irish have been making special marmalades and preserves for years. Their secret is using 100% Irish Whiskey in the process. The selections below come from Alexander's renowned for their whiskey marmalades and preserves. Imported directly from Ireland in 12oz jars.

Imported Mustards

These mustards are whole grain which means you can see and taste the seeds. This is not your typical hot dog mustard but a zippy tangy hot-style mustard for use on meats, although any hot dog will benefit greatly from its use. These Irish mustards are made in the European tradition with added flavor derived by adding whiskey or honey. They are particularly good on corned beef and ham. Imported from Ireland.

Irish Ham Glaze:

Mix equal parts spicy mustard and honey (3ozs to 4ozs) and 1/3 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Add 1/8 tsp. of ground cloves, 1oz good Irish whiskey and whisk in sufficient water to make the mixture syrupy.

Reduce over heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Use mixture to baste ham. For an interesting variation use marmalade instead of honey and/or orange juice instead of whisky or water. Remember to baste the ham several time before serving.

The remaining pan juices make an excellent start for a sweet sauce which can be used on ham or sweet potatoes.

Reserve and de-fat pan juices. De-glaze the pan using a mixture of 1/4 Irish Whiskey to 3/4 water or orange juice. Add pan juices, reduce over high heat by half and sweeten to taste with brown sugar or honey. Serve warm over ham slices or sweet potatoes.

Coffees

Coffee is easily the most popular drink in America. Making a good cup of coffee depends on many things. The type/quality of the bean, the water used, how it's roasted and brewed. Not to over complicate things for your morning cup but beans from different areas of the world have different flavors as do beans grown in different climate zones from the same areas.

There are 2 basic types of coffees, Arabica and Robusta. 99% of all specialty or gourmet coffees are Arabica. Robusta is used as a low-cost filler in blends and is the principal type of coffee you buy in a can. The Arabica plant grows at higher elevation, takes longer to mature and it is less disease resistant. It also costs quite a bit more. The main reason for buying Arabica beans is that they taste significantly better. All of our coffees are Arabica. Coffee is also named by the point of shipment such as Kona from Hawaii and Mocha from Yemen. Many of these coffees are unique in flavor or style.

Equally important is the type, how the coffee is blended and the grade of coffee used. Since there is no scientific way to insure how a particular blend will taste, we are all dependent on the coffee taster who decides by smell and taste how much of what beans goes into each.

This is why many coffees with the same names can taste so different and vary in cost so much. Just buying a coffee from a particular area or country is no guarantee of how it will taste. When you purchase your coffee examine the beans. They should have a wonderful aroma, be whole (no broken bits and pieces) and should have uniform color and a shine. Dull, broken or stale smelling beans are better for garden mulch, not for making a good cup of coffee.

Just as important as the bean or the blend, is how the coffee is roasted. Roasting affects the coffee in many ways. Lighter roasting makes for a lighter cup of coffee and darker roasting makes for a stronger or fuller brew. So the next time the coffee is too strong don't use less coffee which will ruin the flavor, try a lighter roast

All of our coffees are custom roasted. Your coffee is often shipped within 1 to 3 days of roasting. This makes our coffee among the freshest available. Air has an oxidizing effect on the oils and fat in the coffee bean.This is why freshness counts so much in making a great cup of coffee. In fact freshness is the single most important factor in coffee taste and quality.

Most coffee is sold vacuum or foil packed to preserve freshness. It is important to remember that oxidation starts after the beans have been roasted. So be careful of those giant bins of so called gourmet coffees -- most sit out in the open air oxidizing away. The second biggest culprit in ruining coffee flavor is water. Beans should be kept in a tightly sealed container free from moisture and air.

Many coffee retailers recommend storing coffee in the freezer and a similar number warn against it. Some believe that moisture will condense on the beans and ruin the flavor. If you do store your coffee in a freezer make sure its tightly sealed. One important note is that you don't need to defrost the beans before you grind them. Frozen beans will grind just fine.

We use only fresh roasted coffee and purchase it to order each week. This means that our coffee is fresh and as flavorful as it can be.

Buying whole beans and grinding just before use also helps to keep the coffee fresh. Whole beans have less surface area to oxidize and therefore less of the essential fats and oils are exposed to the air. All of our coffee is vacuum packed with one way valves that allow air to escape but no new air to enter.

Since a cup of coffee is mainly water, it's important that you use water that tastes good and is free from any chemical or mineral taste. Coffee should never be boiled or it will be bitter and you should always start with cold water. The best proportions to use are two tablespoons of coffee to 6 oz of water.

As if location, quality and roasts aren't enough coffee also comes in flavors. These flavoring agents are sprayed or mixed on the coffee after roasting and can offer a delightful change of pace.

We offer two ways in which to impart additional flavors to your coffee. The first is by having our roaster add flavor after roasting and the second is by offering just the flavors themselves. You should always be careful when you buy a flavored coffee. Many companies use lower quality beans for flavored coffee since the flavoring may hid some of the coffee's imperfections. We only use 100% Colombian whole bean coffee in our flavored coffees.

Our flavors or syrups are of the same type and quality used by many gourmet coffee shops.

They are made by Torani family of San Francisco who has been making syrups since 1925. The advantage of a syrup is that your family or guests can choose their own favorite --a cup at a time.

We carry several Decaffeinated coffees. Please remember that decaffeinating does not remove 100% of the caffeine only 96% to 98%. So if you are extremely caffeine intolerant you should forgo coffee altogether.

There are 3 methods of decaffeination, Direct, Indirect and Swiss Water Process™. In the direct method the caffeine is removed by soaking the coffee in a solvent such as methyl chloride. The solvent is then removed by heating the beans.

The indirect method, (some times called water processed), the beans are soaked in water and then the water is removed and treated with a solvent to remove the caffeine from the water. The solvent and caffeine is then removed from the water and the water is re-used for a new batch of coffee. Since the solvent never comes in direct contact with the coffee this process is referred to as the indirect method.

The Swiss Water Process™ is a patented process of the Swiss Water Process Division of Nabob Foods, LTD. The process uses no solvents. The beans are soaked in water and the water is passed through carbon filters to remove the caffeine. This flavor charged water is used on subsequent batches of coffee so that any loss of flavor is minimized. The Swiss Water Process™ does cost more since the green coffee must be shipped to Vancouver BC for processing. None the less it is the only process that uses no solvents and it's the only kind of decaffeinated coffee we sell.

Since all decaffeinating starts with steaming or soaking the green beans many coffees claim to be "water processed." In most cases this means they were decaffeinated using the indirect method. Only decaffeinated coffee with the label "Swiss Water Process™" is completely processed without the use of solvents.

The coffees listed below are available as whole beans or pre-ground unless otherwise noted. Please state your preference on your order. If no preference is listed we will supply whole beans. Please note that coffee is not returnable for grinding.

Decaffeinated Coffees

All of the decaffeinated coffees we sell are made using the Swiss Water Process™. This patented process uses warm water to remove the caffeine in a natural way. This method takes more time --and yes it costs more-- but it is the only way to insure a truly good cup of decaffeinated coffee without the use of solvents on the beans.

Flavored Coffees

All of our flavored coffees are made from 100% Colombian whole bean coffee. The flavors are added just after roasting and just prior to packaging to insure superior taste and freshness.

Our flavors or syrups are of the same type and quality used by many gourmet coffee shops. They are made by Torani family of San Francisco who has been making syrups since 1925. The advantage of a syrup is that your family or guests can choose their own favorite a cup at a time.

Making the perfect cup?

There are as many way to make coffee as there are coffee types. The good news is that most of them are just fine but there are a couple of important considerations. Use fresh cool water to start. Out of the tap is just fine unless there is a chemical or metallic taste then use bottled. Use 2 to 3 tablespoons for each 6oz. of water and adjust to your taste. Never boil coffee but the water should reach 185 degrees. Check your coffee maker and if the water is not reaching 185 your coffee will be weak or bitter. Don't let coffee sit in the pot with the grounds still in. If you are serving coffee that will sit for a while store it in a thermos not in the pot.

Start with only fresh roasted beans and grind them just before you brew. It takes only a little more time and it improves the taste greatly. Don't be afraid to experiment and mix coffees to achieve the flavor you want. There is no right or wrong blend.

We use both a drip automatic coffee maker with a gold filter and a Krups Espresso machine. Both make a good cup of coffee but the espresso maker makes wonderful latte's which we drink with breakfast and after dinner.

Coffee Makers & Machines

Please note that these items are taxable so please include 6% New Jersey State Sales Tax with each purchase.

We are please to offer you the very best of coffee and espresso makers from Krups. We sampled many different types of espresso makers before we chose Krups. We noticed that at the specialty coffee bars their cappuccino, lattes and espressos tasted better than at home. We knew it wasn't the coffee so it had to be the machine.

Sure enough there are two general styles of espresso machines. One that uses just steam and one that uses pressure and steam. These so-called pump machines do make a superior cup of coffee but ouch! What a price. A good quality commercial machine can run between $8,000.00 and $15,000.00. This is just a little too much to pay for a good cup of espresso. So we shopped around and found a machine for less than $200.00 that makes an espresso almost as good as the pros with a little money left over for things like college tuition.

The reason "pump" machines are better is because they release more of the "crema" from the coffee and less of the harsh oils. This results in a smother, less bitter espresso, cappuccino or latte. We were so impressed with the difference between the pump and steam only machines, that we chose to stock only the pump machine.

Making a good cup of coffee, as we've said before, depends a lot on your ingredients and how you treat the brew after it's made. We've offered you some of the best coffee's in the world but it will all be for naught if you use poor quality water or let your coffee sit bubbling away after it's made. The folks at Krups have come up with a solution to both of these problems.

How you grind your coffee will effect the taste and character. When making espresso, cappuccino or a latte you use a fine grind. For regular coffee you use a courser grind. As a general rule the finer the grind the darker the coffee since more of the bean comes in contact with the water.

There are several styles of grinders available the best of which is a "burr" grinder. There are also electric steel blade grinders and hand grinders.

For best overall use at an affordable price we like the Krups pulse style grinder. While it uses steel blades its pulsing action allows for greater control of the grinding. Many of the less expensive non-pulse type grinders simply turn your coffee into powder. For those of you who have to have the very best we recommend the Krups Professional Espresso Burr Grinder. In our opinion there is no better grinder on the market and no better way to grind your coffee.

Teas

Tea like coffee has been around for quite some time. It is estimated that tea was first brewed in China around 3000 BC. It is also estimated that there are over 3,000 different varieties of tea. However, tea is generally broken down into 3 types; Black (fermented), Oolong (semi-fermented) and Green (un-fermented). 98% of the tea consumed in America and Europe is black tea.

Tea also varies from plant to plant so after processing, most tea is sold at auction by the chest. It then becomes the taster's task to mix the lots to provide a consistent quality and taste. An expert taster can recognize up to 1,600 different varieties of tea and may use 20 or more tea varieties in a particular blend. This means when choosing a purveyor of tea you want someone with experience and someone who has made not just good but outstanding tea blends for a number of years.

For over 100 years Bewley's of Dublin Ireland has set a standard for unsurpassed quality and taste in their tea. We are pleased to offer the following selections.

Twinings has been in the tea business since 1706. It goes without saying that the English take their tea very seriously. Twinings has packaged for the colonial market (that's us) tea bags 25 bags to the box, 18 bags for decaffeinated.

Hot, Hot, Hot

If you are like us you get pretty tired of the so called authentic TexMex style salsas that taste like lumpy ketchup with a little lighter fluid added for flavor. For years now our transplanted Texas friends have been importing their salsas and fixings from Jardine's direct from Texas. So with a howdy pard and a he** yes we are pleased to offer you a selection of what we think are Jardine's very best.

Salsa

The best thing from Texas, other than the people and the chili, is their TexMex salsas. Great salsa starts with fresh vegetables, spices and a sauce thick enough to stay on your chip and not on your chin. If you need two hands and three napkins you're not eating great salsa.

Just when you make a rule someone comes along and breaks it. Such is the case with the folks at Green mountain. The first thing I said, was, "what does a company from Vermont know about salsa" --well after tasting it apparently a lot. Their salsa is more "California" style with an almost fresh taste but plenty of heat in the "hot" style.

Other Hot Stuff

Ciao Bella Viva Italia

No catalog would be complete without what my husband, Bill and daughter, Cait consider their favorite food, pasta, or more particularly pasta sauce. You see my husband was raised on sauces made from scratch by his mom and his Grandma Del Papa. But who has the 6 or 7 hours you need to make a sauce correctly. Don't get me wrong it is truly worth it, but like many of you, I cheat. I started by doctoring up some of those supermarket brands and found I was spending a lot of time and money making an OK sauce. Then I discovered Pomodoro Fresca.

Let me be very clear, no tomato sauce is as good as making one from scratch, but the Pomodoro Fresca Products are close, very close.

These tomato sauces are made from fresh plum tomatoes, hand cut and hand-packed. The have no cholesterol, are low in sodium and contain just 1gr of fat per 4oz serving. They are also free of additives and preservatives. So manga and enjoy.

Mixes

Fowler's has been in the grist mill business since 1834. Their 1 and 2 pound sacks of flour and dry mixes (you add your own milk, eggs, butter and fruit) have no additives or preservatives. There is nothing better than starting the day with a cup of coffee and a stack of pan or griddle cakes.

Popcorn

Our popcorn is grown right here on our farm and is first quality gourmet style popcorn. Most folks don't know that the corn we sometimes call Indian corn is really popcorn. Since Indian corn is grown for decoration and color, not popping, the kernels tend to be small. Not so with our popcorn. The kernels are fluffy yellow/white when popped. Our popcorn is packed in 5oz bags or jars with no oils or preservatives.

Honey

Our honey is harvested locally. When you come to pick your own strawberries or pumpkins you'll see some hives. While many people are afraid of bees, and some have good cause, they are mostly gentle creatures who mind their own business and work industriously. We all could learn a lot from honey bees.

Our honey comes in two styles or flavors Dark and Light. They are equally sweet but the dark honey has a deeper more full bodied taste. We like the light honey in tea and the dark honey over pancakes or when we cook. The choice is yours and they both taste great!

Maple Syrup

Our maple syrup comes directly from Vermont and is 100% pure. None of those maple "flavored" syrups you find on the supermarket shelf.

The syrups come in 3 flavors or styles, Light, Medium and Dark. The darker the syrup the stronger the maple flavor. If you like a lighter tasting syrup you can add maple syrup to a "simple syrup" (directions in any good cook book) or mix it with light corn syrup. We sometimes mix 50% dark maple syrup and 50% light corn syrup when we have a bunch for a pan cake breakfast. You know it's hard to tell the difference and its much better than the supermarket brands.

The cover is a picture of our barn taken by my husband Bill after a sudden spring snow storm. The barn dates to the middle 1800s. Bill 's not quite that old.

Not responsible for typographical errors. Pricing subject to change without notice. Goughryn & Goughryn Farm, Inc.™ is the make and mark of Goughryn Farm, Inc. c1996 All rights reserved.

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