Mar­ket Report

Eas­ily rec­og­nized, yams and sweet pota­toes are some of those ugly fall and early win­ter root veg­eta­bles that are found on the side of the plate this time of year.

Roasted, stuffed and on occa­sion, marsh­mal­low topped, the grow­ing pop­u­lar­ity of sweet pota­toes and yams has pushed their demand to become a year-​round thing.

Baby yams and sweet pota­toes, avail­able sea­son­ally from August through Decem­ber, make it eas­ier to enjoy a single-​serve sweet gem.

Com­pared to their larger coun­ter­parts, the smaller baby ver­sions allow for a petite, ten­der vari­ety to daz­zle the dish with color and fla­vor. With an edi­ble skin, the baby size have a sig­nif­i­cantly faster cook­ing time.

Well known named vari­eties, sim­i­lar to their larger and jumbo cousins include Gar­net, Jewel, Japan­ese and Sweet Potatoes.

Chilly autumn morn­ings nat­u­rally make us yearn to have a lit­tle some­thing baked with our pre­ferred wakeup hot bev­er­age.

Warm­ing up to lovely muffins, breads, loaf cakes and scones has the power to trans­form a ho-​hum break­fast into a desir­able first bite.

Let fall pro­duce guide the menu for savory and sweet oven treats.

Apples and pears, pump­kins and per­sim­mons, sweet pota­toes and car­rots– these are ample base­line fla­vors to set the course.

Cran­ber­ries and other sea­sonal jew­els like dates and dried fruits (apri­cots, cher­ries, raisins, etc.) have a dis­tinc­tive mouth feel when baked.

If Brus­sels sprouts, broc­coli and cau­li­flower are not part of the nor­mal veg­gie lineup, it could be dif­fi­cult to intro­duce kohlrabi into the kitchen rota­tion.

Kohlrabi is the cool kid on the veg­gie play­ground that requires a bit of explain­ing and some under­stand­ing.

Part bulb, part bun­dle of greens, kohlrabi may have an intim­i­da­tion fac­tor unlike its cru­cif­er­ous coun­ter­parts.

This fall favorite offers a delight­ful com­bi­na­tion of famil­iar and sat­is­fy­ing tastes. Kohlrabi has the tex­ture of a radish and the sweet­ness of jicama, with a slight hint of broc­coli.

The edi­ble leaves are like a milder ver­sion of col­lard greens. They are quite thick and gen­er­ally taste best when cooked or steamed. They can also be eaten raw, chopped and in salads.

Kabocha, pro­nounced “kah-​BOH-​chah”, is a win­ter squash encased in a dull, deep green, hard, mot­tled skin that is often­times lined with pale, uneven stripes.

There are also some orange skinned cul­ti­vars, though the green is the most com­monly pro­duced. This time of year, they begin to appear on autumn tablescapes and in earthy fall menu items.

The skin is tech­ni­cally edi­ble if cooked, though most com­monly, it is dis­carded. Round and squat, with a flat­tened top, it ranges from one to eight pounds. Gen­er­ally, aver­age weight is two to three pounds.

Inside is a deep yel­low orange flesh sur­round­ing a small seed cav­ity. Cooked, Kabocha offers a finely grained, dry flesh with a but­tery and ten­der tex­ture. Rather sweet, the rich fla­vor resem­bles a com­bi­na­tion of sweet potato mixed with pump­kin.

In Japan, Kabocha squash was tra­di­tion­ally eaten around the time of the win­ter sol­stice with shiruko (adzuki beans) in a sweet soup to boost the immune sys­tem and help pre­vent colds dur­ing the win­ter months.