Robert's Market Report
Saturday, November 18, 2006
A tower of collard greens reaching toward the rafters, lovingly built by the staff at Iovine Brothers Produce prior to opening today, was decimated by mid-morning into a pile of rubble. Collards are popular for Thanksgiving, and these exemplary greens were snatched up fast. But don't worry, there are plenty of crates weighing down the pallets in storage, so there will be plenty if you show up any day prior to Thanksgiving.
Hormone-free, natural turkeys are very poplar this season. Even Martin's Quality Meats & Sausage had a case filled with the au naturel birds.
Martin's brother, Charles Giunta of Giunta's Prime Shop appears to be doing just fine with his new store. Last week I picked up some veal loin chops and broiled them simply. Delicious flavor, though if you prefer the unnaturally-raised "white veal" you'd be disappointed since the natural, humanely-raised product comes from slightly older animals which have been allowed to roam, hence, their muscles are more developed and meat is firmer, though tastier.
A new pie maker appeared today: Wooden Spoon Bakery. She's a home baker. I tasted a sample of the apple and it was very nice with a buttery crust.
One of the better fish bargains today over at John Yi's was the haddock filets, at $5.99/pound. Once home I took some fish stock out of the freezer, put some of Cope's Dried Corn (available at Pennsylvania General Store, Benuel Kaufman's and most local supermarkets) in milk, and later today plan to make some fish chowder. Black sea bass looked good and nicely priced at $3.99/pound for whole fish. Dry scallops also a relative bargain at $11.99/pound (they were two bucks more at Wegman's yesterday).
Didn't spy any cactus pears at OK Lee's today. I'm going to keep checking.
L. Halteman continues to have the largest variety of apples. Local Barlett pears starting to look a little long in the tooth. Benuel Kaufman says he'll start selling Arkansas Blacks next week. This variety is one of the best storage apples available; buy them now, put them in your fridge's crisper and you'll still have sweet, crispy apples in February. Benuel continues to be well stocked with preservative-free cider.
Hormone-free, natural turkeys are very poplar this season. Even Martin's Quality Meats & Sausage had a case filled with the au naturel birds.
Martin's brother, Charles Giunta of Giunta's Prime Shop appears to be doing just fine with his new store. Last week I picked up some veal loin chops and broiled them simply. Delicious flavor, though if you prefer the unnaturally-raised "white veal" you'd be disappointed since the natural, humanely-raised product comes from slightly older animals which have been allowed to roam, hence, their muscles are more developed and meat is firmer, though tastier.
A new pie maker appeared today: Wooden Spoon Bakery. She's a home baker. I tasted a sample of the apple and it was very nice with a buttery crust.
One of the better fish bargains today over at John Yi's was the haddock filets, at $5.99/pound. Once home I took some fish stock out of the freezer, put some of Cope's Dried Corn (available at Pennsylvania General Store, Benuel Kaufman's and most local supermarkets) in milk, and later today plan to make some fish chowder. Black sea bass looked good and nicely priced at $3.99/pound for whole fish. Dry scallops also a relative bargain at $11.99/pound (they were two bucks more at Wegman's yesterday).
Didn't spy any cactus pears at OK Lee's today. I'm going to keep checking.
L. Halteman continues to have the largest variety of apples. Local Barlett pears starting to look a little long in the tooth. Benuel Kaufman says he'll start selling Arkansas Blacks next week. This variety is one of the best storage apples available; buy them now, put them in your fridge's crisper and you'll still have sweet, crispy apples in February. Benuel continues to be well stocked with preservative-free cider.
