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	Dan's July Best of Season Fruits Berries Raspberries Cherries Cherries Rainier cherries Kiwi Gold kiwi Melons Canary melons Galia melons Honeydue melons Orange flesh honeydew Sharlyn melons Oranges Australian naval oranges Peaches and Necterines Artic Rose nectarines Cling peaches Elegant lady peaches Fay Elberta peaches Honeycrisp peachess White peaches Pluots pluots Watermelon Seeded watermelon Yellow watermelonn Vegetables Beans Romano beans Fresh garbanzo beans Corn White corn Yellow corn Cucumbers Armenian cucumbers Lemon cucumbers Eggplant Baby eggplant Onions Italian sweet red onions Wala Walla sweet onions Peppers Fresh cayenne peppers Squash Sunburst squash White zucchini Tomatoes Beefsteak tomatoes Heirloom tomatoes How to Select Corn When selecting fresh corn, look for plump, firm ears. (Isn't it weird how we name our vegetables and fruits after body parts? An ear of corn, a hand of bananas, ribs of celery, the heart of artichokes, a head of lettuce, navel oranges… I could go on, but that might get too corny. Ha!) Back to the produce stand: look at the husks and make sure they are green and moist. Feel the ear for any sunken areas that may be hiding under the husks. The silk should be white or yellowish green. At times there may be a small amount of browning at the ends, but the rest should be fresh and healthy. Pull the husks back about ¼ of the way to reveal the tip of the ear. The kernels should be firm, plump and shiny. Avoid sunken kernels, dry or yellowish husks and black-spotted husks. These are signs of age and indicate that the corn is better suited for cattle. There is no reason for corn like this to be on the rack, especially this time of year when the fresh harvest is in. How to Prepare Corn Grilled Corn On your next visit to the produce stand, instead of shucking all the husks off and dumping them in the barrel, bring the corn home husks and all. Throw the ears on the grill with whatever else you may be barbecuing and let them cook right there in the husks! Turn the ears occasionally so they cook evenly. Toward the end of the cooking time, go ahead and peel away the husks a little bit to let some of the kernels get charred; it will add such fantastic flavor to the corn, you’ll be happy to eat it even without glopping any butter on it! Microwaved Corn If you don’t want to fire up the grill, you can also cook corn in the microwave, husks and all, with good results. For one to three ears, calculate five minutes per ear. I've never cooked more than three ears at a time in the microwave, so you may have to adjust the timing if you’re working with a bigger batch. Be sure to wait a few minutes before peeling back the husks, since they are very hot and can give a nasty burn. You can also roast corn in the oven with the husk on, allowing the moisture in the fresh husks to naturally steam the corn. Spicing Up Corn Whichever cooking method you choose for your ears, after you get ‘em naked, brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with cayenne pepper. Mmmmmm! A fantastic, flavorful and healthier alternative to butter and salt. Uncooked Corn Contrary to what most people believe, corn does not have to be cooked to be enjoyed. When I’m purchasing bins or palletized boxes of corn, I always dig right in, break an ear in half, and then bite into it to make sure it’s good. I usually finish eating the whole ear while I’m negotiating the price—and I most always get the price I want. Maybe the salesperson is uncomfortable with the fact that I'm eating it raw… or maybe he just can’t resist my charm and personality. Yeah, that’s it! Columns to Savor Dan Avakian Summer Cherries Artichokes and Fresh Strawberries

Produce Expert
Dan Avakian

Getting Fresh

Summer Produce

Iceberg Lettuce

Corn

In Defense of
Iceberg Lettuce

Recently I went to one of my favorite delicatessens for a BLT. I have to say that the bacon was incredible; it was wood smoked and thick and cooked crispy the way I like it. The bread was delicious, lightly toasted sourdough, and the tomatoes were just as tasty. The only disappointment was the lettuce. Where was the crunch?

Well, my favorite deli uses “Spring Mix” on their sandwiches, and that includes the BLT. In my view there is a special place for Spring Mix at a fine eating establishment. A nice salad with goat cheese and walnuts perhaps. But on a BLT, no way! It reminds me of the burger joints that put one soft leaf of green leaf lettuce on their “gourmet” burgers. I can’t stand it! Here’s a message to you chefs who are probably already offended by this paragraph: I want crunchy, crispy iceberg lettuce on my BLT and on my burgers! Could you imagine a taco with spring mix or leaf lettuce? Give me a break!

	Corn It used to be that when you wanted delicious sweet corn you had to pick it just moments before cooking and rush to an already-boiling pot of water. It also used to be that white corn was sweeter than yellow. Those days are long gone. Super-sweet and even sweeter-than-super-sweet varieties have been developed, and now dominate the market. These varieties will stay sweet and delicious for up to ten days after harvest if kept properly refrigerated. Keep an eye out for the bi-colored corn, also called “Peaches & Cream,” which offers white and yellow kernels mixed on the same cob. This is caused by cross pollination between the two varieties. You can also find red corn fresh on the market, as well as fresh Indian corn. Both of these are edible and fairly sweet, but not as flavorful as the common varieties, so they remain more of a novelty. As new varieties continue to be developed, we may well see more flavorful red and Indian corn before long! Corn is native to North, Central and South America. The Indians of the Western hemisphere had grown corn for thousands of years before Christopher Columbus' voyage to North America. In ancient Indian villages, petrified corncobs have been discovered that are over 5,000 years old. Columbus traded with the Indians and took corn back to Spain. From there is traveled to other areas of Western Europe, and it wasn’t too long before the versatile ears were singing in tune with Johnny Cash: “I’ve Been Everywhere.” Although there are 200 recorded varieties of corn, sweet corn is its own variety, distinguished from the others by a single gene, which causes the endosperm of the seed to accumulate twice as much sugar than normal. Historians believe that sweet corn was first cultivated around 1600 by Iroquois Indians along the St. Lawrence River in New York, though it didn’t become widely popular until more than a century later. The Iroquois called sweet corn “Papoon.” Native Americans taught the early settlers how to plant, store and prepare corn. In fact, it was corn that saved the settlers from almost certain starvation their first winter in America. When selecting fresh corn, look for plump, firm ears. (Isn't it weird how we name our vegetables and fruits after body parts? An ear of corn, a hand of bananas, ribs of celery, the heart of artichokes, a head of lettuce, navel oranges… I could go on, but that might get too corny. Ha!) Back to the produce stand: look at the husks and make sure they are green and moist. Feel the ear for any sunken areas that may be hiding under the husks. The silk should be white or yellowish green. At times there may be a small amount of browning at the ends, but the rest should be fresh and healthy. Pull the husks back about ¼ of the way to reveal the tip of the ear. The kernels should be firm, plump and shiny. Avoid sunken kernels, dry or yellowish husks and black-spotted husks. These are signs of age and indicate that the corn is better suited for cattle. There is no reason for corn like this to be on the rack, especially this time of year when the fresh harvest is in. Growing perfect organic corn is a challenge, since an organic mineral oil has to be injected into the tip of each ear to keep the corn worms out. This is a tedious task and the injections also have to be timed properly, when the corn is at just the right stage. Other organic corn farming practices include Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which uses beneficial insects to help control pests. Organic corn is also very sensitive to soil temperature and the length of daylight hours, making it more labor-intensive to farm. This should answer the common question of why organic corn is more expensive than conventional corn. Sweet corn really is delicious, nourishing and perfectly safe to eat raw as well as cooked. The average ear has just 75 calories and delivers three grams of protein and a gram of dietary fiber. Happy crunching!