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All that makes sense to me; thanks, @blue_dolphin. I find the whole process, from 3.25% cow's milk to 83% butter on the refrigerator shelf, pretty interesting.

I'd wager the mix of bacteria used are pretty similar, though probably not exact. In both processes, they fractionate the cream from the skim milk prior to culturing the crème fraîche or future butter so they're working with a high fat substrate so it makes sense they'd have some similarities. Any commercial entity producing a fermented product at scale tends to keep their bacterial strains confidential. Even if they deposit samples in a public biobank as part of a patent or trademark process, they're probably not the exact same cultures used in production. I found these strains listed as being used to culture butter here: Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris (Leuc. citrovorum) The strains listed for crème fraîche production tend to be much the same crowd, although like here, where they list the first 3 strains above, they also say things like, "often others," and probably won't cough up the exact cocktail of bugs.

I know we have a few investors on eG...

Thanks @blue_dolphin, that is a cute cartoon, if a bit lacking in detail. My interest was piqued by @pastrygirl's assertion that the cream was made into crême fraiche before being made into butter. Is that really what happens? I imagine that making crëme fraiche and making butter are similar processes, especially in that culturing includes thickening and flavor development. But surely, the same bacteria aren't used for the two products?

Patagonian scallops with roasted chile Poblano in a cilantro-lime-habanero sauce.

I really enjoyed yesterday's beans on toast so I had almost the same thing today. Beet greens as the veg and Rancho Gordo ceci neri (black garbanzos) as the bean:

Tri-tip, cooked SV then seared, with steamed cauliflower in butter.

Hi @ElsieD ... last night I came across these in my files and I thought of your request. Maybe they'll give you some ideas. I'm planning to combine ideas from these two recipes and put together a "Taco Tuesday" for some neighbors: https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/chicken-tinga-tacos/ https://youtu.be/O6L7qpLXdk0

I think the S&B is the way to go. I know the Karashi you are stocking very well and while it is much sharper and hotter than the S&B it lacks the complexity you are looking for. You may consider adding a tiny pinch of sugar (to harmonize the taste, not to sweeten) and a more generous pinch of MSG. Other than that you are golden … (Come to think of it: of course, one could use a different vinegar to add additional depth)

I might have a never-used garlic press somewhere. I either chop up fresh garlic with a knife, or smash it up in a granite mortar. We go through several heads of garlic most weeks. Local organic market often has very good garlic. Grocery store garlic is usually decent. Interrnational market garlic is hit or miss.

The water on top of the table is actually necessary - the heat from the wok is so hot that it would warp and damage the stainless steel table, not to mention burn anyone near it. So a small stream of water constantly flows into the "bucket" and overflows onto the table to keep the table cool.

You forgot to mention the morels!

Asparagus and Fava Bean Soup

love the counter-top drainage system they have.

Saturday night we had dinner at the top rated Italian restaurant in town, La Cucina Sul Mare. We could only get a reservation at 5:30 (a lot of the restaurants close at 8PM in this town). It was absolutely packed when we arrived. We ordered four oysters rockefeller to start (one each). And an order of the warm bruschetta at my nephew's request. Unfortunately this was a soggy and not warm. My nephew took a picture of his linguini with giant meatball and said to share it with you. He said it was very bland. It's rare for him not to finish a meatball, but he left about half of this plate behind. I ordered the swordfish piccata, minus the shrimp garnish. This was also bland, and oddly lacking in lemon flavor. I think these purple flowers must be the official garnish of Falmouth-they were on all the plates yesterday too. Sister had the linguini with clams. She said it was...bland! Husband ordered a special of swordfish with clams and sausage. It came in a tomato sauce that was not mentioned when the server described the dish. Note the ubiquitous purple flower. No dessert, as once again the portions were massive and much food went uneaten. My sister and nephew returned home yesterday, so it's just my husband and me for the rest of the week. Here's the kitchen at the house. It has nice views of the water. The beach on a gray Cape Cod spring day After trudging along the cold and windy beach all morning, we decided the next best thing to do was to go to town and find some ice cream. That's what you do if you are from New England 🙂 Ben and Bill's Chocolate Emporium looked promising. I am sure we will try most of the options in town before the week is out. The options I thought the lobster flavor was probably vanilla with chocolate lobsters in it or something, so I walked down the case to check the sign for it... Um.....OK. I got mint chocolate chip, which was nice and minty but had too many chocolate chunks for my personal taste. I just ate around most of them. All the fish markets in town are closed on Sundays, so we had to eat out again. We chose Estia, a Greek place. We started with calamari, which was large enough for about six people. What we managed to eat was tender and well seasoned. I had the shrimp saganaki for my entree. I think there were 12 large shrimp in there and about three cups of rice. It was tasty but much too much food. Husband ordered the shrimp and swordfish skewers, which also came with grilled vegetables and fries. And both entrees also came with huge salads! Next time we go out I think we are going to just share something.

@Dejah For me, it depends on how old the water spinach is (when it was harvested). When I grew my own, I could pick it relatively young and just stir fry it with garlic and a splash of stock. I'd still separate the tougher stalks from the leafy parts and cook the stalks first then toss in the stems and the stock. If it's older and more woody, you can separate the stalks from the leaves, then blanch in some water with salt and a bit of baking soda which will help them keep their green color. Remove to a cold water bath to stop cooking then drain. Then stir fry. The blanching time depends on how tough the stems are. Hope this helps. You can also check out this video but I'm not a fan of splitting the stems like he does as you don't see it that way in SE Asia. They're usually just cut into 3-4" lengths.

I don't think I have ever cooked water spinach. Sometimes my CSA box gives me greens (pea shoots come to mind) that get stringy when you cook them up, and I do find it frustrating. After having to struggle through eating big clumps of them in various soup bowls and stir fries I now usually end up mincing them really fine or blitzing them into a pesto or something. If anyone has better ideas for this type of green I would also be very interested!

Trying to work my way through the freezer and pantry--especially the "emergency" stuff. And improve my eating habits as a household of one. I defrosted a couple of chicken thighs and pulled out some old pantry items. Had some grape tomatoes on their last legs. I did not intend to put quite so much of the seasoning blend on this but my hands got out of control when I was sprinkling it over. It worked out fine because this turned out to be very tasty. I had never used canned potatoes before and wasn't sure how they would be. I remember buying them thinking they'd be good to keep on hand for emergencies--add a can of veggies and some stock and instant soup. But had not used them and they were expired so needed to get off the shelf and used or into the trash. I wouldn't want them on a regular basis, but roasted as I did this, I couldn't really tell they were canned. I thought I had a photo of it after being cooked, but apparently not.

I have that in my pantry as well as this (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and Organic Karashi Mustard. I've not tried them yet but certainly will soon. Nonetheless, I'd like to work on my own creation as well.

We both got another round of Covid vaccinations the other day; and we both had more side effects than usual. Just a general malaise, headache, body aches, etc. So... Chicken noodle soup, from scratch.

That's putting it mildly and as I remember, it's practically all year long.

I'm having a good week in the fruit department. Not only did my second favourite fruit, mangosteens turn up but today I got the first of the season's 杨梅 (yáng méi) Chinese bayberries (Myrica rubra), my favourite. I first mentioned them back in this post. Happy mouth!

I'm pretty sure I have that book somewhere...I do remember, and this is quite some time ago, that when driving past Gilroy at harvest time (be it heading north or south), the air was perfumed mightily. As far as garlic presses go, just a waste of space in a drawer. Nothing that a sharp knife or a microplane can't handle.

I mix this... According to the directions. It works great. Buy here (eG-friendly Amazon.com link).

I haven't tried it but some people lacto-ferment mustard. That might help give you what you are after.