February 2015 - Produce Available

Oxnard: 910 Commercial Ave., Oxnard, CA 93030, 805-483-5292/FAX 805-486-2412
Santa Maria: 415 Russell Ave., Santa Maria, CA 93458, 805-925-4253/FAX 805-925-5417
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Order online: www.produceavailable.com
February 2015
In This Issue
 Product Spotlight
 Cheese Board/Mushrooms, Truffles &
Other Wild Things
 Fruits of February
 February Vegetables
 This Month’s Happenings
Customer Spotlight
Known as one of the elite hidden crown jewels of Santa Barbara, Montecito Country Club offers an elegant quintessential Santa
Barbara wedding experience. Nestled right in between the “Beverly Hills” of S. B.—the quaint village of Montecito and the
world-renowned “Riviera of the U.S.”, Montecito Country Club offers a sweeping panoramic view of the SB coastline, harbor
and Channel Islands and continues this ambience in the historic indoor venue where guests can enjoy cocktails, dinner and
dancing overlooking SB and the Pacific Ocean. And to compliment this most exquisite feel, Executive Chef Michael Blackwell
is the man at the helm in the kitchen facilitating an even more exciting culinary experience for any event highlighted. Chef
Blackwell graduated from prestigious CA Culinary Academy in San Francisco, first putting his skills to test at Skadi Restaurant
in Mammoth, CA. In 1997, he moved to S.B. to establish his career working in the kitchen of S.B.’s finest eateries including
Sage & Onion, El Encanto Hotel, Mondial, Elements, Piatti’s & the acclaimed Stonehouse Restaurant at San Ysidro Ranch. As a
private chef, Michael wielded his culinary prowess from the enclave of S.B. to San Francisco as well as the Italian Isle of
Sardinia & the Cays of the Caribbean. As a native of California & part of the founding family of Long Beach, Michael
appreciates the abundance of regional harvest of land and sea and incorporates this philosophy into his cuisine. Michael credits
his grandfather, Llewelln Bixby, with the inspiration for his culinary passion and is continuously motivated by one simple
concept: good food brings people together. Requisite qualities aside, Michael’s deep commitment & dedication & service to the
community include many years of service to Share Our Strength as a spokesperson, a strong recruiter and a leader in the industry
working to end hunger for the children of our community & our nation. Michael’s other contributions include volunteering with
The Foodbank of S.B., working to support Santa Barbara Culinary Arts, Noah’s Anchorage, YMCA, Casa Esperanza, The
Howard School lunch program and most recently he and Sous Chef Michael Noyes together took the prize, winning the Master
Chef Culinary competition dedicated to the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara. Good job chefs. Our culinary
toques off to you, your team and all that you do.
Petite White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
A layer of white cake is baked with a luscious blend of cheesecake, raspberries and white chocolate. Each cheesecake
is decorated with pink chocolate shavings around the sides, a whipped cream puff and a pink chocolate heart on top.
(9-Count)
Petite Heart Cake
A 3” heart shaped layer of fluffy white cake is topped with creamy strawberry mousse. Each heart is covered with
white chocolate ganache and drizzled with red chocolate.
(18-Box)
Amor etto Cheesecake
A cheesecake to fall in love with! This luscious cheesecake is blended with Amaretto di Saranno liqueur and chunks of
amaretto cookies and baked on top of a graham cracker crust. The cheesecake is decorated with a layer of whipped
cream, chocolate drizzle and each slice is finished with a chocolate dipped, heart-shaped shortbread cookie.
(Cut-14)
Neopolitan Cake
This new cake is a delicious take on an old classic! A layer of chocolate cake, a layer of vanilla cake, and filled with
creamy chocolate mousse. The entire dessert is cover in whipped cream frosting and the decorated with chocolate
shavings around the bottom half of the cake and each slice is topped with a red chocolate heart.
(Cut-14)
Valentine Raspberry Cheese Bites
Creamy cheesecake is blended with swirls of raspberry baked on a graham cracker crust. Marbled on top with
raspberry preserves, each bite is decorated with a white chocolate puff & a red chocolate heart.
(80-Box)
Mushrooms & Truffles
Wine & Cheese: The Perfect Pair
Mother Nature is in charge here….and the only
constant in life and produce is “change”….all
mushroom pricing and info is subject to change
at any given moment…
Fresh, Wild Mushrooms
 Yellowfoot, USA
 Black Trumpet, USA
 Hedgehogs, USA
 Buna-Shimeji, IMP
With Valentine’s Day coming up, you are sure to get plenty of love
birds swooping in for dinner. With dinner, the couple is likely to want to
celebrate their love with a bottle of Champagne. Roll out the red carpet
by having an extensive wine and dine full course meal.
Champagne and Cheese is a classic combination. Cheese is a good
thing to nibble on while you enjoy your Champagne. Then, you
can move onto the rest of the dinner.
Try these pairings:




A light and fruity champagne with Brie Cheese
A full-bodied, rich champagne with Goat Cheese
A nutty flavored champagne with Swiss Cheese
An ultra sweet and light pink champagne with Blue Cheese
 Organic “Chef’s Mix”
 Dried Mushrooms-Cultivated Mushrooms
Fresh/Frozen Truffles/Oils
 Black Winter Truffles (France)
 Black & White Truffle Oils
 Truffle Peelings & Truffle Butter
Other Wild Things
 Frozen Huckleberries
*NOTE: Order Via Your Sales Rep With a 3-4 Day
Lead Time.
FRUIT
Fun Fact: Did you know that str awber r ies ar e the only fr uit that have their seeds on the
outside? Those tiny little flecks are future strawberries, provided you don’t chomp them down
first. And if you’re looking to start your own garden, you only really need one piece of fruit to
get going. The average strawberry has 200 seeds!
APPLES Apples available along with year-round varieties
include Honeycrisp, Braeburn and Lady Apples.
AVOCADOS The first part of the month, Mexico is the
primary grower and then California will take reign.
BERRIES CA Strawberries/Stemberries
Production is
coming out of Oxnard and Santa Maria mostly with some
Central Mexico volume. Pre-order Stems for Valentine’s Day!
Raspberries Pr oduction is mainly out of Oxnar d and
Central Mexico. Quality looks to be good with planned
varietal shifts for Driscoll’s.
Gold/Orange Driscoll Raspberries not available.
Blueberries Conventional volume is incr easing over all
with production in Oxnard, Chile, and Mexico.
Blackberries Centr al Mexico is the main gr ower with some
local berries.
Gooseberries fr om New Zealand year -round with some gaps
due to weather.
Red Currants fr om Chile ar e available for about 2 weeks.
STONE FRUIT Chilean Red/Black Plums, Yellow Peaches,
and Nectarines until March. Apricots are imported from New
Zealand.
CHERRIES Shipped in from New Zealand and very
expensive!
CITRUS Lemons ar e out of Ventur a County and the
Desert. Pink variegated Lemons from CA, Cocktail
Grapefruit, & Oro Blanco Grapefruit are in. Lime supplies are
steady out of Mexico. Key Limes from Mexico, Kefir Limes
from CA.
Oranges ar e coming fr om the Centr al Valley of CA. Blood
Oranges are still going strong out of CA. Cara Cara Oranges
are from CA. Meyer Lemons from USA, Clementines,
Minneola Tangerines, Finger Limes (Done locally), Citron
Buddha’s Hands, & Mandarinquats are all available.
FIGS CA Brown Turkey figs are still available this month.
GRAPES Red and Green Grapes are now coming from
Chile with some Peruvian product in the mix.
KIWI Baby Kiwi starts early to mid-February.
MELONS Cantaloupe is coming mainly from Honduras
with some fruit coming from Costa Rica & Guatemala.
Honeydew melons are coming from Mexico & Honduras.
Watermelon looks to be tight again this month with product
coming from Mexico.
PEARS Barlett, Bosc, Comice, D’Anjou, F orelle, Red,
and Seckel Pears are all available. Most product is from
Washington.
PERSIMMONS F or just about 6 weeks, F uyu
Persimmons will be available from Spain.
PINEAPPLE Costa Rican Gold variety and South African
Baby Pineapple with edible core available this month.
EXOTICS FROM AROUND THE WORLD White
Dragon Fruit/Pitaya, Rambutan from Honduras; Jumbo
Taiwan Starfruit, Feijoas from USA; Thai Young Coconut,
CA Red Cactus Pear/Prickly Pear (Done until May),
Kiwano Melons from New Zealand, Chilean Cherimoya
with light supplies, Lychee from China, Passion Fruit from
Florida.
Vegetables Fun Fact: A slender white vegetable, hearts of palm is encased in a tough cylindrical, ivory husk.
Inside is a tender flesh that is delicately flavored, somewhat like an Artichoke. Add some Hearts of Palm to your
Valentine’s Day salad.
ARTICHOKES Artichokes are coming locally out of
Ventura County with a nice selection of sizes.
ARUGULA We have been fighting weather on Baby Wild
Arugula and all Arugula for that matter, but we are
bouncing back slowly.
ASPARAGUS Peru and Mexico crops are the main
asparagus growers. White grass is available. Purple variety
gapping.
BEANS Green Beans, Haricot Verts, Yellow Wax, Purple
Wax, & Dragon Beans are available.
SEA BEANS, Aka SEA ASPARAGUS available yearround.
BEETS Large and baby varieties in Red, Gold, & Striped
(Chioga).
BELL PEPPERS Crops on all colors shipping from
SoCal, Nogales & Baja easing into Mexican product. Baby
Sweet “Veggie” Peppers are limited.
BROCCOLI Mostly being shipped out of Santa Maria with
some Yuma & Scotsdale broccoli.
BROCCOLI RABE (RAPINI) Limited in supplies.
BROCCOLINI, aka, ASPIRATION Light supplies.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Brussels are coming from
California & Mexico. Baby Brussels are also available in 12
-pints packages from Babe Farms in Santa Maria.
CAULIFLOWER Main harvest areas are still Santa Maria
and Yuma. Large Green, Orange & Purple are available and
Baby sized cauliflowers are attainable locally.
ROMANESCO Large & Baby sizes available. Makes a
unique vegetable to display or plate.
CELERY ROOT, aka CELERIC, CA grown.
CHARD CA grown Green, Red, Yellow and Rainbow.
CORN Yellow and White still packing in Mexico.
CUCUMBERS Sonora production is light, but Sinaloa is
picking up production.
EGGPLANT Supplies have been meeting demand as
fields pick back up after have cool temps affecting crops.
LEAF LETTUCES Blister and epidermal peel are
prevalent with all leaf items due to freezing temps, but we
look to bounce back if mother nature complies.
PEAS Snap Peas, Snow Peas, Pea Tendrils, & English
Peas available. Remember, Spring is prime English Pea
season so price is up and product is light in availability
until then.
SPECIALTY POTATOES Russian Banana, F rench &
Purple Fingerlings, Red Thumb & Mixed Heirloom
Potatoes all CA grown by Weiser Farms.
SPECIALTY RADISHES i.e, Icicle, Sno Ball, Sparkler,
Purple Plum, Black, French Breakfast and Watermelon
Radishes, all locally grown by Babe Farms in Santa Maria.
RHUBARB Hot House available in an 18lb case, but
expensive.
SPRING MIX One of our vendors was hit so hard with
crop problems that they have no product until March!
Other vendors are making due with lighter supplies from
past weather issues.
SUMMER SQUASH/BABY SUMMER SQUASH Not
peak of season product, but some varieties are still
available such as Baby Yellow and Baby Green Squash.
SQUASH BLOSSOMS Available in limited supplies with
better availability in Spring.
WINTER SQUASH Green Acorn, Butternut, Banana,
Kabocha, Spaghetti and Mexican White Squash. Some
varieties are more limited than others.
TOMATOES
Crops are transitioning from eastern
Mexico to western Mexico. Volume looks to be good to
start the month with sizing running on the larger side on the
new crop.
LATE WINTER SEASONAL INSPIRATIONS: Beet/
Collard/Mustard/Turnips, Chicories, Endive, Cabbage,
Celery, Celery Root, Turmeric Root, Chayote, Fennel,
Horseradish, Leeks, Pearl Onions, Parsley Root, Parsnips,
Rutabaga, Specialty Colored Carrots, Potato varieties,
Sweet Potatoes, Yams...
Mark Your Calendars
January 28-February 7...Santa Barbara Film Festival
February 14…Valentine’s Day
February 16… President’s Day
February
1
Valentine’s Day Fun Flower Facts
Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year. Most of the more than 1/2 million restaurants in
the U.S. have special events scheduled for this day and the weekend that follows. Pre-Order
your Red Roses for Valentine’s Day by February 5th to ensure you get the best quality
available.
Here are some fun facts about Flowers for Valentine’s Day:

73 percent of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men, while only 27
percent are women.

15 percent of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.

The red rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.

Red roses are considered the flower of love because the color red stands for strong
romantic feelings.

California produces 60 percent of American roses, but the greater number sold on
Valentine's Day in the U.S. are imported, mostly from South America.

Approximately 110 million roses, mostly red, will be sold and delivered within the
three-day Valentine's Day time period.