HAWLEY — If you arrived by the Settlers Inn by the road you would be likely to take, from the place you would be likely to come from, you just might miss it, despite the lavish gardens and English-style architecture.  During the summer months, you might hear the jazz music emanating from it and think that the Lackawaxen river were playing a song.  These are not the only outstanding things about the Settlers Inn.  Nor is the food, though exquisite, the most outstanding.  What sets this restaurant (and its chefs) apart from any other is its attitude toward the land it sits on.

Owner and executive chef Grant Genzlinger, and his restaurant, were voted the Pocono Mountain Vacation Bureau’s Green Business of the Year for 2008.  Grant and his cooking partner, chef Ben Sutter, are wholly dedicated to cuisine prepared from locally grown products.

This includes locally-caught trout and farm-fresh mozzarella from Tonjes farm in Callicoon, NY, as well as dinner conserves from Tait Farms in Centre Hall, Pa.  “We’re involved in sustainable presentations in our restaurant,” says Genzlinger.

Ben says that the best part of his job is “discovering new locally foods that really shine.” He speaks wistfully about the Ricotta Cheese from Tonjes Farms and says, “When you find something like that and pair it up with...marscapone and duck...you taste some of these combinations for the first time and it’s just like, ‘man, that is unbelievable.’”

As he speaks, a woman who was dining out on the deck overlooking the gardens, says to Ben, “Are you the chef?  Great job on everything!  It was excellent.”  She had the lunch-time grilled lamb sliders on rosemary angel biscuits, a sort of finger-size hamburger of lamb, served with mint barbecue sauce and polenta fries.  He tells of his past travels cooking up and down the expanses of California, and their overwhelming popularity there. 

As for purchasing choices, Ben and Grant say they’ve developed a good relationship with the local producers and often start by finding out what they have, then centering the recipe around them.  Sometimes, however, they work the other way and start with a recipe and turn to the producers looking for quality and fresh items, as in the case of their Beef Tenderloin and Asian Green Salad. 

Historically, organically grown food means a higher priced meal, but, according to Genzlinger, “With the problems with corn and gas making food prices more expensive, farm-to-table food is not only looking like a value, but also looking like a healthy alternative.” 

The Inn is open seven days a week for three meals a day, and the average lunch entree is about $10, while dinner can be pricier at an average of about $24 a dish.  But that money is well spent, and goes right back into supporting local farmers and boosting our local economy.  The Inn will also have “All that Jazz” every Wednesday night this summer, featuring performances by various jazz musicians and serving specials paired with specially selected wines.  For more information on The Settlers Inn call 800-833-8527.  To find out more about locally grown goods, contact the Delaware Highlands Conservancy at 570-226-3164 or visit them on the web at www.DelawareHighlands.org.

Settlers Inn Feature Recipe:

Cornmeal and Hazelnut Crusted Trout

1 1/2 cups    Finely chopped toasted hazelnuts (or filberts)
3 cups     Cornmeal
1 tsp.    Dry dill
1 tsp.     Dry thyme
        Salt and white pepper to taste
2 eggs
2 Tbs     Water
12 boned and filleted fresh trout, skin on
2 Tbs.     Butter

Do standard breading procedure by beating the two eggs with the two Tbs. of water in one flat dish large enough to hold a trout.  Have another dish of the same size with seasoned flour.

1. Salt the trout lightly on the inside.  Dip the skin of the trout in the seasoned flour, then in egg, and then in the hazelnut cormeal mixture.  Set aside on a baking tray and keep chilled.

2.  Heat two Tbs. of butter in a saute pan that will hold the fish comfortably until quite hot but not smoking.  Place the coated fish skin-side down and cook until the flesh of the fish begins to turn opaque.

3.  Complete the cooking by moving the trout to a 350-degree oven or under a broiler until cook through.