LONG PROMO:   Oh, I love these things.  You know what these things are?  Oh, I’ll tell you all about these things next week. Plus, this is one of the worst times of the year for bell peppers.  We’ve got Bartlett pears now coming in the supermarket.  What produce item is associated with Thomas Jefferson?  That’s all next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  Hey, what in the world are these?  I’ll tell you…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
FENNEL (Monday, April 7):  You know, you’re walking down the produce aisle and I’ll tell you a lot of times you need to sniff things to see whether they’re going to be good or not.  Man, there’s some good smells over here.  One of the items you’ll come up to is right here, and you go down to smell it.  “Whoa, what does that smell like?”  Brings back your childhood.  Licorice.  That’s right.  This smells just like black licorice.  It has that great spicy type flavor to it.  Now the bulb is what you’re going to want.  This is called fennel or sweet annis, finnochio they call it in Italy, and what you’re going to look for is the white of the bulb.  See, this has a lot more green to it.  See all that green?  It’s a little more immature.  I’m going to choose this one here.  Look at all that white.  That’s what you’re going to want.  Now, as soon as you get this thing home, what you’re going to do, you’re going to cut off those tops because those tops are going to draw moisture from the bulbs and cause it to dehydrate the fennel bulb.  So get those off and now you’ve got some beautiful fennel.  You can roast it or slice it raw in a salad.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, Finnochio!  At least that’s what they call it in Italy. 

BARTLETT PEARS (Tuesday, April 8): Hey, happy birthday – David Letterman has a birthday this week.  You know, I used to send him fruit the first day of every season - spring, summer, fall, winter.  He absolutely loves summer Bartlett pears.  Summer?  Mike, it’s not summer yet.  Well, it happens to be summertime in the Southern Hemisphere, in places like Argentina and Chile…we’re getting some beautiful Bartlett pears.  Now, one of the things that David Letterman loves and all his producers will do it for him is cut it up for him.  He will not eat fruit unless it is cut up. So here is a trick folks because I know my kids are the same way.  They will eat a lot more fruit if you simply cut it up, and cutting up a Bartlett pear is really simple.  See how I just quartered it?  Now I’m going to take my knife right in here, slice and it just cores it.  Now you’ve got a perfect piece of fruit.  Oh, man!  These Bartlett pears…one of the things about these Bartlett pears from the Southern Hemisphere, they’ve been on a boat for a while.  That means when they get here, they’re ready to ripen up, and they ripen quickly.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report…summer Bartlett pears – yes, they’re here!  Where are they coming from?  (Takes bite)  Mmm. 

CORN (Wednesday, April 9):  I wish I was on a plane heading to Branson, Missouri, right now.  All through the weekend – huge Branson Fest.  It’s like the hugest festival in all of Missouri.  And one of the things they always serve at the Branson Fest, of course a lot of barbequed chicken and beautiful sweet corn.  Absolutely gorgeous sweet corn!  Where in the world is this coming from right now?  This is actually some beautiful corn from South Florida – Dade county.  That is corn central right now.  Pretty soon we’re going to start getting more Northern growing regions coming into production.  Now, a couple things I want you to look for on these ears of corn, especially this time of year.  What I want you look for, take a look at those kernels.  Take a look and make sure there are no dimples in the kernels.  That’s right.  When corn is in storage, the longer it’s in storage, sugars turn to starch, and starch takes up far less room in this kernel, which means it kind of sinks in a little bit, which give it that dimple look.  Starchy corn.  It sticks to your teeth.  You don’t want that. I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE:  Hey, are there any dimples in your corn?  In my next Produce Man report, I’ll tell you about it.

BELL PEPPERS (Thursday, April 10):  Oh, man!  It is such a bummer.  Sometimes, you know, this time of year can be really good because we start getting some good stuff in.  But also there is a time of year, this time of year, when you really need to watch the bell peppers.  Bell peppers – they’re coming from older fields, whether Florida or Mexico, so the plants are kind of like tired and not putting out as good a bell pepper.  So, one of the things you’re going to want to look for is…just hold that bell pepper in your hand.  It needs to feel very heavy.  What we tend to get this time of year are bell peppers that have a much thinner wall.  What does that mean to you and me?  Big deal, so it has a thin wall.  Well, what that also means is that it dehydrates very, very quickly.  So the quicker a bell pepper dehydrates, the faster it goes bad.  So you buy a bell pepper like today, and by the weekend you go to chop it up.  You say, “Oh, man, it’s all mushy!”  So here’s what I want you to do.  I want you to take those bell peppers.  I want you to put them in a plastic bag and put a wet cloth inside there.  That wil help keep these from dehydrating as bad.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, do your bell peppers have thin walls?
  
TOMATOES (Friday, April 11):  You know, Thomas Jefferson was born this week in 1743, and right in here is a produce item that he would literally walk around the downtown streets of Washington City, or New York, or Philadelphia, and he would eat these…out in public no less!  You know, people would look at Thomas Jefferson…this is the guy writing our Declaration of Independence and he’s eating those things!  You know, they thought back in the 1770’s, that eating these right in this little basket was really foolhardy.  It would actually make you sick.  Well, that’s why Thomas Jefferson would take…tomatoes.  That’s right.  Tomatoes.  People thought they would make you sick and even make you die.  That’s because they’re part of the Nightshade family which is also like tobacco.  So here’s what Thomas Jefferson would do.  He’d take tomatoes from his garden there at Monticello, and he would have them with him all the time.  (Takes bite)  Mmm.  See these are good.  Thanks Thomas.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Take bite) Mmm.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, why would Thomas Jefferson take a bit out of a tomato, in public no less!  (Takes bite)