Smithy

I didn't know that. Thanks! Edited to add: after reading your comment, I doublechecked the aforementioned cookbook, and it said that the wolfberry is also called "desert goji" because of its more heavily-marketed Asian relative. My day isn't wasted; I've learned something new.

A lot has been going on here in the Princessmobile world. In addition to the Coronavirus pandemic and its effect on Life As We Know It (food discussion over here) we've had mechanical troubles (generator on the fritz again), storms, and a very fun visit from my sister, who finally made it here from Reno. We ate well, and ate about half the dishes I had intended for the holiday visit that didn't happen, but I'm not sure how much of a food story I can make about it. Instead, allow me to introduce the Wolfberry. (Its name really doesn't need to be capitalized, but I figured I'd do so once for the formal introduction.) This unassuming bush is part of the native ecological community, and shares the banks of the washes with other plants such as creosote-bush, desert lavender, and...well, there's a surprising diversity to the plant life here. I don't know what it does during the summer. In the fall when we arrive, it seems to be more or less a dusty green lump. But if you look closely, along about December, you'll start seeing tiny flowers - usually lavender, sometimes more pink or white or even yellow. The pollinators get busy and happy, and by springtime red berries begin to develop. The berries are edible. They're tart and sweet, and if you're willing to brave the thorns there are things to do with them besides eating them out of hand. I decided to try it. Did I mention that they're tiny? My darling quipped, "You'd need a lot to make a dozen!" (He's such a card.) It did take many dozen to get the couple of cups' worth of berries. I found some bushes that were far more red than green, and selected berries from them. I don't know how the locals harvest them. My method was slow, picking berries one at a time, and not trying to strip them off the branches. It was a pretty day, and after an hour or so I had what I needed. See all the leaves among the berries in that center picture? That was the next step: trying to separate them out. I didn't have an appropriate sieve. There wasn't enough wind to let winnowing do the job. Washing didn't do it. I finally had to resort to picking the berries out, one by one. That happened the next day, when it was time to bake. @FauxPas has mentioned the cookbook Eat Mesquite and More: a Cookboook for Sonoran Desert Foods and Living, and last fall I succumbed to the temptation to buy the book at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. (Hey, profits go to a good cause.) I chose a recipe for Mesquite-Wolfberry bread, because the intended recipients included someone who can't have gluten or dairy. This recipe has neither. The ingredients are spelt flour, mesquite flour, almond milk (other nut milks or dairy would do), the berries, agave or maple syrup (I had honey), oil, and other items that I can look up if anyone's interested. The topping is some of the berries, and chia seeds. It's pretty, isn't it? It also smelled good while baking. I took it to a meeting, it was well-received, and very little came home: enough for my sister, my darling, and me. What's funny about the bread is that, to my sister and me, it had a sweet and flavorful beginning but a bitter aftertaste. My darling thought it wonderful, and one of the best dessert breads he'd ever had. The gluten- and dairy-intolerant person wrote me later and said, "thanks so much for the brownies! They were great!"

Thanks for that, Toliver. I sprang for that, and then went down the Kindle rabbit hole to arrive at Saffron in the Souk for $3.99. Not quite the usual bargain-basement price, but for 4 bucks I think it's a good buy.

I may just be slow on the uptake (as in, years slow) but that matches my feeling about them now. I cracked up when I read the above statement about recycled cardboard. Those oatcakes, on the other hand, do look delicious. I may have to try making them. There's also pita, as kayb notes. I've had pretty good success with that although I've been away from bread-baking (again) and it always takes a try or three to get it right.

Hello and welcome, Josh! It's delightful to see a new member arrive from South Africa. We always enjoy seeing new members turn up with different seasons and food traditions. I can't help with the pastry and confectionary questions, as I'm one of the gapers-and-admirers only, but if you have questions about how to use the forums, or where to post something, feel free to ask a host (I am one) by PM, or else ask publicly in the Moderation and Policy Discussion forum.

Breakfast this morning: the last half of a Chicken Caesar wrap I bought at Sprouts yesterday to stave off becoming hangry, followed by a walk, topped by another of those lovely grapefruits. I think I'm about done with the "wrap" concept of wheat tortillas wrapped around something else without being cooked after, as in a burrito or quesailla. Sure, they're handy, but the uncooked tortilla is too raw-tasting and bland for me. I think I've been coming to this idea slowly over the last few months, between my best friend and @heidih and their good advice on making the most of corn tortillas. I don't know where that will leave me for grocery store convenience food, though. As a rule, the bread is no great shakes either. During our walk we found the first desert hibiscus of the season. These blossoms are a little bigger than an inch across, quite startling to see coming from a bush I'd thought to be an apricot mallow.

I too have ordered from Zingerman's and wished I could visit the store. Thanks for the trip and the pics!

When I visited my best friend in San Diego, a dish we cooked up reminded me just how much I like preserved lemons. Strangely, I got her started on them years ago and now she always keeps a jar going on the counter whereas I...well, here's what I packed along in the Princessmobile, still unopened: I opened it tonight, pulled out a section and minced it. As you see, it doesn't have much structural integrity any more. Tastes fine, though. I chopped broccoli into bite-sized pieces, steamed them until tender but still crisp, and tossed them with a little safflower oil, the lemon, and toasted pine nuts. This is dead easy, and delicious. The oil may be unnecessary. The broccoli accompanied the leftover Famous Dave's pork ribs that I bought a couple of nights ago when a trip to town turned into a very long and late day. I also bought brisket, but regretted it: the beef was dry. We agreed later that it had been an insult to the memory of Texas 'que. The ribs, however, were excellent in flavor, texture and tenderness. I shot these photos without the additional barbecue sauce, but there was plenty of that as well for he who wanted it.

Sprouts "Farmers Market" in Yuma had pine nuts in their bulk section. Strangely, they didn't reveal the source. That probably means they're from China. I tasted a couple, decided they were good enough for my pasta purposes, and bought some. I put "Farmers Market" in quotes above because it is a store chain that feels more like a very good grocery store than a farmers' market...more like, say, Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. Nonetheless they can have pretty good stuff, and I'm glad one has opened in Yuma in the last few years. I'd have taken a few interior pictures to post, but the doors are posted with Very Stern Warnings against videos or photos.

The transglutaminase portion of this discussion has already passed, but...is this the topic you were looking for? Pork Reconstructed

I stopped. Truth is, I've never liked my own yogurt as reliably as I've liked what I could buy in the store. I'm not sure why the flavor was so uneven, but a few months ago I decided to stop trying to figure it out and work on other culinary challenges. Edited to add: there was no reduction in waste, either, since I had to buy the milk...and I still have whey left from the last batch!

Breakfast today, with apologies for the fuzziness of the photos. I didn't realize until I'd eaten that they were out of focus. I've switched favorite yogurts from Chobani Greek (plain, nonfat) to Fage Total, 5% milkfat. It's probably the fat content that gives the Fage a richer mouthfeel. I haven't been able to find plain Chobani with any fat for comparison in the local stores. At any rate, this is my new favorite. A quarter of the aforementioned Bacon Avocado supplements it nicely, and I got brave enough to add some of my homemade granola. "Brave enough?" you ask. Well, this was my first attempt at making granola, using my best friend's recipe and method as best I could remember it from a recent visit. For 1 cup of oats I added 1 Tbsp honey and 1 Tbsp safflower oil, then mixed thoroughly. I also added some sunflower seeds to the mix. Then I baked it all at 350F, turning and checking, for about 15 minutes. There are two problems with the final result. First, the granola is overtoasted: I cooked it too long and it's browner than I would prefer. My friend says she generally only cooks it for 8 - 10 minutes, and pulls it while it's still soft because it will crisp up as it cools. I was waiting for it to turn crunchy in the oven. The much larger problem, alas, is the pecans. These pecans are so tough to break that I have unwittingly added bits of shell to my granola. Ouch! Ptooey! I may throw this batch out and try again. I'm glad I made a small batch. The grapefruit is something I scored in Yuma on Monday. Folks around here have proflific backyard trees and are happy to share the bounty. It's almost like zucchini in the Midwest, except that AFAIK nobody is dropping off bags at night on doorsteps. I have been delighted to receive some of the bounty. I was a bit nervous when I peeled this one and discovered a slight blush to the fruit: I think pink grapefruit is much too bland. Happily, this grapefruit tastes like a proper white (or yellow, if you will) grapefruit. And I have several more!

I scoffed at the idea of cooking pasta in the Instant Pot, until I ran across a recipe for Chicken Bacon Penne in a Garlic Cream Sauce (from Pressure Cooking Today) and tried it. Delicious. As @JAZ notes, recipes that make the sauce while the pasta cooks in the same pot can work well in the Instant Pot and save some dishes afterward.

Once again, Amazon has saved me from buying the same cookbook twice. (I refer to Charred and Smoked.) OTOH I thought I already had ¡Cuba! and I didn't, so my library has still expanded -- even as Samsung complains that I'm getting low on tablet space.

Seen at the farmer's market: a sign advertising Bacon Avocados. Of course I had to investigate. I liked the information that these came from a California town, rather than Mexico. After another customer or two had finished swooning over the find and making their purchases, I asked about the flavor and quality. Very buttery, very creamy. Delicious! I was told. "Wait, but no bacon flavor? Then why are they called Bacon Avocados?" I asked. The salesman laughed, and said "I really wish the guy who developed them had been named Jones, or Smith, or anything other than Bacon. It would save me a lot of explanations!" I bought some. Here's yesterday's. Good flavor. Not as rich as the Haas, but quite acceptable...as long as you know you'll have to add your own bacon!

As I understand it, bulletproof coffee is also known as butter coffee, and people have discussed it here: Butter Coffee. I can't be much more help than that, because I haven't tried it. It doesn't look as though you need special equipment or sources.

Thanks for that info. It's interesting, and a bit discouraging, that they didn't get a (pine) nut crop at all last fall. I've signed up for their emails, and will keep an eye on their web site.

The pasta dish above would have benefited from some crunch. My darling thinks that croutons are the all-purpose crunch answer to everything, but the idea was off-putting to me. It wanted nuts. Specificallly, it wanted pine nuts. That made me realize that I haven't purchased or used pine nuts / pignolas for several years, and to wonder why. Was it because I was disappointed in them when they came from China? Was it because the pine nuts in the shell given to me as a gift went off before I managed to shell enough to use them? (@Darienne raised the question of unshelled pine nuts some years back, and got excellent advice about how to shell them, in the topic Nevada Pine Nuts. I'm still working on the pecans I purchased unshelled in 2015. I do not need unshelled pine nuts!) Does anyone know a good source of local pine nuts, preferably shelled, especially in the desert Southwest? I'm looking at @FauxPas and @lemniscate in particular, but anyone who has a favorite source should feel free to answer. I've posted this question also in the Pine Nut Source topic, looking for an update because @andiesenji's mail-order source is dead. Failing the local source, a reliable mail-order source or even grocery store source would work.

Does anyone (especially @andiesenji) have an update on reliable sources of pine nuts in/from the USA? The first link in Andie's post above is dead. Although I like the idea of the second source, I know myself well enough to know that I should not purchase unshelled pine nuts. (Unshelled pecans are bad enough!) Failing that, a reliable source of pignolas from Italy, or Spain?

The Pan did wonderful service again last night. I bought 3 pounds' worth of New York Style Calabrese sausage at the Stater Bros in Twentynine Palms when we went through in January. My darling thought it excessive at the time. Now he agrees with me that we should have gotten more. It has a delightful complexity of flavor that's most noticeable in a side by side comparison with other hot(tish) sausages, but that same complexity works well in a pasta dish like this. More gratuitous flower shots.

Lunch today. I really don't need this much. The salad is typically enough. But my darling just cleaned up the leftovers from last night's shrimp dish, so I DESERVE the remaining ham and spuds!

I thought you'd appreciate the "red" idea. Do you mean the whisk needs to be washed by hand, or are you referring to the pan? Not that it matters in the Princessmobile, since our dishwasher(s) are strictly manual. I have seen travel trailers with dishwashers, but those tend to be the super-luxury models that aren't intended to be moved much. In our case such a dishwasher would likely be used as a storage cabinet.

Same here! I think it's the same two books!

@rotuts, are you able to get spinach in bunches? It's a little more work than simply opening a bag and washing the contents, but I think there's a lot more flavor that way.

Happy Leap Day! I've been away doing things unrelated to food, although eating well. I don't know how interesting my salads would have been, or the mac 'n' cheese 'n' ham made from leftovers of our latest ham. Certainly the tube steaks cooked over the campfire, or the hash done on the camp stove, have been seen before. I'll show 'em again in due time. Maybe. Don't want to bore you. I posted about this in the Yard Sale topic, but I'll note it here too: at a recent yard sale to raise money for a bunch of musicians, I bought a wok pan / everyday pan in excellent condition. It cost me all of $2! It's the shape I've wanted for a long time, although now that I have it I'm challenged to find a place for it in the Princessmobile. There is no more wall space from which to hang anything, and it doesn't fit in the cupboards. For now it's living in my half of the closet (along with surplus dates, surplus olives, and presents awaiting my sister)(and, of course, clothes). It's too heavy to ride there for travel, though; the closet floor is too flimsy. I'll probably stow it in the underbed storage, or possibly the belly box, when we hit the road again. I have to weigh both items to be sure, but I think this pan outweighs the mandolin I also bought at that sale. Maybe the pan will simply ride atop the bed, with the musical instruments, when we move. @rotuts recommended a silicone whisk for the pan. Ironically, I had a nylon whisk that I'd bought for my darling to use when he scrambled eggs in his precious nonstick pan. I got rid of it because he didn't like the shape and he never scrambles eggs. I now have a silicone whisk, of the type recommended by rotuts, on order. Red. Last night I used the pan for the first time, and finally got around to trying the Butter-Poached Shrimp and Orzo recipe from Tasty.com that @Anna N put us all onto. I used asparagus from the farmer's market, instead of spinach. It was outstanding. A keeper of a recipe! And we have leftovers! Many thanks, Anna! Spring is springing here. So far the heat hasn't been brutal, but when the afternoon temperature pushes 80F outside the Princessmobile gets unbearably hot. I want to lie around and do nothing. Yesterday we went out for a stroll and found that a light breeze, and shade, made things better for both of us. It also gave us a chance to admire the flowers, which are coming out more by the day. One has to look carefully, though: many of them are tiny, and require careful attention to where one steps. There are exceptions, of course. The prickly pears are conspicuous. One still needs to not step on them.