Mikk's Messages Post 4 - Jicama

Vegetable Pick of the Week- Jicama

Nutritional Facts

• Jicama is very low calorie root vegetables; contains only 35 calories per 100 g.
• It also contains small levels of some of valuable B-complex group of vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid and thiamin.
• Further, it provides healthy amounts of some important minerals like magnesium, copper, iron and manganese.

  Recipe of the Week

Tender Greens and Red Oak Salad with Jicama, Teardrop Tomatoes, Roasted Poblanos, Manchego Crostini Tequila Vinaigrette

2 c. Mixed Greens
1 c. Red Oak (chopped)
1 sm. Jicama (peeled and julienned)
2 ea. Poblano (roasted, seeded and julienned)
5 ea. Yellow and Red Teardrop Tomatoes (cut in half)
¼ c. Manchego Cheese (shredded)
8-10 Baguette slices
1 tsp. Shallot (chopped)
1 ea. Garlic Clove (chopped)
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
¼ c. Fresh Lime Juice
½ tsp. Crushed Coriander
¼ c. Tequila (preferably gold and a tequila you would drink)
1 ½ c. Canola Oil
Salt, to taste
Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Dressing:

In a table top blender or in a mixing bowl using a hand held mixer combine shallot, garlic, mustard, lime juice, tequila and coriander and blend thoroughly for 30 seconds. Slowly add oil in until dressing becomes emulsified (coating back of spoon and not separating). Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Crostini:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then generously add cheese on top of each crostini piece and place in the oven for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown. Pull from oven and set aside.

Plating:
Mix greens and red oak together and place on a plate or in a bowl. Sprinkle tomatoes, jicama and poblanos on top of salad mix. Place crostini’s around the outside of salad and serve with vinaigrette on the side.

Mikk's Messages Post 3 - Tree Ripe Peaches

Peaches:

• Only 39 calories and contains no saturated fats.
• Low in Cholesterol and Sodium with a great source of Dietary Fiber.
• Good source of Vitamin A, Niacin and Potassium and a very good source of Vitamin C.
• Consuming delicious, fresh peaches helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and helps scavenge harmful free radicals.

Recipe of the Week: Grilled Peach and Watercress Salad

• Half of a Peach (seeded, quartered and grilled)
• 1 1/2cups Watercress (washed and trimmed)
• 1 head Purple Belgian Endive (chopped)
• 5 pieces Bocconcini Mozzarella (cut in half)
• 1 tsp. shaved Red Onions
• 2 tbsp. White Balsamic Vinaigrette
• 1 tsp. Olive Oil
• Pinch of Salt
• Pinch of Pepper

White Balsamic Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup White Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp.  Shallot (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic (chopped)
• 1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• 1 cup Olive Oil
• Pinch of Salt
• Pinch of Pepper

Add Shallot, Garlic, Dijon Mustard and White Vinegar in a bowl and blend using a hand mixer. As the mixer is blending, slowly add oil until the mixture is emulsified. Add Salt and Pepper to taste.

Cut the Peach in half and remove the seeds. Then cut the Peach in quarters and grill to your liking and set aside. In a bowl, place the Watercress, Endive, Onions, and White Balsamic and mix gently. In another bowl, toss theo Boconcini with Olive Oil and salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Place the salad mixture on a plate of your choice, add Bocconcini and Peaches around the plate. Season with Salt and Pepper and serve.

Mikk's Messages Post 2 - Celery Root

In Season Fruits

Apples, Blood Oranges, Pineapple, Pears, Oranges, Pomegranates, Kumquats and Seedless Tangerines are great choices for fruit this week. Offshore Cantaloupe from Honduras into California and Florida are sufficient. Quality is average. Honeydew is still elevated with stocks very limited out of Mexico and offshore. Rambutan and Logan Fruit out of Hawaii are looking really good, with steady supplies over the next few months. Strawberries supplies are steady out of California and Florida with flavor mildly sweet. Blackberry, Raspberry and Strawberry supplies are tightening. Recent rains in Mexico have been the factor. Oranges are doing great out of California, Florida and Texas. Color is deep orange and flavor is sweet. Apple market is stable with plentiful stocks in most varieties. Lemons are holding steady with stocks sufficient. Quality is still very good and color is deep yellow. Limes stocks are tight coming out of Mexico. Quality is fair.

In Season Vegetables
Broccoli, Tomatoes, Rapini, Cucumbers, Onions (Red and Yellow), Lettuce (Baby Greens), Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips are just some of the great choices this week. Red Peppers and Yellow Peppers are at normal levels. Stocks are sufficient and quality is very good. Green Peppers out of Mexico are abundant and quality is good. Tomatoes have bounced back nicely with abundant stocks out of Mexico, California and Texas. Quality is very good. Lettuce supplies out of AZ and California are ample. Quality is average to good and prices remain stable. Broccoli and Cauliflower are sufficient out of Arizona and Mexico due to warmer weather as of recently. Squash supplies are still limited in Florida and Mexico. Prices will ease in the coming weeks Sizing will be off a bit. Celery supplies have eased in Yuma and California. Quality is good in Arizona and even better in California.

Vegetable Pick of the Week

Celery Root

Nutritional Facts

• Every 1/2 cup of celery root contains 20 calories.
• The celery root contains no cholesterol.
• There are 5 g of carbohydrates in each serving of celery root. Dietary fiber contributes 1 g of carbohydrate, while the rest is associated with the starch content of the root.

Recipe of the Week

Crispy Skin Chicken with Parmesan Potatoes and Celery Root Puree

2 ea. Skin on Chicken Breast (ribs, breast plate, wing removed) leaving only the drum bone
1 tsp. Fresh Thyme (chopped)
1 tsp. Fresh Oregano (chopped)
½ tsp. Fresh Rosemary (chopped)
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 lbs. Pewee Potatoes or Fingerling Potatoes
½ c. Shredded Parmesan
1 ea. Celery Root (peeled, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes)
1 ea. Russet Potato (peeled and cut into 1 in cubes)
½ c. Heavy Cream
2 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
Salt, to taste
Cracked Black Pepper, to taste
White Pepper, to taste

Puree:
Place celery root and potatoes in a sauce pot and cover with cold water. Season with salt and cook until soft, about 15-20 minutes. Drain liquid from pot and add in cream. Cook for 10 minutes more over medium heat stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking until most of cream is absorbed. Remove from heat and add butter, salt and white pepper. Process in food mill and puree until smooth, then keep warm.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss potatoes with salt black pepper and remaining oil and place on cooking sheet pan and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and re-toss them in a bowl with parmesan and keep warm.
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and season chicken with salt, black pepper, thyme, oregano and rosemary. Add half the olive oil in the pan and sear the chicken skin side down until skin is crispy but not burned. You may need to adjust the heat accordingly in the process. Remove chicken from pan and place on a cooking sheet pan and finish in the oven until fully cooked.
Pour puree on plate. Pile potatoes in the center and place chicken on top. Serve.

Mikk's Messages Post 1- Passion Fruit

In Season Fruits

Apples, Blood Oranges, Pineapple, Pears, Oranges, Pomegranates, Kumquats and Seedless Tangerines are great choices for fruit this week. Offshore Cantaloupe from Honduras into California and Florida are sufficient. Quality is average. Honeydew is still elevated with stocks very limited out of Mexico and offshore. Rambutan and Logan Fruit out of Hawaii are looking really good, with steady supplies over the next few months. Strawberries supplies are steady out of California and Florida with flavor mildly sweet. Raspberries will be limited through April. Blackberries, Blueberries and Strawberries are holding well with sufficient stocks in all areas. Flavor is good. Oranges are doing great out of California, Florida and Texas. Color is deep orange and flavor is sweet. Apple market is stable with plentiful stocks in most varieties. Lemons are holding steady with stocks trying to rebound from recent freeze in Florida. Quality is still very good and color is deep yellow. Limes stocks are tight coming out of Mexico. Quality is fair.

In Season Vegetables

Broccoli, Tomatoes, Rapini, Cucumbers, Onions (Red and Yellow), Lettuce (Baby Greens), Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips are just some of the great choices this week. Red Peppers and Yellow Peppers are at normal levels. Stocks are sufficient and quality is very good. Green Peppers out Mexico are abundant and quality is good. Tomatoes have bounced back nicely with abundant stocks out of Mexico, California and Texas. Quality is very good. Lettuce supplies out of AZ and California are ample. Quality is average to good and prices remain stable. Broccoli and Cauliflower are sufficient out of Arizona and Mexico due to warmer weather as of recently. Squash supplies are still limited in Florida and Mexico. Prices will ease in the coming weeks Sizing will be off a bit. Celery supplies have eased in Yuma and California. Quality is good in Arizona and even better in California.

Fruit Pick of the Week

Passion Fruit

Photo by WekWek/istockphoto.com

Nutritional Facts on Passion Fruit

• Delicious, passion fruit is a rich source of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and fiber. 100 g fruit contains about 97 calories.
• The fruit is a very good source of dietary fiber.
• Passion fruit is good in vitamin C; provides about 30 mg per 100 g.

Recipe of the Week

Apple and Passion Fruit Tart

1 sheet Puff Pastry
6 oz. Pastry Cream
3 Apples (medium in size and preferably Gala or Golden Delicious), cored, peeled and sliced
1/3 c. Castor Sugar (super fine sugar)
3 ea. Passion Fruit
1 ¼ c. Whole Milk
3 Egg Yolks
1 tbsp. Calvados (Apple Liquor)
¼ c. Granulated Sugar
¼ c. All-Purpose Flour
2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Cornstarch
1 ea. Vanilla Beans (cut length wise and scraped of seeds)

Pastry Cream:
In a small sauce pot, warm the milk over low heat until hot enough to steam. While milk is heating whisk eggs, ¼ c of sugar, flour, vanilla, calvados and cornstarch until mixture is smooth. Once milk is ready add half of the milk to mixture whisking constantly. Then add that mixture back into the hot milk and continue stirring. Heat for another 1-2 minutes until it reaches 170 degrees and is thick, then chill.
Tart:
Lightly flour work surface and begin to roll out puff pastry until 1/16 inch thick. Then cut 6/4 ½ inch rounds. Brush a baking pan with cold water and place the cut out rounds on the sheet pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prick rounds with fork and spread pastry cream evenly on the rounds leaving a thin border around the edges. Shingle sliced apples in a circle around the top of the tart and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove tarts from oven and sprinkle with a little castor sugar. Return to oven and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Cut passion fruit in half and scrape out pulp and sprinkle on top dividing it equally between each of the tarts and serve.