There’s a new Bud in town… It started with a bold experiment. A year ago, Budweiser asked its 12 brewmasters to envision their own unique version of one of the world’s most iconic beers. After 12 recipes, six beers brewed for national sampling, and 25,000 opinions, the experiment has resulted in a new golden amber lager: Budweiser Black Crown.

Pot Roast with Fingerling Potatoes

Serves 4-6        

What you’ll need:

• 3 lbs Kobe beef arm or shoulder roast
• 1 yellow onion—roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic—peeled
• 1 cup red wine
• 3 cups beef broth
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• In an herb sachet:
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 14 oz assorted fingerling potatoes—split in half length-wise
• 6 oz baby carrots
• 10 oz parsnips—peeled & cut on a bias

How to prepare the pot roast:

1. Preheat oven to 325⁰F.
2. Liberally season the beef with salt & pepper.
3. Heat a braising pan over high heat & add oil. Place the beef roast in the pan, browning the meat on both sides (approx. 4-5 minutes per side). Remove the roast and set it aside.
4. Add chopped onion and garlic to the hot pan. Sauté until the onions start to brown.
5. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and allow it to reduce until almost dry.
6. Add beef broth & tomato paste, bringing the sauce to a boil.
7. Add the reserved beef roast & the sachet of herbs.
8. Cover with a tightly fitted lid & bake at 325⁰F for approx. 2 ½ hours or until tender.*
   *Check the meat by slicing off a piece. Thickness of the cut may cause baking times to vary.
9. Add potatoes, carrots & parsnips. Bake for an additional 25 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven & serve.

Are you tired of the same old cantaloupes and honeydews? For melon lovers looking for something a little different, a canary melon may be just the thing. It is a large and brightly colored oval-shaped melon that is often slightly larger than cantaloupes or honeydew melons. This variety is grown by Itaueira farms in Northeastern Brazil with a growing season starting in November and continuing through the winter months. The melon is characterized by a bright yellow outer skin. The interior is usually a green that is slightly paler than honeydew, and in some cases, it may appear to be almost white with just a hint of green. With a light, pleasing aroma, the canary is very juicy and has a tendency to enhance the taste of other fruits when mixed into fruit salads.

Since 1983, Itaueira Farms has been focused on growing top-quality fruits. The company, which is owned and operated by the Carlos Prado and his family, sells melons year round in Brazil and exports product to the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Along with earning consumer confidence in the flavor and quality of its melons, Itaueira also strives to earn the trust of its customers with regard to food safety, according to Rodrigo Lima of Crown International USA LLC, which markets the melons in the United States for Itaueira Farms. Mr. Lima says that “REI” canary melons have traceability on the box level and will soon have traceability on the item level: “We have been experimenting with stickering each piece of fruit with bar codes that are fully traceable, and we have seen great success with that in Brazil. We plan to begin testing that here in the U.S.”

What to look for in Canary Melons

When choosing a good quality canary melon, consumers should make sure the body of the melon is firm. The presence of any soft spots along the body is an indication that the melon has passed its prime, but it should be slightly soft around the stem area. If the stem area is still firm, then the melon is not yet ripe enough to be eaten.

Along with the general firmness of the melon, shoppers should play close attention to the color of the rind or skin. A ripe canary melon will be bright yellow with few or no blemishes. Shoppers must be sure to check closely for hints of green on the skin, which will indicate that the melon was picked early and will need to ripen before it will be ready to eat. The sweet flavor will not be fully developed until the ripening is complete, so there is no point in choosing a green melon if it will be chilled and served the same day.

Foodie Facts & Tips

• As with most melons, the canary melon is packed with vitamins including A & C—a sweet snack that’s actually good for you!
• Each box displays a Field harvest code number, which can be traced to the origin of each melon crop.
• Try wrapping canary melons with salty prosciutto for a complementary flavor duo.

Honeybell oranges are exceptionally sweet and juicy citrus fruits which only reach peak ripeness during the month of January. Also known as Minneola tangelos, Honeybell oranges are not actually oranges at all. Similar to Jamaican Ugli fruit, they are a hybrid or cross between the Darcy variety of tangerine and either the Duncan or Bowen variety of grapefruit. This hybridization process, which some sources say can be traced back to the ancient Orient, yields a tangelo with the coloring and size of a grapefruit and the sweetness and juiciness of a tangerine. Honeybell oranges are prized for their sweetness and relative scarcity, along with their abundant supply of juice.

Many customers order Honeybell oranges months in advance of their actual due date in January. A few strains may be ready to ship in late December, but the majority of the Honeybell crop reaches maximum ripeness during the last weeks of January, or possibly early February. Virtually all Honeybell orange trees in the United States grow along the Indian River in Florida, and the crop yield is often regarded as unpredictable from year to year. Growers take orders for the oranges throughout the year, but can only harvest the crop during January and February. Great care must be taken while harvesting Honeybell oranges in order to avoid damaging the distinctively bell-shaped stem end of the fruit, which actually inspired the name for the fruit itself.