PRODUCE REPORT

We’re eating our colours this week — starting with orange, our go-to shade from the produce department.

Satsuma mandarins are very good buying and eating, however, it’s the persimmon that is the week’s standout, affordable fruit pick. A great addition to a cheeseboard, persimmons are a good source of betacarotene and vitamins A and C, along with potassium and fibre. Try them in Kathy Paterson’s persimmon

cake, flavoured for winter with a little calvados or brandy, walnuts and cinnamon. Recipe on bite.co.nz. In the vegetable section, it’s hard to go past

buttercup squash. There is only another month to go until the buttercup season ends and they are sweet, nutty and dry, perfect for baking, steaming or microwaving. Warren Elwin roasts his and adds the mash to his American-style sweet pie, right. Flashes of dark green would ruin your orange pie filling but, usually, it’s not necessary to peel buttercups — the hard skin is entirely edible and is a great source of nutritional iron. If you must peel, do it after roasting when the task will be so much easier. As an alternative, The New Zealand Buttercup Council advises covering halved squash with aluminium foil (shiny side in) when baking — that way the skin will stay soft, like the flesh. That flesh is super nutritious too: just 200g will cover your vitamin C and vitamin A requirements for the day. It is also rich in calcium and one of the best sources of beta carotene ( just like carrots, another of this week’s best buys). When buying any squash or pumpkin, look for firm, heavy ones that are shiny — that indicates maturity and maturity means sweetness.

Store whole buttercups in a cool, dark place but, when cut, cover and refrigerate. If your cut wedge grows a little mould on the surface, all is not lost. Like other hard vegetables, including carrots, kumara, swede, cabbage and capsicums, pumpkin and squash are too dense for the mould to spread quickly. As long as you cut away about 1cm from the affected area, you can still use the rest.

Buttercup squash are believed to have been cultivated by the Incas and eaten in the Americas more than 5000 years ago. Also from South America, newseason yams (known in the Andes as oca) are arriving in stores now. Orange (yellow and pink), these sweet tubers add variety to roast dinners but can be steamed, microwaved and sliced for stir-fries. Do not peel.

Remember, if you are reading an American cookbook and it talks about yams, it is referring to vegetables similar to our kumara, not what we call yams in New Zealand. Yams contain useful amounts of vitamin A, B6, fibre and potassium. Thinking flavour combos, they like a bit of brown sugar or honey, ginger, orange or lemon juice and a toss in melted butter. Brussels sprouts (look for purple ones) and leeks are

good buying. Broccoli is back on the menu but spinach and cauliflower remain pricey. Suzanne Dale

Buttercup pie

Line a 24cm flan tin with sweet shortcrust pastry and rest in the fridge or freezer for 5 minutes. Blind bake in a 200C oven for 10 minutes. Remove the baking beans, and bake for a further 5 minutes. Set aside to rest. In the food processor blend 1½ cups roasted and peeled buttercup with ¼ cup evaporated milk (from a 375ml can) to a smooth puree. Place in a bowl. Beat 3 eggs and ⅓ cup caster sugar until the volume has doubled and the mixture is pale and ribbony. Add ½ tsp vanilla extract and fold in the buttercup puree. Add 1 tsp grated nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger powder, ½ tsp five spice, and a pinch of salt. Mix in the rest of the can of evaporated milk and pour into the pastry shell. Bake at 200C for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 170C and cook for a further 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.