The Market Report

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Laura Avery spoke with Maryann Carpenter of Coastal Farms. Maryann is known for her wide variety of heirloom field tomatoes which arrive in mid-summer. This week, she has baby pink and yellow turnips. She picks them medium-sized (about the size of a tangerine). They are delicious braised.

Braised Turnips

Peel the turnips and chop into a smallish chop.  Cook them in a small amount of salted water and drain when tender.  Add a little butter. The chef's secret is to drizzle them with a small amount of honey.  A sprinkling of salt and pepper is last. She says this is a delicious way to eat her turnips.

Next, Laura meets with Alex Weiser of Weiser Family Farms.  Alex will appear in person at the CUBE Makers Nights on May 3rd and 4th. (See Rachel Sheridan’s CUBE segment for additional information.)

Alex is excited about his Bloomsbury Spinach, which is a savoyed (crinkled-leaf) spinach. It doesn't have the tannic after-taste that makes most spinach an acquired taste.  Alex is also famous for his potatoes and grows many, many varieties of them.  He explains that a "new" potato is not, as many think, a red potato. A new potato is any potato that has just been dug out of the ground and not allowed to cure or set their skin.  You can tell a new potato by its flakey skin that rubs off when you touch it.

Not all new potatoes are better. Chefs prefer the sunburst potato when it's four months out of storage because its dryness soaks up the fats and flavors of the dish they accompany.  There's a potato for everyone!

Music Break -- El-Die-Bie! -- The Dave Pike Set