LONG PROMO:   Hey,…we’re going to do the five culinary truths of the perfect Thanksgiving meal.  It begins with fresh herbs.  It next goes to shallots.  Shallots?  You’ve never heard of them?  I’ll tell you all about them.  Plus how to keep your mashed potatoes from turning to glue.  Plus, see these beautiful green beans for Thanksgiving?  When should you buy them?  I’ll tell you…next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  It’s the five undeniable culinary truths of a perfect Thanksgiving meal beginning with…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
FIVE CULINARY TRUTHS PART I - HERBS (Monday, November 19):  The five undeniable culinary truths of the perfect Thanksgiving meal – it begins with something some of you have tried and some of you have probably never tried.  You’re still using the dried herbs, you know.  May I suggest the first culinary truth is right here – fresh herbs.  And the fresh herbs you need to have are, of course, going to be rosemary, some beautiful thyme, and of course you have to have sage.  Now when you have fresh herbs, one of the keys to fresh herbs is going to be a very, very sharp knife.  That’s muy importante for fresh herbs.  That’s because the sharper the knife, the more you’re actually going to cut into the oil content of these fresh herbs.  If you don’t have a sharp knife, let me show you what’s going to happen.  You’re just going to make a hammer, and it’s just going to put all your oil content into your cutting board.  You want the oil content from the fresh herbs in the recipe.  So whether it’s the bird or the roast or the stuffing…fresh herbs.  And make sure you have a sharp knife to cut them with.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, if you want a great Thanksgiving meal, start with herbs.

FIVE CULINARY TRUTHS PART II - SHALLOTS (Tuesday, November 20):  You know, all this week we’re getting you ready for Thanksgiving – the five undeniable culinary truths of a perfect Thanksgiving meal.  There is culinary truth number two.  Right there – shallots.  You have probably watched that, you know, you go in the onion section and you look in the onion section and you see the white onions and the yellow onions.  You see garlic over there, and then you see this thing and say, “What in the world is that?”  These are shallots.  Now folks, you walk into a great restaurant or hotel or resort and you come out with a great meal, you know the reason why it’s a great meal and you go “Wow!  That was a great meal!”  That’s because all the great chefs know to use fresh shallots.  Now anywhere that you’re going to have a recipe that calls for onions, like of course your stuffing, right?  Instead of the onions going in there, you put the shallots.   Now how do you store your shallots?  You store them the exact same way that you store your onions - a nice cool, dry place.  Why are shallots so good?  They’re the best cooking onion around.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

FIVE CULINARY TRUTHS PART III – GREEN BEANS (Wednesday, November 21):  Oh, my goodness!  It’s Wednesday – the day before Thanksgiving and you’re prepping and you’re probably getting out your green beans that you bought over the weekend.  You say, “Oh!  What’s up with those green beans?”  Now these green beans I just bought today and look how beautiful they look.  Now you pull out your green beans that you bought on Saturday or maybe Sunday, and they looked beautiful on Saturday or Sunday but they don’t look so good today!  What’s up with that?  It’s because green beans, these green beans right here, they breathe faster than any other fruit or vegetable on the face of planet Earth.  So since they breathe fast, that means they will go bad faster.  So if you buy your green beans over the weekend, take them out.  Check them out right now because most likely you’ll need to go to the store today to freshen up your green beans – buy some more.  I always tell my wife, “Don’t buy the green beans until the day before you’re going to use them.”  All right?  So promise me, go to the store now.  Get your green beans.  That way you’ll have a better Thanksgiving meal tomorrow.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, you better go to the store today to get these green beans.  I’ll tell you why coming up.

FIVE CULINARY TRUTHS PART IV – MASHED POTATOES (Thursday, November 22):  All right, today, Thanksgiving Day.   You’re getting set for a beautiful meal with your family and friends I hope.  All of us are going to have, of course, mashed potatoes.  The first rule of mashed potatoes is when you first are boiling the potatoes, the rule is, keep the skin on.  That’s right – the skin on.  In fact, I boil my potatoes whole.  I just get a huge pot, and I fill it up with water, and I put the potatoes whole in there.  Now, why do I keep the skin on?  Because I don’t want the water to go into my potatoes.  You end up with watery mashed potatoes, and I don’t like that.  The other rule of mashed potatoes – if you do not want gluey mashed potatoes…see in there?  See all that white?  That’s actually starch.  Right?  Starch is white.  And this is loaded, Russet potatoes are loaded with starch.  Now the more you whip…the more you whip your mashed potatoes, the more those starch cells are sticking together and you end up with glue.  So please leave some lumps in your mashed potatoes.  I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day today!  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, the fourth culinary truth of a perfect Thanksgiving meal – it deals with your Russet potatoes.
  
   
FIVE CULINARY TRUTHS PART V - SALADS (Friday, November 23):  You know, all this week we’ve been having fun getting you ready for your Thanksgiving meal, which you had yesterday.  And we’re all stuffed.  I’m stuffed.  What a great day that was.  We have the five undeniable truths of a perfect holiday meal.  Number one was, of course, use some fresh herbs.   Number two was use shallots.   Number three – buy your green beans the day before you are going to use them.  Number four was don’t over whip your Russet potatoes.  You’ll end up with glue, not mashed potatoes.  Number five, I’m sorry!  I should have told you this yesterday!  You were probably running around frantic.  You know, you’ve got all the stuff cooking on the stove and in the oven and you needed to make a salad and there you go to chop up your salad.  No, the fifth undeniable truth is go ahead and use fresh cut salads.  Okay?  They’ve already washed them three times.  They’ve already cut them for you.  Save yourself a ton of time.  So, the next holiday coming up, now that Thanksgiving is over, you need a little bit more time, go ahead and use the fresh cut salads in the bag.  Just throw away the bag before your guests arrive.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

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