TIP OF THE DAY: Baby Purple Artichokes (Fiesole)

In season now, these little artichokes are a treat for artichoke lovers and a lovely shade of vegetable for Easter dinner. Called fiesole (fee-YEH-so-lay) in Italian, the baby purple artichoke—the size of a large egg—belongs to the botanical genus and species, Cynara scolymus, which includes the green globe artichokes and purple globe artichokes. Artichokes are…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Meyer Lemons

During the cold winter months with most fruits out of season, citrus become a go-to fruit. Calamondins, clementines, grapefruits, kumquats, lemons, limes, mandarins, oranges, pomelos, satsumas, sweet limettas, tangelo, tangerine, ugli fruit and even more exotic varieties: All are waiting for you to enjoy. Cut them into salads, mix them into sauces, turn them into…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Savory Jam

Savory jams. From top, clockwise: tomato jam, garlic jelly, onion jam and pepper jelly. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.   Jam is a preserve of crushed whole fruit, boiled with sugar into a sweet spread. The use of jam to describe a food dates at least from the 1730s, and probably derives from…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Candied Chestnuts

Let us at them! Photo of marrons glacés courtesy PasticceriaCucinella.it.   Oh, do we love marrons glacés, candied chestnuts. They have been a favorite confection from our first childhood bite, atop a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a fancy silver dish in the tea room of a long-departed department store. Then, relatives visiting France…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Asian Pears

In the spring, when the blossoms fall from the Asian pear trees, the nascent pears are the size of peas. Now, at harvest time, many are as large as croquet balls, some varieties the size of softballs (and yet low in calories—about 50 per 4 ounces). If you see a red and white Subarashii Kudamono,…
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