https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Produce-Pete-151185725.html?page=1                              

!!!  Links to shows also available at bottom of page for shows listed !!!

05/01/19       FIELD SHOOT PATHMARK SUPERMARKET, ALBANY AVE, BROOKLYN, N Y      9AM -11AM

05/14/19    PRODUCE BOOT CAMP ,   PFG METRO NY, HILTON GARDEN INN, SPRINGFIELD, N J 

10 AM - 11AM

06/22/19    WNBC HEALTH EXPO,  METLIFE STADIUM,  RUTHERFORD, N J    1 PM - 4PM

09/26/19    RUTGERS UNIVERSITY GARDEN PARTY,  112 RYDERS LANE, NEW BRUNSWICK, N J 

BOOK SIGNING AND FUNDRAISER

 When I see a mango, I think of my father, Pete. He loved mangoes and had no problem eating them, but he could never stand next to a mango tree because he would break out in hives. Something on the tree while they were growing triggered that response. I guess we’ll never know!America’s awareness of mangoes has definitely been on the rise. I’ve lectured about different fruits and vegetables at schools for a long time and years ago, when I’d hold up a mango and ask the kids what it was, most would say an apple. But all that’s changed now based on the number of American children hailing from different parts of the world, as well as because of the mango’s increasing popularity 

 According to the Tropical Plant Society, mangoes (Mangifera indica) are the most popular fruit in the world, with more than 20 million tons of the fruit grown every year 

 If you’re used to the more fibrous Tommy Atkins mango, probably the most popular variety in the states, then the Ataulfo or honey mango might shock you with its creamy, custardy texture. Unlike that fibrous variety, this mango is buttery and, well, pretty elegant in texture — especially when it reaches peak ripeness. That alone makes it a favorite for eating out of hand, but it’s also amazing for smoothies and shakes.

 The Ataulfo mango goes by many names, including baby mango, honey mango, Adolfo, Adaulfo, Champagne, yellow mango, among others .

 The Ataulfo Mango is small, delicately shaped, with skin that ripens to a golden yellow. Sometimes referred to as "champagne" mango, its flesh is velvety smooth with almost no fibrous texture and with a wafer-thin pit. An important fruit for many tropical countries, the mango contains enzymes useful for tenderizing meats that also acts as a digestive aid. 

 The yellow Ataulfo variety is often smaller than most other red and green skin varieties, but it also has a much thinner seed in the middle so you get more yummy fruit to enjoy. The texture of the golden flesh is smooth, and more free from stringiness than other orange-fleshed Mangos. The flavor? I love it! – sweet, a little tangy, tropical… almost caramel-like when they’re fully ripe. 

 Originally these mangoes where named after the grower responsible for the variety, Ataulfo Morales Gordillo, and while you might still find that name in grocery stores, honey mango and champagne is used with increasing frequency.  

  In addition to its unique flavor, the Ataulfo has an extremely unique look compared to its other readily available mango friends: Tommy Atkins, Haden, Kent and Keitt. The fruit is much smaller than these big round mangoes (and it has a more delicate look) but it’s hearty and intended to go from green to sugary ripe. The Ataulfo has the highest sugar content of all the mangoes available in the North American markets. The fruit starts out smooth-skinned, rock hard and with a pale green color. As it moves through the ripening stages (and it moves fast!), it turns to a deep golden yellow, and during its totally ripe stage it has small black blemishes and wrinkly skin. Depending on the season the skin can look very rough, which has always deterred American shoppers. But as ugly fruit is making a big trendy comeback, we find the popularity of the Ataulfo growing with more and more American admirers. 

Selection and Storage

 In terms of selection, choosing the Ataulfo is a little different than a round mango, but just slightly. The gentle squeeze test, (pressing gently, looking for a give similar to avocados) works; Ataulfos tend to be a bit juicier when ripe, though, so oftentimes customers can be put off by feeling the juiciness. Since the fruit is really creamy at peak ripeness there tends to be more movability of the flesh under the skin, more so than a ready to eat avocado

 Handel a mango very gently, as it bruises easily. Pick it up and gently press your thumb against the flesh — it should have a little give and a really sweet smell. A very ripe mango will often have some black speckling outside; don’t worry about that or about a little bruising, but avoid mangoes that are black all over, as they’re beyond the point of no return. I think mangoes that weigh a pound to a pound and a half have the sweetest taste.Always use your nose when you’re choosing mangoes — 99percent of the time, a mango that smells wonderful tastes wonderful. If the stem end smells sour or acidic, reject it. If a mango is firm and green, it won’t have any smell, but if it looks good, bring it home and ripen it yourself.Leave a firm, unripe mango out on the counter for a few days until it colors, develops a sweet aroma, and “gives” when you press it very gently. But never refrigerate a mango. If you must have it chilled, you can put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes, but I think mangoes taste best at room temperature. In any event, storing a mango below 50 degrees for any length of time will take the flavor out

Seasons/Availability 

Ataulfo mangoes are available in the spring and through the fall. 

Nutritional Value

 Ataulfo mangoes are rich in vitamins A, B, and C as well as dietary fiber and are a good source of carbohydrates. They contain potassium and calcium, as well as iron and folate. Mangoes contain enzymes that have been shown to aid in digestion.  

Preparation

  Mangoes are great simply peeled and eaten as is or with a squeeze of lime juice (but don’t eat the peel — it’s bitter). Unlike many fruits, they’re slow to discolor when they’re sliced, which helps them make and retain a nice presentation. They make a beautiful tropical salad sliced with pineapple chunks, kiwi, papaya, banana, or just about any tropical fruit; I like to add a little squeeze of lime and some shredded coconut, too. For a refreshing and very nutritious tropical drink, purée some sliced mango with banana, pineapple and a squeeze of lime and enjoy!Because mangoes have a large and nonfreestanding stone right in the center of the fruit that’s difficult to remove, people always ask me how to cut and eat a mango. Following, I’ve shared the results of my years of experience to help you get greater access to this fantastic fruit. Hope this makes it easier for you to enjoy this burst of sunshine!How to eat a mangoTo deal with the pit in the center, take two lengthwise cuts on either side of where you figure the pit is; if it’s a flattish mango, turn it up so a narrow side is facing you. The pit is large but fairly flat, so make the cuts no more than half an inch on either side of an imaginary center line. You’ll have three slices, the center one with the pit in it.Now take the two outside slices and score the flesh with the tip of a knife, getting as close to the skin as you can without breaking it. Hold the scored slice in two hands and gently push up from the skin side, which will pop inside out. The segments of mango will separate and can easily be scooped off the skin with a spoon or butter knife. Add a sprinkle of lime juice if you like.As for the slice with the pit, you can discard it if you have the willpower, but I personally find the flesh around the pit to be the tastiest part. All I can say is that the best way to eat it is to remove the strip of skin around it, pick it up with your fingers, stand over the sink, and enjoy!  

A Produce Pete Quick tip on Ataulfo Mangoes

•  As Ataulfo Mangos ripen on the store shelf or on your kitchen counter from firm with lime-green skin color to yellow with a slight give – they’ll be ready to eat with a balance of sweet and tangy.
• Wrinkles? With most Mango varieties “wrinkles” indicate the fruit is past its prime, but Ataulfo Mangos that have ripened so far as to show just few wrinkles– they’ll likely be the SWEETEST! But be careful, too wrinkled and the fruit may cut brown inside from over-ripe. (I love to ripen them as close to the edge as possible.)

 Ataulfo Mangos often have small speckles and skin stains that look more pronounced on the peel as the fruit ripens. Don’t worry, those cosmetic issues and will not impact the flavor 

Click link below for Ataulfo Mango Show

 https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Produce-Pete_-Ataulfo-Mangoes_New-York-508547672.html 

 Leeks are in the same vegetable family as onions and garlic. They taste sweeter and milder than onions. Leeks are made up of elongated, white bulbs with broadening and darkening green leaves at their tops. The bulb comes to an end at a point, often with roots still attached. The bulbs and lighter green leaves are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. The darker green leaves are much tougher and along with the roots, should be removed before eating or cooking. 

Leeks have never played as big a role in American cooking as they have in European – especially French cuisines, and that’s a shame.  They look like enormous scallions and they are the sweetest and mildest of all the onions.  Cream of leek soup is delicious (my mother made one I still remember vividly), and leeks also add a wonderful flavor to other soup stocks and stews.  They are delicious braised and served almost as you’d serve asparagus.  I love them.

Season

Because they’re grown in various parts of the country – California, Florida and Texas are major producers – leeks are available nearly year-round.  They’re best and most plentiful from late fall until early spring.

Selecting

Look for leeks with crisp, green tops.  The lower two or three inches should be white.  Avoid leeks that have soft spots or are yellowed or fibrous-looking.  The smaller leeks are usually the most-tender.

Storing

Trim the roots but don’t cut them off entirely, if you do, the leek will fall apart.  Remove any limp or discolored leaves, trim the tops a little, and store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.  Don’t leave unwrapped leeks near other foods.  Like onions, they readily transmit their odor and flavor to milk and other foods in the refrigerator.

The challenge when cooking with leeks is that they are almost always dirty. When leeks are grown, soil is piled up around them, so that more of the leek is hidden from the sun, and therefore lighter in color and more tender.

What produces a beautiful leek, a long pale body, also results in sand and dirt being lodged deep inside the leek.

 Cut from opening to ends of greens:

 Place leek on a cutting board. Insert the tip of a sharp knife about a 1/4-inch below the lowest opening in the leek.

Cut straight through, up to and through the green ends of the leek, leaving the pale part of the leek whole.

 Rinse:

 Fan open the leek and place under cold running water. Rinse out any dirt or sand. If the leek is especially dirty, you may want to make another similar cut through the leek to further be able to fan the leek open 

Cut off dark green tops: 

Cut off the dark green tops of the leek, reserving on the body of the leek as much of the dark green as you want. We like the taste (it's basically just a big onion green), so we typically keep about 2 to 3 inches or so of the dark green part with the body of the leeks.

Discard the dark greens or save them to flavor soups or stews, or use for making stock.

4 Cut of the root end of the leeks, staying as close to the roots as possible. Cutting close to the roots will hold the leeks together when cooking them whole.

• Good source of Vitamin C
• Good source of dietary fiber and other minerals
• Leaf tops are a good provider of beta-carotene, like carrots!
• 
  

 If you’re using them in soups, use the whole leek without trimming. If you’re serving leeks as a vegetable, trim the green ends, but save them for soup stock.  The white lower portions are good sliced raw into salads.  Leeks are especially sweet and delicious braised whole in water or chicken stock, then served warm with a bit of butter and seasonings or cold in a vinaigrette dressing 

CHECK OUT BETTE'S LEEK AND POTATO SOUP AT BETTE'S RECIPES !!!

Click on Link below for Spring Leek Show !!

 https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Produce-Pete_-Leeks_New-York-507882601.html 

 These mini trees  ( Broccoli) are notorious for being pushed off the plates of kids around the world, but broccoli's reputation as one of the healthiest veggies still rings true.   Kids who call broccoli "trees" are imitating the Romans, who called it brachium, meaning "strong branch or arm." Their nickname for it was "the five green fingers of Jupiter," and they ate a lot of it. Broccoli is one of the cruciferous vegetables--in the cabbage family--that is packed with beta-carotene; the precursor to vitamin A that researchers believe has anticarcinogenic properties.Thomas Jefferson first brought broccoli seeds form Italy to Monticello. Although broccoli flourished there, Jefferson wasn't fond of it--probably because it was cooked to death. Broccoli didn't really catch on in the U.S. until the twentieth century; as Italian immigration increased, Italian farmers started growing it in California. They knew how to cook it, and by the mid - 1920's broccoli was becoming more popular. Although broccoli is grown almost everywhere, the bulk of the crop is still grown in California.

A cool - weather crop planted in the spring and fall, broccoli is available year round, but the peak of the season is March through November. It's usually very consistently priced, but when the price jumps up 30 to 40 percent, you know it's out of season and in short supply.

Look for a firm, clean stalk with tight, bluish-green florets. Check the stalks to make sure they're not too thick and hard--they will be a bit woody. Most important, the florets should be tightly closed and the broccoli should have little or no fragrance. Broccoli is eaten at an immature stage; left to grow in the field, the buds will open into yellow flowers. Buds that are starting to open and look yellowish will be mushy and have a strong cabbage taste. Use your nose when you're selecting broccoli: if a head has an odor, it's not good.

Broccoli will keep up to seven days if refrigerated and kept moist. You can break apart the stalks and put them in ice water or spread crushed ice on top. Or wrap broccoli in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel and place in the crisper.

Cup for cup, broccoli has as much Vitamin C as oranges and as much Calcium as milk.

The less you do to broccoli, the more it will do for you. Broccoli will lose up to 30 percent of its vitamins and minerals when it's cooked, so for nutritional reasons as well as good flavor, never overcook it. Broccoli is also very good raw on a platter of crudités, added to other vegetables in a salad, or served with dips.At certain times of the year, broccoli may harbor a bug or worm or both. When cleaning, soak the head in salted water about fifteen minutes, and the critters will float to the top.Broccoli can be prepared in countless ways. Sauté it with a little garlic and onion. Add it to pasta, or serve it blanched and cooled in vinaigrette. It's excellent simply steamed for a few minutes and serve with a dab of butter or squeeze of lemon--or both. To steam, put it in about half an inch of salted water, stem ends down. Don't let the buds touch the water--they'll cook very quickly and will get mushy and disintegrate. Cover and cook over low to medium heat for not more than four to five minutes--just until its fork tender. Check the pot once or twice to make sure there is adequate liquid in the bottom to keep from burning, and add a few tablespoons of water as needed. Properly cooked, broccoli has a delicate flavor and arrives at the table tender-crisp and bright green. If you're going to add lemon or vinegar, do it at the last minute because they tend to drab the color.At my house, we also eat broccoli in a stir-fry, with snow peas and pork. And in the wintertime I love Bette's Broccoli Soup.

A FUN FACT FROM PRODUCE PETE

President George H.W. Bush may have flip-flopped on a number of issues over his long political career,but when it came to a certain cruciferous vegetable, BROCCOLI , the 41st president of the United States displayed the kind of backbone usually reserved for dictators and communist insurgents: He refused all invitations to sit down and eat broccoli.  I do not like broccoli,” Bush once said to the press, tongue somewhat in cheek. “And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!” Mere days after his edict, Bush hosted a state dinner to honor Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the prime minister of Poland. Reporters noted that there was not a single floret of broccoli on the menu despite the fact that farmers sent a “10-ton shipment of the vegetable to Washington in protest of his earlier comment,” according to a Washington Post story on March 22, 1990.

 CHECK OUT MY MOM'S BROCCOLI SALAD AT BETTE'S RECIPES

Click on link below for Broccoli Show

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Produce-Pete_-Broccoli_New-York-506928582.html

Artichokes are actually the giant, unopened buds of a flowering plant - an edible relative of the thistle. They've been a favorite in Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries for hundreds of years, but many people here still think of them as fairly exotic. Although they take a little time to eat - there's no way you can wolf down an artichoke - they're actually fun to dismantle; and the tender flesh at the base of the leaves and especially at the heart has a distinctive sweet, nutty taste that's absolutely delicious. Artichokes can be prepared in dozens of ways, and I like all of them. 

The largest crop of artichokes is still produced in Mediterranean countries, but California is the biggest supplier in the U.S. Castroville, located near San   Francisco, calls itself the Artichoke Capital of the World; and the whole economy of the place revolve around the vegetable - there's even a statue of an artichoke in the middle of town. With its cool, humid, foggy weather, the area is perfect for growing good artichokes. 

There are three basic types of artichokes, plus a new "thorn less" variety that's beginning to appear on the market. The globe type is the most common, with a large fairly round shape and smallish barb on the tips of the leaves. The oval artichoke is very thorny, with a longer, more pointed leaf. The taste of both is identical and they can be cooked in the same way, but I find that glove artichokes are usually more-tender. 

The third type is the small, loose baby artichoke, which is often marinated whole in vinegar and oil after it has been washed and de-thorned. Most baby artichokes don't have many thorns in the first place, and they can be eaten whole, without removing the "choke". 

Thorn-less artichokes are also available. I find them to be excellent if they're from California but unreliable if they've been imported from Mexico or Chile. The imports are difficult to cook properly because it's hard to get the timing right - some cook fast and tender, others take an hour and either stay raw or suddenly turn to mush. The imports are usually a paler green than the California crop, but it you're in doubt, ask your produce manager. 

The peak of the season is in March, April, and May, when California producers ship nearly half the annual crop, but artichokes often show up in the fall. The worst time for artichokes is in the dead of summer (July and August) when growing conditions are too hot and dry for good artichokes. However, they are available year round. 

Look for fat, firm-looking buds with dense, tightly packed leaves of a uniform dusty green. Lots of black spots tired color, or opened leaves indicate an older artichoke that will have a woody taste. An artichoke with one or two black spots, on the other hand, isn't always a bad risk. Don't worry if the artichoke is discolored on the stem end - you're going to cut that part off. When selecting an artichoke, gently pull back the central leaves, taking care not to prick yourself on the thorns, and look into the heart. If there is no black showing inside, the artichoke is good. At home you can be more aggressive - turn the artichoke upside down and give it a good whack or two on the counter to make the leaves open out more easily. 

Artichokes that have developed purpling on the leaves have been exposed to too much hot sun and will be much less tender. An artichoke that shows some bronzing and peeling has had a touch of frost, which won't hurt the flavor and may in fact improve it. If you're unsure about what kind of discoloration is okay and what kind is not a good rule of thumb is not to buy discolored artichokes in the summer. 

Artichokes are quite perishable. Use them as soon as possible. Refrigerate for one week only if necessary. 

There are a thousand ways to cook artichokes, but one thing to avoid is to cook them in an aluminum pot since they will turn a gray-green color. To prepare them for the pot, rinse the artichokes in cold water, handling them carefully so that you don't prick yourself on the pointed barbs at the end of each leaf. The barbs are softer and easer to handle after the artichoke is cooked, but many people prefer to remove them beforehand by snipping off the tips of the leaves with kitchen shears or scissors. Remove the thorns from baby artichokes that you intend to eat whole. 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We had so much fun a couple of weeks ago at DeCicco & Sons in Armonk New York, that  I went back for a second visit to this family owned chain of stores. What could be better then Artichokes for this Holiday Season and they had some real good ones.

Click on link below for Artichoke Show

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Produce-Pete_-Artichokes_New-York-502844811.html