Produce News for March 29, 2010

HORSERADISH (Monday, March 29): Hey, tonight - sundown – Passover begins, and there are a lot of produce items important for the Passover meal. One of the bitter herbs that’s used in a lot Passover meals, of course, horseradish. It is a reminder of their bitter life as slaves in Egypt under the Pharaohs. Horseradish is one of the uglier vegetables in the produce department or at the farmer’s market. Kind of looks like some bone dug up by an archeologist. Fresh Horseradish is foreign to many people. I know many of you, you go down aisle 5 or 6 or 7, whatever aisle it happens to be, and you get that jar or that can of horseradish. Most of that probably came from Wisconsin. They are like the leaders of processed horseradish. But for fresh horseradish, be sure to wash it really good. It grows in dirt, and most of the time, it is really dirty. In fact, I usually ask the green grocer to scrub it and clean it for me. That way, I’m not buying dirt when I pay for it. Then peel it with a vegetable or potato peeler. Take that thick shredded Horseradish and sauté in hot olive oil until it becomes crispy. Now, a little salt and place that on top of your thick T-bone steak. Mmmm.
PINEAPPLE (Tuesday, March 30): Today, in 1964, the game show Jeopardy debuted on television. So, today’s final Jeopardy category is tropical fruit, and today’s final Jeopardy answer is “A tropical fruit that has eyes.” The correct question is “What is pineapple?” That’s right. It’s the only tropical fruit with eyes. What? You didn’t know it could see? Well, it can’t see, but all of those round things on the Pineapple are actually called the eyes of the pineapple. In fact they have a saying inHawaii that if you want to know how good the pineapple is, you watch the eyes. Take a look at the eyes. Don’t look at the color. Color can be deceiving on a Pineapple. Make sure the eyes look very full and plump. Second thing is to simply pick up the Pineapple. It needs to be very heavy for its size. Third, smell the cut end of the Pineapple. It should smell like tropical Hawaii. So, why is Pineapple important this week? Easter Sunday! Get out the marshmallow cream and have some fresh pineapple with marshmallow cream.
RUSSET POTATOES (Wednesday, March 31): Do you remember the song from the old movie “Going Places.” “Jeepers. Creepers. Where’d you get those peepers?” Well, I’m seeing a whole bunch of peepers on these Russet potatoes. Sometimes this time of year, springtime, you go to your storage area where you keep your Russet potatoes. You open up the drawer and you notice some little tiny peepers, tiny sprouts growing in the eyes of the Potato. Well, let me tell you something. These little sprouts are very normal for a Russet potato. Russet potatoes are tubers, and tubers have a natural dormancy cycle. A dormancy cycle is the sleep cycle of a Potato. Well, when the dormancy cycle is over, when the Potato wakes up, it wants to grow a new plant for a new season. Thus we get these little tiny sprouts. Don’t worry about them. But you do need to pluck them off before you cook them. To help minimize this sprouting, be sure to keep your Russets in a cool, dark, dry area.
GREEN BEANS (Thursday, April 1): This has probably been one of the worst winters that I have seen in my 30 years in the produce industry. And certainly one of the worst winter seasons for Green Beans. First you had the freeze in early January that hit Florida and literally wiped out 75% of all the green beans they grow. This time of year, Florida grows about 60% of the green beans for the United States, so when you wipe out 75% of them, guess what that means? Prices become extremely high. Now what we’re finding just as we’re moving closer here to Easter, we’re starting to see a few more fields coming into production. These are the fields in Floridathat were re-planted. So now those new fields are coming into production. Unfortunately, not in time to really help with Easter supplies of Green Beans. Remember, when looking for the best green beans, make sure they are velvety. Also, make sure the bean is not too fat. The fatter they are, the tougher they’re going to be. You want them nice and slender.
SWEET POTATOES (Friday, April 2): Well, you’ve got the NCAA Final Four this weekend. Plus, you also have Easter. I hope your Easter menu will include plenty of…Sweet Potatoes. Sweet Potatoes, just like Green Beans, are a very traditional menu item for your Easter meal. May I suggest a couple things for you? Please don’t let this be the very last time that you enjoy sweet potatoes this time of year. When I first started in the produce industry, over 30 years ago, we sold a lot of Sweet Potatoes…for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, and for Easter. For most people, that was it. We just didn’t have Sweet Potatoes any other time of the year. That is really too bad. Sweet Potatoes, remember, are the healthiest vegetable grown on planet Earth, and this year’s crop is one of the best crops we’ve seen in a lot of years. So please, don’t let Easter be the last time you eat a sweet potato this year.