Market strategies

Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne wreaked havoc with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables grown throughout the South. A spokesman at the Food Distribution Center said prices for produce will be high because of the extensive damage.

I have not seen a decent Florida orange or grapefruit yet. Usually, by this time of year, the juicy, luscious Ruby Reds are in the markets, priced at four for $1. The ones I’ve seen are very small and outrageously priced. What to do?

The answer is to purchase fruits and vegetables that are locally grown. We will have to wait and see about produce being shipped from North and South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Fortunately for us, there are still family farms in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The produce from Mexico, particularly the asparagus, is usually pretty good as well.

Local pumpkins are abundant in the market. And I recently saw a beautiful variety of New Jersey acorn squash and butternut squash at Trader Joe’s for just 69 cents a pound. Prices should top off at 99 cents a pound. Spaghetti squash is available, too, along with the Hubbard variety. Miniature pattypan squash and mini red, yellow and orange sweet peppers have just arrived as well. They are grown in Mexico and packaged by Master’s Touch. There are 12 to a box and they are uncommonly good. Visit the Web site at www.masterstouch.com for information and recipes.

I’ve purchased perfect New Jersey eggplants at the Reading Terminal Market and Trader Joe’s. Supermarket produce aisles are also filled with these deep-plum-jeweled beauties. Prices run from 99 cents a pound to $1.49 a pound.

Keep on the lookout for Driscoll strawberries from California. Supermarkets run specials on them from time to time.

I just finished reading Cooking for Madam: Recipes and Reminiscences from the Home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Marta Sgubin ($30, A Lisa Drew Book, Scribner, hardbound with full-color photographs), and it is a most charming book. The Italian-born author was the Kennedy family governess and, later, its self-taught cook from the late 1960s until Mrs. Kennedy’s death. The book was written with the approval and aid of Caroline Kennedy and the late John F. Kennedy Jr.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis preferred unfussy food, but she knew how to entertain in style. French and Italian dishes were often on the menu. Her parties, especially birthday parties for her children, were casual affairs, and everyday meals, whether prepared in her New York City apartment, at Red Gate Farm, her home on Martha’s Vineyard or her farmhouse in New Jersey, were simply prepared with the finest ingredients Sgubin could find.

Here are recipes for fall produce from Cooking for Madam.

Eggplant Fritters

Ingredients:

6 long Japanese eggplants
Kosher salt
Flour, for dredging
Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

Slice each eggplant as thinly as possible. Spread layers of paper towels on your countertop. Arrange the eggplant slices on the towels. Sprinkle each slice with kosher salt. Lay another layer of paper towels over the eggplants. Place weights, such as cans or paperweights, on top of the towels. Eggplant contains a lot of water and the weights will force it out. When you think the eggplant slices are ready to cook because the moisture is gone, pat them dry.

If you are using a deep-fat fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions. If not, heat about 2 inches of oil in a large frying pan. You may wish to use two pans for this. Place some flour in a brown paper bag and add the slices, one by one. Coat and shake to remove excess. Add the slices to the pan and fry on each side until golden-brown. You can keep cooked eggplant in a warm oven set to about 300 degrees.

Serves six.

Pattypan Squash with Onions

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter
5 large onions, cut in half, then sliced medium-thick
4 pounds pattypan squash
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and cook the onions until they are golden but not browned. Add the squash, salt and pepper, and stir so everything gets mixed together.

Cover to keep the moisture in and cook for about five minutes. Remove the cover and cook another 30 minutes until the squash are tender.

Serves six.

Ratatouille

Ingredients:

2 yellow peppers
2 red peppers
2 green peppers
5 medium eggplants
6 ripe medium tomatoes
1 large onion
4 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Seed the peppers and cut into 1-inch squares. Cut the eggplants into the same size cubes. Peel and seed the tomatoes and cube them, too. Chop the onion and mince the garlic fine.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cover the pan and over low heat, let them sweat for about 20 minutes or until they turn yellowish. They should not brown.

Remove the lid and add the peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, thyme, basil and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir well, re-cover and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes.

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Uncover the pan again and raise the heat but not too high. Simmer another 25 to 30 minutes to reduce the juices and finish the cooking.

Serve hot with meat or lamb or at room temperature as a salad. It should not be served cold.

Serves eight.

Note from Phyllis: You can substitute 3 pints of the mini peppers for the bell peppers. I really like these beauties because they are virtually seedless, have little or no tough membranes and are nice and sweet.

Salad d’Haricots Verts

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans, the smallest you can find, trimmed
8 ounces p�t� de foie gras
1/2 cup light olive oil
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
Salt and pepper
3 shallots, minced
1 teaspoon fresh chervil or 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped

Directions:

Bring 3 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Drop the beans into the rapidly boiling water and cook for about eight minutes. Drain and cool just slightly.

Cut the p�t� into matchstick-sized pieces, the same size as the beans. Gently mix them together, being careful not to break up the p�t�.

Blend the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper together and pour it over the salad. Add the shallots, toss and sprinkle with the chervil or parsley.

Serves six to eight as a first course.

Note from Phyllis: I buy haricots verts when they are on sale. The beans from New Jersey also have been good and priced at about 99 cents to $1.49 a pound. P�t� de foie gras is the cr�me de la cr�me of p�t�. You can substitute any kind of p�t� you wish for the foie gras.