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Produce News for December 21st, 2009

 

FRESH HERBS (Monday, December 21):  Hey, this very date 1620, you know what happened?  Remember the date, 1620?  The Pilgrims landed.  Right?  Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Now, guess what the very first thing the Pilgrims did when they landed.  Now I know it was the middle of winter, right?  The first thing they did, they planted their fresh herb garden. That’s right.  That…because they knew if you want flavor in your foods you use fresh herbs, and if you want great flavor in your Christmas meal, may I suggest don’t use those dry herbs.  Go to these fresh, and the four you’re going to want to buy parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  Whoa, that sounds like a Simon and Garfunkel.  Yeah, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  Those are the four you’re going to want to get and use them in your stuffing.  Use them in your side dishes.  Oh, my goodness!   Even in the stores you find these cool little poultry bouquets.  It has just what you need for your turkey or whatever bird you’re going to be cooking.  So anyway, use fresh herbs.  You will be glad you did because everyone around the table will say, “Wow! That was a great meal!”  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

 

 
BROCCOLINI (Tuesday, December 22):  All right.  You don’t quite have your Christmas menu down pat, right? You’re still looking for a side vegetable.  You’re thinking green beans, right?  Now that’s what everybody does for Christmas and Thanksgiving.  So may I suggest a brand new vegetable for Christmas this week?  Aha, here it is right here.  Take a look at this.  Take a look.  Do you know what it is?  Broccolini.  That’s right.  These long stems, and at the top it looks just like broccoli at the top.  So why do I suggest this?  Well, you know you can steam this.  You can bake them.  Anything that you do with green beans, anything that you do with broccoli, anything that you do with asparagus.  It’s like multitasking.  It’s like three vegetables all in one, right?  So anything you do with those, you can do with broccolini.  You know, right next to a turkey, right next to a prime rib.  Can you imagine putting just a couple  of these right along side your prime rib, right along side your turkey breast?  Oh, my goodness!  It will look elegant on your plate, and your guests will love it.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

 

 
 
BERRIES (Wednesday, December 23): All right.  You have family coming over.  You have friends coming…you have your in-laws coming over for Christmas meal.  Right?  Well, may I suggest you go to the produce department.  I want you get three things.  I want you to get some blueberries.  I want you to get some blackberries and some raspberries.  Now, the reason I…I know they’re expensive right now, but you don’t need a lot.  You only need like one of each.  And when you are presenting a fruit platter or you’re making a fruit tray…you can just sprinkle a few of these beautiful blueberries or these…look at…man, these raspberres.  Take look at these, these holiday raspberries.  Look at the size of those.  Those are huge.  And the blackberries.  Holy Toledo!  If I can open this thing…Look at these blackberries.  They’re so shiny.  They’re so huge.  These drooplets are large.  And so here’s why I want you to get these.  Because they show a little bit of elegance.  They’re a little extravagant, and don’t you want your guests to feel like you’re extravagating on them.  That’s not even a word, is it?  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes bite)

 

 
 
GREEN BEANS (Thursday, December 24):    It’s the last day to prep for your meal tomorrow, and here’s the last thing I want you to buy.  That’s right.  If you bought them last weekend, you probably want to take a look at your green beans.  That’s right.  If you bought them last weekend, I want you to go in your refrigerator right now and take a look at your green beans.  And if they don’t look so hot, here’s what I suggest you do.  Go to the store today before they close and get your green beans.  Green beans should be one of the last vegetables you should buy for your Christmas meal and the reason is this.  Green beans have a very thin skin.  They breathe very fast so even though they’re in your refrigerator, they’re running a marathon in your refrigerator.  And if you bought them like five days ago…holy cow!  They’ve been running a marathon for five days and they look a little bit tired right now.  So if you want the best velvety green beans, may I suggest you take a look at what you have in your refrigerator now and go to the store before they close today and get your fresh green beans for tomorrow.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.
 

 

  
FOOD BORNE ILLNESS (Friday, December 25):  All right.  Who is going to gather around the Christmas table today?  The Christmas meal.  You have some family coming over.  You have some friends.  Well, there is one guest that you do not want to have.  His name is food borne illness. No, you don’t want FBI. So here’s what you need to do. Today is a very important day.  You have a lot of family and friends coming over.  You need to make sure of food safety.  So you need to make sure that your knives and your cutting boards are all clean before you start chopping things up and cutting things up.  And make sure you wash your hands before you start preparing everything as well.  Make sure you rinse off your fruits and vegetables before you cut them up.  And make sure, please, make sure that if your kids come into the kitchen to help you, make sure they wash their hands before they help you as well.  Keep cold things cold.  Keep hot things hot.  And make sure everybody’s hands are super, super clean today.  Hey, I hope you have a great meal.  I hope it’s a great Christmas, and I hope it’s going to be very rich and memorable for you and your family.  I’m Michael Marks…Merry Christmas!