Produce News for week of May 2 - May 6, 2011

LEEKS (Monday, May 2): Heh today, is the 400 year anniversary of the first publishing of the King James Bible. So, I thought it would be fun to go back in the pages of the Bible and see one of the first vegetables mentioned in the Bible. So let’s go back to the book of Exodus, the story of the exodus of the Hebrew people from the slavery of Egypt. And we read that they “longed for the Leeks and Onions that grew along the banks of the NileRiver.” That’s right. Leeks, one of the first vegetables mentioned in the Bible. Between these two Leeks, which one would Your Produce Man tell you to buy? Ahh, this one right here. Why is that? The white portion. What you look for on Leeks is the white portion. You see, some Leeks have more white near the roots. The more white, the more usable Leeks you have. So I would get this one right here. That doesn’t mean you throw the rest away. Oh no. If you are making any soup or vegetable stock, those tops will go into that stock. Oh what flavor. Here’s another thing. I want to show you what else you can do. With the green top, slice off a very thin ribbon of the top. Then simply dice it up. Now, whatever you use chopped Green Onions for, or Chives, you can use this. Like for your baked Potatoes…or your Chili.
HASS AVOCADOS (Tuesday, May 3): OK. Set it down gently. I have something in my shoebox today. No, not Jumping Beans. That’s just the brand…something for one of the Marks brothers, Landon or Lincoln. I don’t know what it was. Tennis shoes or something. But what do I have in there? You know, Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. I need some…ripe Avocadoes. So I have my Hass Avocadoes in my shoebox to ripen. Remember, one of the keys is that whatever fruit you have in the shoebox to ripen, only place them in single layer. Don’t stack them up. They’ll bruise if you do. These Hass Avocados are ripening up actually very nicely. Oh yeah. Feel that. To feel the ripeness, hold the Avocado in your hand, kind of like a baseball. Then, you can feel the neck…that’s the stem end…feel the neck with your thumb. When the neck starts giving in to gentle pressure, it’s ready. Now, when you cut your Avocado for your Guacamole for Cinco de Mayo, put the tip of the knife blade right into the neck of the Avocado. Now, instead of moving the knife, simply roll the Avocado down the blade of the knife. Less chance of cutting yourself this way. Now, just twist the two halves in opposite direction. Man, we’re ready to make some Guacamole.
LEMONS (Wednesday, May 4): Heh, get out the powdered sugar. We need to make a little Lemon Glaze for our Angel Food cake. Of course, my Mom’s favorite cake was an Angel Food cake and I would make a Lemon Glaze for her Angel Food cake for Mother’s Day. There we go. Some beautiful Lemons. Now one of the things, if you are going to use the Lemon for juice, can you do me a favor? Before you juice it, grate it. That’s right. What I want you to do is to zest that Lemon. Save that zest, so if you are making a fresh salad dressing or baking some fish, you have that wonderful zest to use. That Lemon zest is loaded with flavor. Now, before I go ahead and squeeze the Lemon, I first roll it on a hard surface. Put some pressure on it while you roll it. What you are doing is breaking the water balloons inside. You see, citrus is made up of hundreds of tiny water balloons. If you break those balloons before you juice it, the juice comes out easier. The Lemon should be very soft, feel like a squishy water balloon. Now, when you cut it half and squeeze it, you don’t have to be Mr. Universe, Arnold Schwarzennegger in order to squeeze all of the juice out. Lemon Glaze for Angel Food cake. Sounds good, huh?
RASPBERRIES (Thursday, May 5): Alright…Mother’s Day is this weekend. So, how about a little Raspberry Lemonade for Mom. Perfect. So, just get out your favorite Lemonade recipe and make your Lemonade. Then what you’re going to do is get out these beautiful Raspberries and puree them, and then add that Raspberry puree to your Lemonade, and now you have refreshing Raspberry Lemonade for your Mom on Mother’s Day. I guess you could also make some Raspberry sorbet since you already have the Raspberry pureed. But, I want to show you something. Growers have been developing newer varieties of Raspberries. Remember those older varieties? When you would bite into them, they would actually crunch because of all the seeds in them. A Raspberry shouldn’t be crunchy because there are so many seeds in them. Well, growers have been working on newer varieties that have softer, immature seeds, and fewer seeds. So you don’t have strain your puree through that straining mesh anymore. I love these new varieties of Raspberries.
NAVEL ORANGES (Friday, May 6): You may not know it…you know there are several different varieties of a Navel Orange. There is aWashington variety, which is the main variety you buy in the stores. The Navel Oranges we have right now in the stores are what we call a “late season” Navel Orange. The variety name is a “Late Lane.” It was actually first developed for growers in Australia for their late season Navel Orange crop. Now, one of the first things you may notice about this Late Lane variety is that it is perfectly round. That’s right. You see, some of the other varieties have had puffier rinds, which is why they get lopsided this time of year. You may have noticed those lopsided Navel Oranges in the store. The grower wasn’t doing anything wrong. It’s just what happens. Well, with a Late Lane, it doesn’t get that puffy peel, so it’s not lopsided. Cut one of the Late LaneOranges in half. You will notice that this Late Lane has a very thin skin, and look at the juice. It’s like somebody turned on a water faucet. They are so juicy and they are so sweet. You may not have known the variety name, but you’ll love this Navel Orange.