From toxic to tasty

Weeds! Hate ém! The villain of our garden plot is the Silverleaf Nightshade, a southwest native relative to the tomato and potato. Invasive, prickly, and toxic to livestock, this.noxious plant hides a secret benefit -- its shiny yellow berries have been used for centuries as setting agent for cheese!

Chihuahua is famous for asadero, a buttery regional cheese similar to mozzarella. After the curds are formed, the resulting cheese is reheated in its whey until slightly melty, then stretched into ribbons and wound into a ball. Yummy for quesadillas or chile relleno.

Coming soon... we'll document the process when a neighbor visits the farm to teach us the technique.

e.