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Just a quick posting on apple and pear quality at this time of year. You might have noticed that apples are not in their prime and in some cases, are downright disappointing. Because Washington apples have been in cold storage since fall, by the time May rolls around, it can lead to a mushy apple at times. The other problem is that new crop apples from New Zealand are not yet widely available. In fact, we just got news that organic apples from New Zealand are delayed at the port until near the end of May. We will switch immediately to the New Zealand crop when they become available simply because they will be more fresh. In the meantime, our produce specialists taste and rate produce every day, and you can trust that the rating you see on the site today is an honest opinion of what you can expect to have delivered to your door tomorrow.

Thanks for using AmazonFresh,
Mike

Essential Baking Company has a couple of wonderful tarts that are a great addition to Easter brunch. The Raspberry Mazurka and Zesty Lemon are fresh, fruity tarts that will brighten any brunch buffet. These tarts are hand made with natural ingredients and no preservatives.

The Raspberry Mazurka tart starts with a buttery crust and is then layered with raspberry jam topping and finished with a streusel like topping consisting of toasted seeds, oats and coconuts.

The Zesty Lemon tart also starts with the buttery crust that is filled with a freshly made lemon curd, lightly caramelized and finished with drizzle of white chocolate on the top.

With the fruit flavors that these tarts bring to the table they bring a reminder that spring is just around the corner.

We have brought on 23 new items from the Schwartz Brothers Bakery ranging from their great cookie selections, a variety of four pack muffins, pound cakes and breakfast rolls. Please check out their line up here.

The bakery was developed to supply the Schwartz Brothers restaurants in the Seattle market with the highest quality, fresh baked goods. They have expanded their line to include muffins, scones, danishes, croissants, cookies and pound cakes to offer for retail customers. Their baked goods are found in many grocery stores and coffee shops in the local area.

My favorites are the Lemon Pound cake, Chocolate Cream Cheese muffins and I am always fond of a good Chocolate Chip cookie.

The 2012 halibut season in SE Alaska opened on Saturday, March 17th and we should have fresh halibut available on Tuesday, March 20th. This fish is prized for its mild, sweet flaky meat that lends itself to many different preparation methods. Baked, grilled and broiled are the most common methods used but you can also poach, deep fry and sous-vide the fish also.

Some fun facts about halibut.

Halibut are sorted by the size of fish and the largest fish are known as "whales" and the small fish are known as "chickens".

The name halibut is thought to come from Old England, haly (holy) and butt (flat fish) because of its popularity on holy days.

When born halibut have eyes on both sides and at approximately 6 months of age one eye (left) migrates to the other side and the skin pigments change to the distinctive dark brown/green and snow white.



The scientific name for halibut is Hippoglossus due to the large size the Pacific halibut can grow. The fish average between 20-40 lbs. in the commercial fishery with the largest recorded fish caught coming in at 495 pounds caught near Petersburg, Alaska.

Halibut are a slow growing fish with a voracious appetite for anything that will fit into its mouth. While they are bottom fish that spend the majority of its life in the deep depths of the Pacific Ocean they are known to follow water columns up to the surface when feeding.

In 1995 the halibut fishery was moved from a derby style to Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQ) to better manage the species commercially. The fishing method used for halibut is the long line method. This method consists of two weighted lines that reach the bottom with a buoy at the surface. Between these two lines a line is strung with circle hooks baited with herring or other baitfish. The distance between the buoys can be miles long. The lines will be left to soak between hours and/or days depending on how the fish are biting. Having been halibut fishing I am able attest that it is one of the best times when the fish are biting. Being strong swimmers the halibut put up a constant fight even when hauled into the boat. It is common to kill the large fish before bringing on the boat because the strong tail has been known to break bones of the fishermen as they try to handle the live fish.

Due to weather conditions in banana growing areas, supplies are not large enough to meet current world-wide demand. We are working closely with a number of our vendor partners to ensure that we have enough bananas to meet our customer's needs. However, until the end of March, you might find bananas out of stock on our site more frequently than normal. It is also possible that we will occasionally substitute a different ripeness than what you ordered or send you the best of either conventional or organic bananas in your order depending on which is available.

We expect the situation to improve by the end of March, but until then, we apologize for any inconvenience. Thanks for your patience and thanks for using AmazonFresh.

I am pleased to announce that we now have an assortment of sandwich trays, cookie and brownie boxes and sub sandwiches all created by Gretchen's Catering. Instead of spending time in the kitchen making sandwiches, cookies, brownies and 8 layer bean dip let us bring to you these fantastic items in time for your Game Day celebration.

We have two types of subs, Italian and Meat Lovers. These subs are made with fresh baked Batard from Schwartz Brothers bakery and have the finest meat and cheeses. These foot long subs will feed up to 6 people.
The Italian sub has smoked turkey, ham, Dry Wine salami, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes red onions and an olive spread made with black and green olives, carrots and red peppers in oil.
The Meat Lovers sub is made with roasted turkey, ham, Genoa salami, bologna, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions mayonnaise and mustard.

The sandwich trays come in two different configurations.
The Commercial Break tray is an assortment of one sandwich each cut in half; Focaccia Margherita (fresh tomato and mozzarella), smoked turkey and pesto, ham and Swiss, California club.
The Game Break Down tray is an assortment of one sandwich each cut in half; Chicken Verde on herbed focaccia, roast beef and cheddar, Italian grinder and classic clubhouse.

The slider trays come in two varieties.
The Game Planner tray has an assortment of Italian, Clubhouse, Brazilian Steak and Cuban Pork slider sandwiches.
The Coin Toss tray has an assortment of Ham and Swiss, Smoked Turkey and Pesto, Chicken and Cheddar and fresh Mozzarella and Tomato slider sandwiches.
For side dishes we also offer Gretchen's Signature 8-Layer Dip that is a layered platter with black bean dip, sour cream, fresh guacamole, Tillamook cheese and Roma tomatoes. We have your dessert needs met with a cookie box or brownie box also available.

Enjoy these delicious bars made using Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix and bacon sprinkled with chocolate. Perfect for a game day dessert.

Servings: 16

Ingredients:

• 1 pouch Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 Tblsp. maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 10 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350° F.


2. Lightly spray 9- or 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.


3. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, oil, syrup, and egg until soft dough forms. Reserve 1/4 cup bacon for garnish. Stir remaining bacon and peanuts into dough. Press evenly in pan.


4. Bake 20 to 25 mintues or until golden brown. Remove from oven; sprinkle with chocolate chips. Return to oven; bake 1 minute. Immediately spread chocolate over bars. Sprinkle reserved 1/4 cup bacon over chocolate. Cool completely, about 1 hour or until chocolate is set.


5. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store tightly covered in refrigerator.

I wanted to share with you a cookie company that I have run across that creates some of the most wonderful cookies. Pinckney Cookie Cafe bakes four varieties of chocolate chip cookies that are very unique compared to your standard, run of the mill chocolate chip cookie. The founder Michael Pinckney has had a lifelong desire to create a uniquely different chocolate chip cookie and has developed four varieties that are mighty tasty.

Original Chocolate Chip- Dark Belgian chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut in a chocolaty dough.

COCO- Oatmeal cookie with Dark Belgian chocolate chips, coconut and a hint of orange.

Bing Bling! - My personal favorite. This is the original cookie that has replaced the walnuts with dried Bing cherries for a great combination of sweet and tart.

Classic Chocolate Chip- Two types of chocolate chips in a rich moist cookie dough.

These cookies are made with all natural ingredients and imported Dark Belgian chocolate to create these four varieties. They arrive to you in a sealed bag that is in a box so that you can be assured they will arrive to you intact and not a bunch of crumbs at the bottom of the bag. Try these cookies once and you will be a lifelong customer that I am sure of, because that is how I became customer.

I get asked this question every year when Thanksgiving time rolls around.

The USDA defines fresh poultry as having a core temperature no lower than 26 degrees. This means that surface of bird is pliable to the touch. If you push in with your thumbs the surface should give way to your pressure. All fresh poultry products conform to this regulation when leaving the processor and being transported to their destination. At this temperature the birds are in state that greatly limits any microbiological growth making the trip to your grocer a food safe trip.

The best way to handle all fresh turkeys is to open the package and remove the turkey, place in a sink, remove the giblets from the body cavity and/or the neck area, rinse the entire turkey with cold water removing any ice formations that are in the body cavity due to the core temperature being down to 26 degrees. Drain water from the body cavity by standing bird with the cavity opening over the sink drain. Place turkey on cutting board, pat dry and you are now ready to place the turkey in a brine or prepare your holiday turkey for immediate roasting. You should never allow the raw turkey to raise to room temperature to prevent any potential food borne illness issue.

Here is a link to the USDA site explaining the definition of fresh poultry.
USDA Poultry Fact Sheet

Snopac sockeye fillets are now available again at AmazonFresh.

This salmon processer is one of the last independent family owned fish processers in Alaska. They handle only wild, sustainable fisheries and are located in Dillingham, on the Bristol Bay, one of the largest bays in Alaska. They are very particular about the quality of fish that they procure from the fishermen they contract with. Snopac has a progressive vision to insure that the fish that carries the Snopac label is rated on quality first. It is things such as tagging the fish as the loads come in and using this information to bonus the boats that deliver the higher quality fish. They also require boats to have iced slurry holding tanks to hold the fish which preserves the quality of the catch. They limit how much fish the brailers (net transferring the catch from the boat to the dock) so that the catch at the bottom of the brailer aren't damaged and degrading the quality. The sockeye fillets are processed and flash frozen hours after being of loaded in Dillingham and this means to you that the fillets have hours of age on them instead of days like most fresh salmon in the market has. Thaw these fillets gently overnight in your refrigerator and you won't be disappointed in the flavor and quality that are part and parcel to these fillets.

Snopac is committed to sustainability and has the following statement on their website showing their commitment.

"THE FUTURE OF SEAFOOD IS IN OUR HANDS. All of our seafood comes from the pristine waters of Alaska where many of the world's most sustainably managed fisheries can be found. Snopac is committed to sustainable fisheries. We belong to Fishwise, an organization that links consumers and seafood suppliers who support sustainable seafood practices. All of our seafood is MSC certified under strict MSC guidelines. We believe that buying ocean friendly seafood not only helps to protect marine ecosystems, but it is a choice that will help insure future generations are able to enjoy the pleasures and health benefits of eating wild seafood."