Attention Foodservice Professionals! The Seasonal Chef is here to help with your advanced menu planning needs. Each quarter he will offer the “Pick of the Market” items that will be available in good to high volume for the following quarter. These items will represent some of the best produce of the season. These are the items that menus should be based on! Pick a month:
August
Local Cantaloupe
Pack: 9ct, 12ct, 15ct, Bins
When local cantaloupes are in, you can smell it in the air. Walk into any supermarket and that's the first thing you smell. The unbelievable fragrance and eating quality of a melon that was just picked, still warm from the field and bursting with sugar is hard to top. They can be served as a stand-alone dessert or added to sweet or savory salads and salsas.
Local Eggplant
Pack: 10lb., 24lb., 30lb.
Because they are fresh and firm, local eggplants do not need any of the soaking or salting that is typically done to remove the bitterness. As eggplants get old, this is typically when they get too strong. Simply slice and grill, cube and saute for ratatouille or roast, peel and puree for baba ganouj or roasted eggplant soup. The possibilities are endless.
Local Honeydew
Pack: 6ct, 8ct, Bins
A good local melon should lure you in. Honeydews are incredible when truly ripe and juicy. Add to fruit salads or blend into fruit soups, smoothies or cocktails for a twist. Whichever way you slice them, local honeydews are like candy and need very little else to please the palate.
Local Hot Peppers
Pack: 10lb., 18lb., 25lb.
Local hot peppers add more than just heat. Bite into a strip of locally grown Anaheim or Poblano peppers and you will see. Peppers fresh from the fields have a crisp, mouth-watering texture that can add crunch and enough sweet pepper flavor to stand up to their heat, making them more balanced overall. Even local Habaeros are more flavorful underneath their infernal layer of heat. Chop and add to salsas, spicy marinades, ragouts, you name it. How about sweet corn and poblano maque choux?
Local Plum Tomatoes
Pack: 25 lb.
Perhaps the best tomato to use for skinning, seeding and dicing due to their low seed and water content to flesh ratio. Slice and add to salads, halve and roast with olive oil, rosemary and sea salt, or make the freshest marinara ever! Since they have a shorter distance to travel to market, local plum tomatoes are left on the vine longer and will be more red, sweeter and juicier.
Local Tomatoes
Pack: 10lb., 20lb., 25lb.
Even a simple local beefsteak tomato will trump any specialty variety from afar. When tomatoes are left to ripen on the vine, and are not subjected to chilling or shipping, they are a completely different product than those coming from only a few hundred miles away. They are plentiful and inexpensive to boot! Make those BLT's the best they can be! Choose local tomatoes.
Local Watermelon
Pack: 15ct, 30ct, 45ct, Bins
This area is known for producing sweet, firm, juicy watermelon. A picnic would not be the same without it! Whether you simply cube them for fruit salad, carve them into decorative baskets, or use them in more interesting ways, such as watermelon with arugula and feta, local melons will not disappoint.
Okra
Pack: 10lb., 15lb., 30lb.
People who don't like okra have probably never tried it fresh. When roasted the gelatinous quality subsides, when fried with corn meal batter they become crisp and succulent, and when stewed with tomatoes, or in gumbo, fresh okra gives a deep green vegetable flavor and helps to thicken what it is cooked in. Try pickled with vinegar, hot pepper and garlic for a zesty condiment.
Plums
Pack: 8lb., 14lb., 28lb.
A ripe, juicy plum is a beautiful thing. Their sweet-tart flavor makes them a joy to work with in both sweet and savory applications. Whether poached in syrup and served with ice cream or sauted with red onions, red wine and sugar for serving with pork or duck, plums have a neutral flavor that goes well with just about anything. Look for red, black, yellow and green varieties, and be sure to try them all.
Ranier Cherries
Pack: 11lb., 15lb., 18lb.
Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, these cherries are truly special. Their vibrant yellow-red color is still quite different and exotic to most, and their sugar content is like candy. Use in cherry pies, homemade cordials or warm compotes for wild game.
Saturn Peaches
Pack: 5lb., 11lb.
These small, Saturn-shaped peaches are sweet, yet mild and delicate. They are easy to eat as a quick snack and are fabulous in cooking applications. To appreciate their petite nature, slice into granola, bake into individual tarts, sugar and roast to enjoy with ice cream or anything else that would require minimal processing. Available in white and yellow varieties.
Specialty Melons
Pack: 4ct, 6ct, 8ct
Next time you reach for the cantaloupe, try a new specialty variety of melon instead. Choose a Tuscan, Charentaise or Magenta melon for something a little bit different and interesting. If you like honeydews and haven't tried a Galia or Crenshaw melon yet, give them a try. Variety melons all have unique qualities that make them fun to enjoy as is and use interchangeably in all of your melon recipes.
