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@TdeV Got it . will you be able to add a few pics ? 3 - 4 aspects ? looking forward to it . Way Back When , David Letterman had a segment ( I viewed it the next day or so , who can stay up that late ? ) " Know your Cuts of Meat " I did pretty well , but got no meat , and that Meat was Prime from Lobel's https://www.lobels.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorAs7DmANemW9ZsWnBJ2UgD0XohB_wjN2a2v26APWsYHi5fL2ED ' Know your cuts of Pork "

I have a cut from my university meat store which is labelled "Pork Chef's Prime Roast" and I've no idea what it means. It's 2 lbs and has no bones, no visible fat.

@Ann_T, wow, spectacular! I also love Khorasan. From time to time, I'll venture into both emmer and einkorn, but though I love their flavors and aromas, I really like that Khorasan is both really aromatic and as easy to work with in my experience as wheat.

@Ann_T Your loaves are always spectacular! 😍 I think you'll really love the flavor of that Khorasan flour.

@TdeV Im not sure what you are referring to .

I don't think that sous vide or any closed environment would work. Water needs to evaporate from the apple mixture to make apple butter.

I have 45 regional cookbooks spanning present day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran. Cooking through will take me several reincarnating lifetimes! I don't have a bookshelf so the physical books sat on my desk. Because these books bring sparks of immense joy to me, all the hardcovers are covered in Brodart archival mylar—even books without dust jackets. The softbacks are in self-adhesive archival plastic from Demco. They are my source of references helping me learn and explore regional Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and provincial Iranian (Persian) cuisines. The authors are culinary custodians and stewards of their respective regional cuisine. I have performed due diligence on the authors' culinary backgrounds and their expertise—ensuring that the recipes and techniques I am learning are close to the traditional and classical source obtained from India as much as possible. All of these books with an exception of a few are published in India, written for the Indians in India. I have included a collage representation of my books.

Thanks for your reminder. I don't think I'll use a slow cooker or the Instant Pot for this, but if I do, I'll pay attention to temperatures. The first batch didn't turn out very well ... 'twas a learning experience.

The duck turned out delicious, see here. @rotuts, what is Chef's Prime Pork Roast?

Some fabulous meals, and @Shelby- never a boring meal in your meals. Beef strip loin trimmings from a whole chunk, stir-fried with various vegetable: Eaten with fried rice made with leftover Basmati rice from another meal: Pan grilled strip loin with air-fryer carrots, cauliflower, and Cavendish fries. Always enjoy green peppercorn gravy. Cold cold prairie temperatures: last night was -33C with windchill of -40C calls for comfort food! Sweet & Spicy Italian sausage, KD and peas. Started with Bok Choy & pork bone soup: included lotus nuts, fresh water chestnut, date, and ginger.

I had a very old glass lid , that fit perfectly on my small T-Fal ' fry pan ' I used it for ' fried-steamed ' sunny side up eggs . worked perfectly . it broke during a kitchen tune up. nothing I had would do. I had opaque lids but you have to see the eggs to get them cooked ' just right ' so I got these : Universal Silicone Glass Lid Set for Pots Pans & Skillet Size 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5,10, 10.5,11 & 11.5" Inches Tempered Glass Lid with Steam Vent & Cool-Touch Handle (Pack of Two - Grey) (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) the grey one. I like the grey the small fits perfectly on the small pan , R. heavy duty , good hand feel , seem well made . nice .

Last night I made a recipe from the latest Milk Street magazine for Korean chicken and vegetable stew (dakdoritang). I am still trying to stay ahead of the glut of root vegetables I am getting from my CSA, and this recipe called for a decent amount of carrots (plus I added a couple extra ones). We all really enjoyed it. I still have a ton of carrots (and parsnips) though.

I am so glad to see that you decided to get back on the road again, and look forward to following along on your adventures. Your new rig is very impressive looking!

I'm inspired to maybe start making more "seeded" loaves. These all look so good. Patrick, I had planned to stop at True Grain Bakery today to pick up their Stone Ground Organic Rye that I use to feed my Starter, and they also have Organic, stone ground, BC whole Khorasan flour. So I'm going get a bag of it too. Today's bake. Made a small "biga" yesterday morning using just the sourdough discard remnants in the bottom of a jar, added 55g of water and 55g of flour. Mixed, covered and left on the counter to rise. Added it to 600g of flour, salt and hydration was 70%. Made the dough last night before bed. Was left out on the counter until 3:00 am, for a 7 hour, room temperature fermentation.

@Shel_B, I forgot to mention. Most Instant Pots have a slow cook function. However, be aware that most (pretty stupid) slow cookers have a high, low and keep warm function. Instant Pot has a high, medium function. In other words LOW on a slow cooker is MEDIUM on an instant pot. Remember tthis when reading recipes!

Almond cake with pistachio crème and berry coulis.

I just trudged in through the snow to thaw out and see you in flip flops by the fire. Sigh. Looks heavenly. My toes are jealous.

The workshop in Austin would be a great chance to meet others who like to make confections. https://chocolot.com/products/eg-workshop

@Smithy no problem w ice in wine . Table Wine . I frequently ice-up Tj's Coastal Chardonnay . esp in the summer . even now . 12 F outside .

Dinner tonight in a local Chengdu style, Sichuan restaurant 酸菜鱼 (suān cài yú), fish (carp) with pickled mustard greens 炒花菜 (chǎo huā cài), stir-fried cauliflower Rear: 蒜蓉粉丝虾 (suàn róng fěn sī xiā), Garlic shrimp with vermicelli Front: 钵钵鸡 (bō bō jī), Chicken skewers in chilli oil broth Not pictured: more stuff for dipping in that oil soup. Including kelp, quail eggs, tripe and lotus root To finish: 冰芬 (bīng fēn), a famous Chengdu dessert of iced jelly with fruit. I didn't partake.

Now that I am an elderly single person who has no real desire to cook just for herself, I often find myself wishing my freezer space was the size of my fridge space. If I buy fresh foods, I often end up throwing out at least half because I can't use it fast enough. I do better with prepping or cooking and freezing stuff in small quantities. Maybe when I get moved, I can get a smaller fridge and a small freezer.

I don't know what you've been told about "typical UK weather', but sun drying is certainly possible. South Asia has a lot more rain! When I was still in the UK (where I lived 45 years) I regularly sun-dried all sorts of things including cherry tomatoes, my own grapes and other fruits.

Interestingly, another Kashmiri Ver recipe is simpler; however, this one includes addition of garlic and shallots. Kashmiri Ver Paste from Wazwaan: Traditional Kashmiri Cuisine By Sharief, Shafi and Rafiq Waza with Rocky Mohan Pound Together to a Coarse Paste 250 g garlic (lasan) 250 g shallots (praan) Dry Roast and Grind to a Fine Powder 1 kg Kashmiri red chilli powder 50 g black cardamoms (bari elaichi) 1 tbsp black cumin seeds (shah jeera) 1 tbsp green cardamom seeds (chhoti elaichi dana) 1 tbsp cinnamon powder (dalchini) 1 tbsp dry ginger powder (sonth) Method Mix the garlic and shallot paste with this powder. Shape them into cakes and make a hole in the centre big enough to pass a thin rope through it so that the cakes can be strung together and kept for use later. Dry the cakes in the sun until they have no moisture left.

I've never heard of "basaar" or "bassar" masala until now. From looking at online recipes and packaging, I wonder—if it is a British Indian and/or British Pakistani invention? As in, I don't think any members of the South Asian diaspora would spend time making the traditional Kashmiri spice cakes. With your typical UK weather, I don't think "drying out in the sun" would work. Someone came and make those "Kashmiri spice cakes" into ground, powder form and called it a catchy name to sell their product? This is possible. I have Wazwan: Traditional Kashmiri Cuisine and Multiple Flavors of Kashmiri Pandit Cuisine. There is no mention of the masala name. I did find the following: Kashmiri Succh Bari (Ver) from Multiple Flavors of Kashmiri Pandit Cuisine By Annapurna Chak They are flat doughnut-shaped cakes of ground spices with a strong aroma. Generally made in bulk at the time of weddings, they can be stored for the rest of the year or more. Small amounts are broken off as required, crumbled and sprinkled over food to give a distinct Kashmiri flavour. Kashmiri Spice Cake Ingredients 250 g black gram flour (dhuli urad dal atta) 60 ml water 125 ml mustard oil (sarson ka tel) Powder 70 g fenugreek seeds (methi dana), roasted in a little oil and then powdered 15 g turmeric powder (haldi) 60 g red chilli powder 15 g cloves (laung) 60 g black cardamom seeds (badi elaichi) 6 bay leaves (tej patte) 60 g cumin seeds (sabut zeera) 15 g green cardamoms (choti elaichi) 60 g dry ginger powder (sonth) 10 g roasted asafoetida (hing), powdered and dissolved in a little water 30 g coriander seeds (dhaniya) 5 g mace (javitri) 30 g cinnamon (dalchini) 1 nutmeg (jaiphal) Method Grind the above ingredients into powder. Mix the powdered spices with the black gram flour till well blended. Then adding mustard oil, dissolved hing and water little at a time, knead the mixture into firm stiff dough. The dough should not be soft. Use as little water as possible unless too dry to knead. Keep the dough covered in a vessel overnight. The next morning, from the kneaded dough, make ¼ inch thick flat baris (cakes) of 2 inches in diameter with a hole in the centre and arrange them individually on greased thalis (plates). Dry them out in the sun (on both sides) for the next two–three weeks till completely dry. Store them in an airtight container when thoroughly dried. These baris, if made properly can last a few years. Tip: Avoid making them during the monsoon or foggy days in winter since they need a lot of sunshine to dry the natural way.

@Smithy YOU. ARE. AWESOME.