Produce News for November 3, 2008

AMBROSIA APPLES (Monday, November 3): Mmm.  Hold on just a second.  Oh my!  That’s a really good apple!  And you know who I’m going to thank for this apple?  Wilfred Mennel who, up in British Columbia, Canada - they have a farm up there - and they happened to go out on their farm and they had some golden delicious apples.  And they replanted some apples, and right in the middle of one of the rows came this apple right here.  They started growing it since the 1980s.  This is called an Ambrosia apple.  The name actually means food of the gods.  The Mennels think it’s that good.  Actually, it is that good.  Let me show you a little bit about this apple.  It’s what I call a two tone apple.  It is a true two tone apple where it has some red, but it also has the other tone.  So if you like a two tone apple like a Macintosh (that’s another two tone apple),  then you’re probably going to love this apple.  Ambrosia, food of the gods, you’ve got to test it yourself.  You’ve got to get some.  Not going to be many this year, but next year and the year after you’re going to see more of this apple called an Ambrosia.

PERSIMMONS PART I (Tuesday, November 4)  New crop Fuyu persimmons.  New crop persimmons are now in.  Take a look at this.  This is the persimmon that…it says right here “Eat Hard like an apple.”  That’s right.  These are the persimmons that you do, indeed, eat just like you would an apple.  You can eat the skin, the seed, everything.  It’s 100% edible.  But, you should ripen them.  One of the things about the Fuyu persimmon, it gets the most sugar content right after the first frost, and in the San Joaquin Valley in California, they’ve already had the first frost which means the sugar content of these Fuyu persimmons is going to be much better.  Just like any other fruit, put them in a fruit ripening bowl or put them in a brown paper bag and put them out on your counter.  Don’t refrigerate them. They won’t ripen in your refrigerator.  They’ll keep in your refrigerator, but they won’t ripen.  So ripen them.  Then just grab one just like an apple.    Hey, grab a bite, and you’ll love the Fuyu persimmon. 

PERSIMMONS PART II (Wednesday, November 5):  Oh, my goodness!  You know yesterday we were talking about Fuyu persimmons.  I love persimmons, but I primarily love persimmons for cooking.  Now the Fuyu persimmon is a persimmon you eat just like an apple.  You enjoy it.  You snack with it, but right here in this box - this is my favorite persimmon.  It is called a Hachiya variety.  If you notice, the Fuyu is flat.  These come to a point kind of like the pyramids or something, but this…oh, take a look at this!  Hold on just a second.  Ah, see this right there.  That’s a little bit of frost burn.  You know what this means?  These were picked right after the first frost which means these will be loaded with sugar and with flavor.  So what do you do with a Hachiya variety of persimmon?  What you need to do, you need to set them out in your garage just like so.  Let them get soft.  In fact, they need to be so soft, kind of like a water balloon soft, and then…persimmon cookies.  Oh, man!  If you love persimmon baking, these are them. 

BRUSSELS SPROUTS (Thursday, November 6):  I  am one happy person.  Oh, my goodness!  Take a look at this box.  This box to me would be my birthday present…a Christmas present.  “Brussels Sprouts” is what it says - beautiful Brussels sprouts. And always remember, Brussels is always plural.  Brussels as in the city of Brussels, Belguim, okay?  Oh, let me…oh, would you take a look at this?  Oh, let me show you something.  Come real close.  I’ve got to show you this.  Really close.  Look at all this ice in here.  See this ice?  That should give you a hint on how you should store your Brussels sprouts.  They need to be kept absoloutely ice cold.  Do not in a million years keep these in your car for more than like 10 minutes  You get from the store and as soon as you get home the first thing you’re going to do, you’re going to put your Brussels sprouts away, alright?  They’ve got to be kept ice cold.  That way they’re going to have the best flavor, the most mild flavor, the sweetest flavor. 

BRUSSELS SPROUTS (Friday, November 7):  You know, Brussels sprouts is one of those vegetables – you either love them or you absolutely hate them.  I have been trying all of my life, and I will continue to try, see that 50% that hates Brussels sprouts, my job in life is to at least get them to try Brussels sprouts one last time, and I will get them to fall in love with them.  Take a look at these Brussels sprouts.  These are absolutely gorgeous.  When you’re picking out Brussels sprouts, what I try to do is find the smallest one.  See that nice tiny one there?  This is going to be much sweeter.   It’s going to be milder.  When you start seeing a lot of yellow on them, you don’t want them.  Yellow means they’ve been around too long.  Now here is a very simple recipe.  Equal parts of chopped garlic and chopped shallots.  Equal parts melted butter and olive oil.  Mix all of that together.  Cut these in half.  Put them in a baking dish.  Smother them with that mixture.  Put them in the oven, 375 degrees.  You will fall in love with Brussels Sprouts.