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Produce News For February 8, 2010

FLORIDA GRAPEFRUIT (Monday, February

Produce News for February 1, 2010

BRUSSELS SPROUTS (Monday, February 1):  Hey, David Letterman is celebrating…I don’t know.  What is it? 1982 he started this week on television - The Late Night Show with David Letterman.  So in honor of David Letterman, I thought I’d do the top 10 list on why you should eat Brussels sprouts – actually I forgot the first nine, but the number one reason why you should eat Brussels sprouts is you can bet all of your friends $100 that you can eat six heads of cabbages in less than 60 seconds and win.  That’s right.  Little tiny heads of cabbage called Brussels sprouts, and this is actually how they’re grown.   Take a look at this.  This is a stalk of Brussels sprouts.  In fact, you’ve probably seen these in the stores a lot more often, and these are very cool.  I love to buy these and take these home.   Oh, and this one here – I noticed some little purpling on the stalks on the…you know what that means? That means these grew in cooler conditions.  The cooler the conditions of Brussels sprouts, the sweeter the Brussels sprouts.  Oh, my goodness!  This is peak of the season for Brussels sprouts.  If you haven’t tried them in a while, there are some milder varieties that you’ll love.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   
 
KIWI (Tuesday, February 2):  It is Groundhog Day, so we are going to talk about that tiny, cute, little brown fuzzy thing.  No, not Punxsutawney Phil.  We’re going to talk about the Punxsutawney Phil of produce.  Right here.  Beautiful kiwi fruit.  That’s right, and this is peak of the season California kiwi fruit.  In fact, let me cut one of these in half.  Oh, my goodness!  Stay here.  Stay here.  Take a look at that.  Absolutely gorgeous  emerald green, that universe of seeds going around the core.  Oh, my goodness!  Absolutely gorgeous!  And these kiwi fruit, whether they’re from Italy this time of year or California this time of year, they are ripening up perfectly right now.  By the way, in order to ripen them, please do not in a million years set them out on the counter in the open air just like this.  You need to keep them enclosed.  There are no natural oils on the skin, on the fuzzy skin, so they’ll just dehydrate before they ever ripen.  But once they ripen, oh, ho my goodness.  The sweetest fruit around, and of course, the healthiest.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.
 
LIMES (Wednesday, February 3): Tha’ts right.  We have to get you ready for Superbowl, Superbowl 44 coming up this weekend in Miami, and of course that means maybe some drinks, maybe some guacomele, and for that guacamole need some verdes limones or limes as we call them.  Now how do you pick out the juiciest lime?  There’s a couple things I look for.  I look for a very smooth and shiny skin.  If I find one that’s very bumpy, you know, has a lot of bumps on it, probably not going to have as much juice as one that just has a very slick, shiny skin.  Next, when you want to get all the juice out of there…this is made up of hundreds of little tiny water balloons…simply roll it on a hard surface back and forth until it becomes very mushy, and that way it’s much easier.  You could also do this.  You could cut it in half and then cut it in strips like this or in wedges like this.  That way it’s much easier to squeeze out the juice this way.  You don’t have a whole half of a lime to squeeze out.  You’ve just got a little wedge to squeeae out.  Anyway, get some limes.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.
 
NECTARINES (Thursday, February 4):    I know it is indeed the middle of winter, but you know, you walk down the produce aisle in the grocery store and you will find some summer fruit there - peaches, plums, and nectarines.  So I thought I’d bring in some, I believe I have some nectarines here - my wife’s favorite fruit.  Oh, yeah.  Take a look at those absolutely gorgeous nectarines.  A couple things I’m looking for.  The red blush just tells me it’s a sign of a midsummer variety growing in Chile right now. The next thing I’m looking for, I’m looking at the background color, and actually I’m finding excellent background color.  It’s behind the red blush and you can find it right around the stem.  See that yellow behind that red color?  That is background color, and the more yellow you see, the sweeter this nectarine is going to be.  It’s going to ripen up very, very nice.  Now these are not ripe.  You’re going to please be patient with them.  Put them in a brown paper bag or enclose them in a fruit ripening bowl, but these will ripen up.  They’ll be so juicy you’ll have to roll up your sleeves to eat them.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.
 
AVOCADOS (Friday, February 5):  Super bowl 44 coming up this weekend.  Miami, Florida, is the place to be, and I hope you’re going to have a bowl of your own!  A Super bowl of guacamole.  Shall I come over to your house and help make it?  Hey, that would be fun.  But the best guacamole obviously begins with the best avocado on the face of the planet, and here they are.  The beautiful Hass avocado!  It’s the one with the bumps all over them, and it’s actually the one that tells you when they’re ripe because they go from green and they turn black as they ripen.  Now here’s what I want you to do.  Let’s see, today’s Friday, and the game is like in two days, so you need to make sure you have ripe enough avocadoes for the Super bowl guacamole.  So make sure you go to the store today.  Buy some avocados, and if they’re not ripe enough right now, what I want you to do - put them in a cardboard box, in a small cardboard box.  Put them in the warmest part of your house.  In our house we put them on the…near the fireplace – warms them up nicely.  By Sunday they’ll be soft and just right for your guacamole.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. 

Produce News for January 25, 2010

BRUSSELS SPROUTS (Monday, January 25):  Hey, have you seen the new Sherlock Holmes movie?  Well, it got me interested in becoming the Sherlock Holmes of produce, taking the mystery out of produce.  So I thought I’d take some questions from viewers, and one of the questions I had was, “How do you keep from stinking up the house when you’re cooking the Brussels sprouts.  Does depravity have no bounds?  Nothing worse than getting your kids or your grandkids to hate Brussels sprouts because you have overcooked them.  It has nothing to do really with the Brussels sprouts.  See, Brussels sprouts are very mild and sweet, but when you overcook them more than seven minutes, for every 60 seconds beyond seven minutes when you cook Brussels sprouts, it doubles the amount of those odiferous odors that come out of there – kind of makes it smell like rotten eggs.  So please, never in a million years overcook your Brussels sprouts, and you won’t stink up the house anymore.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

 
ONIONS (Tuesday, January 26):  [crying]  Why are you crying, my dear?   Oh, you’re slicing the onion.  Oh, well, when you eliminate the impossible, then what is left is the truth.  Why do you cry when you cut an onion?  Because when there’s friction from the knife, it causes all the sulphuric compounds, I can see them now - they float up very quickly.  It is actually elementary, my dear Watson.  Well, actually, it’s fifth grade science because the faster molecules move, actually that’s the faster they get up to your eyes and they make you cry.  That’s right.  So here’s what you need to do.  You need to take that onion like this onion here and put it right in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to 20 minutes before you slice the onions.  That way you have slowed down the molecular structure, the molecular movement of those sulphuric compounds, and it takes longer for it to get up to your eyes.  Plus, less crying.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

 
TOMATOES (Wednesday, January 27): It is the curious incident of the tomato in the refrigerator.  The question comes in, “Why does my tomato get soft and mushy every time I pull it out of the refrigerator?”  Well, ma’am, it has it do with the refrigerator.  Tomatoes are a subtropical fruit.  Let me probe this tomato.  This came out of the refrigerator.   Let me probe it and see what the temperature is. Oh, oh….look at that.  It’s going down to 40 degrees.  That’s right.  That is too cold for a subtropical fruit.  So please, never in a million years put your subtropical fruit in the refrigerator.   Please give it warmth like it should have.  This is just like a banana – a subtropical fruit.  So what happens?  You put it in the refrigerator – it’s clled chill damage.  It literally breaks down the molecular structure on the inside of the tomato and causes it to get very mushy inside.  Please, don’t refrigerate your tomatoes.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

 

 
LETTUCE (Thursday, January 28):    I am the Sherlock Holmes of produce.  I take the mystery out of produce, and so we are doing questions all this week.  And one of the questions came in – “You know, when I put dressing onto my salad and I put it on the table for my family or friends or guests, why does it get real limp very quickly?”  Well, here is the answer.  If you were to take a piece of lettuce and you were to cut across the subsection there, and if you had a microscope, you could actually see that the lettuce leaf is made up…it looks exactly like a sponge.  That’s right.  And what happens to a sponge when you get it wet?  That’s right.  It gets very saturated and very limp.  And so when you put dressing on your lettuce, here’s what happens.  Sometimes there’s a little hole in that lettuce. So you put the dressing on.  Guess what.  The dressing finds that little hole, goes right inside that leaf and causes it to limp. So how do you prevent it?  Never put your dressing on until you serve your salad.  I’m Michael Marks.  Another fresh tip on produce.

 

  
POTATOES (Friday, January 29):  All this week we’ve been having fun.  I brought my Sherlock Holmes hat, my magnifying glass, and I’ve been the Sherlock Holmes of produce, taking the mystery out of produce all week in honor of the movie that just came out a month ago.  So the bane of our profession is to come to a conclusion before you have first ascertained the facts.  Why does a potato turn green?  Aha! There it is – a little green on that potato there.  Actually, you know, when I first started working in the produce industry, most grocery stores were like they opened at eight.  They ended at eight.  So like for 12 hours the potatoes were covered with black plastic.  Well, today a lot of stores are open 24 hours or they open at six in the morning and they close at like midnight.  So a lot more light goes on to the potatoes.  That’s right.  So light has chlorophyll, right?  Photosynthesis.  So on the potatoes it starts turning a little green.  Aha!  That’s what causes the potatoes to turn green.  Keep them in the dark, folks.  I’m Michael Marks.  Another fresh tip on produce.

Produce News for January 18th, 2010

CARA CARA ORANGE (Monday, January 18):  Okay, you all know the navel orange, right?  It is like the most popular eating orange in the world today.  Well, I have what’s called a pink navel orange, or get this.  It is so good they had to name it twice - the Cara Cara orange.  Let me cut this baby in half.  Oh, take…looks like a navel orange on the outside.  Right?  Take a look at that.  Oh, my goodness!  Look at that beautiful pink color!  Now, why in the world do they call it Cara Cara?  It’s so good they had to say the word twice.  No, actually that’s not how it is.  They actually found this orange in South America, in Venezuela, and the orchard that they found it in, the name of the orchard was named after the family.  The family’s name was Cara Cara so they named it a Cara Cara orange.  Now what does this taste like?  Oh, my goodness!  This has…you could…you know, you like wine and you say there’s an aftertaste.  Well, in here there’s like an aftertaste of strawberries and melon.  You want an orange that’s so good?  It’s right here.  Cara Cara.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

 

RUSSET POTATOES (Tuesday, January 19):  Hey, Dolly Parton’s turning 64 today so I thought I’d bring in her all-time favorite food – baked Russet potatoes.  Oh, yea.  Now there’s a couple things about Russet potatoes.  It’s a great crop this year.  Oh, my goodness.  You are finding some of the best prices on Russet potatoes than you’ve seen in the past couple of years.  Fantastic.  Also, when you’re baking a Russet potato, here’s what I want you to do.  I know some people, after they’ve baked it they’ll take their knife and they’ll slice it right down there and then they’ll open it.  No, please.  Never in a million years take your knife and slice it down.  Let me show you what you need to do.  You take your fork and you poke it just like you poked it when you cooked it.  You’re also going to poke it like this and then you take the ends.  Just push in on them, and then you open it up.  And that potato is going to be so fluffy.  If you used your knife, it literally cuts the starch cell structure and actually glues them together – doesn’t make it very fluffy that way.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

 

BABY BANANAS (Wednesday, January 20): Hey, the Sundance Film Festival up in Idaho begins tomorrow and you know, they have a lot of baby films that they critique there so I thought I’d bring in some baby…baby bananas.  Yeah, beautiful baby bananas.  You know, over the past decade you have seen more and more stores starting to carry this beautiful little banana.  It’s actually a totally different variety than its grown up cousin.  This is called a Cavendish variety.  This is what we normally see in the stores.  It’s a totally different variety so it’s not just that they just picked them early.  Now let me show you how they actually will eat these in Central America.  The kids will actually take them and roll them in their hand until it gets mushy inside.  Now I know kids today they love like GoGurt, you know, that yogurt in a tube.  And once they get it all mushy inside, they just cut off the top, and then they can just squeeze it up just like so and then they eat it just like that.  Oh, my goodness!  If you’ve never tried a baby banana, this is a fun way to get your kids to eat it too.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

 

BUTTER LEAF LETTUCE (Thursday, January 21):    Hey, George Burns would have had a birthday today so I thought I’d talk about one of his favorite lettuces, and it’s actually a lettuce…you know, last week I talked about leaf lettuces from Michelle Obama.  And there’s, you know, a lot of older Americans cannot eat lettuce because, you know, they can’t digest it very well.  May I suggest what George Burns learned years ago.  He loved butter leaf lettuce.  This right here.  If you have a problem digesting lettuce, may I sugget you try butter leaf lettuce.  This is it right here.  Well, let me cut it in half and show you actually why they call it butter leaf lettuce.   Let me cut this in half.  Look at the inside.  Look at that.  It looks just like butter in there! Oh, my goodnes!  And butter leaf lettuce is the easiest lettuce on your digestive system.  So if you love lettuces, you love salads, but you just haven’t been able to eat them, hey, you can go back to the lettuce section.  Get some butter leaf lettuce.  You’ll enjoy it all over again in your salads, on your sandwiches, anywhere you like lettuce.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

  

COCONUTS (Friday, January 22):  Hey, World War II this very date 1943 the Allies took New Guinea, and coconuts were one of the most important items in the South Pacific, and let me tell you why.  See all that juice?  That is why.  That juice…that’s not the coconut milk.  Coconut milk actually comes from the white part and you shred it up and you squeeze it.  That’s your coconut milk.  The water is coconut water, and actually in the South Pacific if you were an injured soldier in World War II, they actually used the coconut water as IVs for injured soldiers because the coconut water actually has the same electrolyte makeup as our bodies do.  So this date 1943 when the Allies were taking New Guinea there were a lot of coconuts being used for IVs that day.  May I suggest you get back to coconuts?  Use them in your baking.  Don’t go down the baking aisle.   Come on.  Go to the produce aisle.  Get real coconuts.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. 

Produce News for January 11, 2010

ROOT VEGETABLES (Monday, January 11):  Turn on the oven.  I want it like at 425.  That’s where I want it.  Then get out some olive oil.  Get out a little salt and a little pepper.  Then I want you to go to the store.  I want you to get these.  We’re going to get back to our roots – root veggies.  And here are the main three.  That’s right.  You have turnips, rutabagas, and parsnips.  Now these are three vegetables that have long since been forgotten by most people in the kitchen these days, and it’s too bad because, oh man, the flavors are so good!  So here’s what I want you to do.  I want you to take these, peel them and then dice them up into probably a half inch cube.  Right?  Put them on a baking sheet. Here goes your olive oil all over it.  A little salt.  A little pepper.  Roast them in the oven.  Oh, my goodness.  They are going to come out of the oven, and they are going to taste so good, and you are going to wonder, “Why have I forgotten my roots veggies.  I need to buy more of them.”  Yeah, you do.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   
 
WINTER PEARS (Tuesday, January 12):  The very first fruit sold on the San Francisco markets, this is way back in the 1800’s, came from Mission Santa Clara in California and what they sold, right here - beautiful winter pears.  And this is indeed the time of year for these gorgeous winter pears.  Now there are four main varieties that you see here.  Of course the most popular is this one right here.  It’s called a D’Anjou or just an Anjou, however you want to pronounce it.   The most elegant?  Right here.  It’s called a Bosc.  This is indeed the best of all the baking pears.  Then, of course, you have the red pear – fantastic.  And this little stubby, chubby, fat little thing?  Oh, my goodness!  It’s called a Comice pear.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Cadillac of pears.  So if you want to warm up to winter, here’s what I suggest you do.  Grab a winter pear.  Grab some cheese.  Maybe some Gruyere cheese.  Oh, my goodness.  A little knife.  Slice the cheese.  Slice the pear.  Ah, a book next to a fire.  Nothing better.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.
 
WATER CORE/APPLES (Wednesday, January 13): Okay.  Let’s check this out.  I’ve got my knife.  Got my apple.  Nothing in there.  Let me try the next one.  Got my apple.  Got my knife.  Oh, nothing.  Oh, almost a little bit in there.  Let me try one more.  Cut this in half.  Oh, no I don’t see much.  Actually what I’m looking for, it’s what we call water core, and sometimes when you cut an apple, especially like a fuji apple or maybe a gala apple, you will find it brown right around the core.   It’s kind of like translucent.  That is called water core.  Now I know there are some people…they take those apples.  They put them in a bag.  They take them right back to the grocery store and say, “Oh, man.  These are bad apples.”  No, never in a million years take back an apple that has water core in it.  Let me tell you a secret.  The water core actually means that that apple is sweeter.  Hey, you don’t eat the core anyway.  Right?  You cut it out.  But the apple is so much sweeter.   So if you find water core, enjoy that apple.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

 

LETTUCES (Thursday, January 14):    Hey, you’ve seen their garden.  Yeah, Michelle Obama’s garden, the first lady.  She has a birthday today, by the way.  She turns…can we tell what age she is?  Nah, I’d better not.  That wouldn’t be nice.  Anyway, she has a birthday today.  And I know she’s going to be having some lettuces, some salads.  And we’ve seen it on Biggest Loser.  We’ve seen it on the Food Network.  They love their lettuces, and these are some of the lettuces that they are growing in the White House garden.  These aren’t your normal lettuces.  This is called actually a red oak leaf, and there is some green leaf in here, a little curly lettuce in there, and another red type lettuce.  But these are fantastic.  Now, you might not be able to find these, but you can find regular leaf lettuce like green leaf, butter leaf, red leaf, of course Romaine, and make your own leaf lettuce salad.  It is so simple, so easy.  Your kids could do.  One of the things I want you to do, I want you to tear the lettuce.  Don’t take your knife to it.  Tear the lettuce.  It looks so much better in a bowl and on your plate.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

  

BOK CHOY (Friday, January 15):  I want my baby bok, baby bok, baby bok choy.  I want my baby bok, baby bok, baby bok choy.  Hey, I’m so glad they brought back that song.  Oh, they weren’t singing about bok choy?  Oh well.  Well, let’s still talk about bok choy.  Beautiful baby bok choy!  This is not true baby bok choy.  This is actually called Shanghai bok choy, and I wanted to bring it in today because, of course, they have the 67th Golden Globe Awards going on this weekend.  And Chef Suki there at 90210 at the Beverly Hilton there, he absolutely loves baby bok choy.  Here’s what I want you to do with them. Cut them in half just like so.  Right?  And you grill these with a little bit of olive oil, a little bit of salt, and a little pepper.  As soon as they come off the grill or whatever you have them on, I want you to sprinkle just a little bit of dried chili flakes right on top.  Oh, ho!  And put a big porterhouse steak right next to it.  Ah!  Chef Suki from the Beverly Hilton knows how good that is.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. 
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