On a regular basis, we’ll bring you suggestions on the best
produce to buy, advise you of the many innovations in fruit and
vegetables, recommend quick and easy ways to prepare fruit and
vegetables and offer nutritional information and hints on
storage of our fresh produce.
The news on vegetables this week is all good. Supply for most vegetable lines is very good. In particular broccoli, Chinese cabbage, black zucchini, Nicola potatoes, cauliflower, lettuce and leeks.
Cauliflowers are currently heavy in supply coming from Queensland, Victoria and even some out of the greater Sydney Basin. Quality of cauliflowers is very good and prices are excellent. Cauliflower can be roasted, boiled, fried, steamed or eaten raw. For those of us who are weight conscious, cauliflower can be used as a reasonable substitute for potatoes Cauliflowers can produce a similar to texture to potatoes but does not have the starch of potatoes.
Nicola potatoes are currently in good supply. Nicola�s have a long oval shape, yellow skin and light yellow flesh and is extremely versatile in its uses. Excellent for mashing, gnocchi, boiling, chips and roasting. It has a very buttery flavour. Nicola�s are a low GI potato, and a must for this weeks shopping list.
In fruit news, this week sees the last of the traditional mandarin varieties the Honey Murcotts. Honey Murcotts are a small to medium size fruit with yellow-orange skin. The fruit is smooth and reasonably easy to peel. They have some seeds, however the rich red flesh is honey sweet and juicy, which more than compensates for the seeds.
Drinking coconuts are something out of the ordinary that is currently in good supply. Drinking coconuts are immature coconuts whose husk is still green. These young coconuts have sweet, healthy, water which is beautiful to drink. The water has many health benefits. Some of these include quickly re-hydrating your body, cleansing your kidneys and helping to fight off colds. Only occasionally do we come across these drinking coconuts at these prices so be sure to make the most of it!
posted by: David Harris at 1:05 PM
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Vegetables continue to be in good supply. Beans, broccoli, aniseed, cauliflower, lettuce, capsicums, zucchini, leeks, artichokes, beetroot, English spinach, spinach, corn and cherry tomatoes are all in good supply with the quality being excellent.
Good numbers of black zucchini are available; coming out of Queensland both the quality and prices is excellent. Black zucchini is an extremely versatile vegetable and uses include steaming, grilled or stuffed. Look for zucchini�s that are firm, glossy, tender skins that feel heavy for their size.
Good quality aniseed has bulbs that are clean, firm and solid, without signs of splitting, bruising or spotting. The bulbs should be a nice white colour. The stalks should be relatively straight. Both the stalks and the leaves should be green in colour. There should be no signs of flowering as this is the indication that the aniseed is past maturity. Fresh aniseed should have a fragrant aroma, smelling subtly of Licorice
Store fresh aniseed in the refrigerator crisper, where it should keep fresh for about four days, however it is always best to consume fennel soon after purchase since as it ages, it tends to lose its flavour.
Aniseed adds a refreshing contribution to the ever popular Mediterranean cooking. Most often associated with Italian cooking, be sure to add this to your selection of fresh vegetables to spice up your culinary experience.
Globe artichokes are not the most common vegetable going around but in my opinion is one of the best eating. Generally available all year round, globe artichokes are at their best from June through to November. Outside of this they tend to get a bit dry and tasteless. Try and choose artichokes that are tightly packed, crisp green with a slight bloom. Fresh artichokes should feel heavy for their size. In smaller artichokes, the leaves are more tender. In larger ones, the hearts are bigger. Globe artichokes are best when eaten on the day they're bought, but will keep in a perforated plastic bag in the fridge for a couple of days. A favourite way of mine to eat artichokes is to boil or steam the whole artichoke head, then pull the leaves off and dip them in hollandaise sauce, melted butter or garlic butter. You can also try boiling the head. Pull out the middle leaves, scoop out the choke and stuff with chopped garlic and parsley, grated parmesan and bread crumbs before drizzling with olive oil and baking in the oven. They can also be barbecued or grilled.
In fruit news this week you cannot go past the Northern Territory seedless watermelon. Wonderfully crisp and refreshing this is some of the best melon that this country produces so be sure to have a taste and discover why.
From the hills of the Washington district comes some magnificent cherries. Still very reasonable priced these cherries are nothing short of a treat to eat. The quality is amazing but the season is not a long one so don�t miss out.
posted by: Dave Harris at 2:37 PM
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Winter vegies continue to be fantastic value. I don�t think the corn gets any better at any time of the year than, the supa�sweet variety that comes out of North Queensland at this time of the year. However even better value are the red capsicums. I love them in soups, grilled, in salads � an incredible versatile vegetable. For the more traditional winter vegetable from Southern areas we have a mountain of cauliflowers which though not extra large are snow white superb quality and great value. English spinach is firmly back on the menu and the heavy supplies of Leeks have started. The other old fashioned winter vegie that is at the moment is Brussels sprouts � great value in every store and some fabulous specials coming up on these.
Unfortunately the great run of passionfruit has come to end. Imperial mandarins go for a bit longer, but if you have not tried a tangelo, they are a refreshing change and they are generally far cheaper than is normally the case with mandarins. Pawpaw and Fijian are good value and imported cherries are still very good. We are missing are imported grapes this year � a new bug of some sort has been found in California and no one seems to know how to deal with it. However they do, it will affect the taste of the grapes if they come in at all this year. Look for the start of the flood of berries next week. Blues and strawberries � it will be a feast!
posted by: David Harris at 12:59 PM
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There is plenty of good value this week in the vegetable lines. Highlights for the week are Brussels Sprouts, carrots, shallots, leeks, Egg tomatoes, Gourmet tomatoes and avocados.
Leeks seem to be coming on in good numbers. A real winter staple, leeks are currently coming out of Victoria and the local Sydney basin. Quality is superb with plenty of good size leeks available and prices are really reasonable.
Brussels sprouts are also coming into some good numbers. They have been really expensive for some time now so this fall in price will be welcomed by consumers of Brussels Sprouts.
Egg tomatoes are in excellent supply. Coming from both Bowen and Bundaberg in Queensland egg toms are great quality and prices are fantastic. A wonderfully versatile tomato, Egg tomatoes can have uses from soups to salads to sauce. Don�t expect this flush of Egg tomatoes to last forever so make these part of this week�s shopping list.
Hass avocados are fairly heavy in supply at present. I think the Hass is the best eating avocado by a long way. You can�t go past that beautiful strong nutty flavour that is so unique to the Hass variety. Perhaps the best news of all is that some of the prices we are seeing occur only a handful of times in a year. Don�t miss out on many of the special opportunities!!
Harris Farm Markets juice is a must this week. The juicing oranges are super sweet and are perfect for juice. A great source of vitamin C Harris Farm Markets juice is the perfect medicine to fight those winter colds.
The apple of the week is the Braeburn. Braeburn Apples are thought to be a cross between Granny Smith and Lady Hamilton. Braeburn apples are a sweet apple with a hint of tartness. There are good numbers around with many special opportunities available. There is particularly good value in the oversize fruit (mainly sizes 45-54). The fruit is still excellent quality and is fantastic eating.
posted by: David Harris at 12:58 PM
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