Skip to Content
 
Home

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.