Dinner With Jason....
The day started with a whole lot of Honey Extracting, but since that wondrously sticky undertaking is not half done, I think we will leave that tale until tomorrow and instead talk about what happens to a simple Indian dinner when it grows by leaps and bounds, taking on aspects of a Banquet along the way. A road paved with good intentions and fine ideas, which oddly enough, resulted in a pretty good dinner.
Jason had the idea that we should make Panir, a sort of Indian Cheese. I'd never tried it myself (neither had he, as it turns out) but what the heck, I'm always up for adventure. Turned out to be amazingly simple. Boil some milk and then pour water and vinegar into it until it turns into a curdled mess!
It is then strained thru some handy cheesecloth. (which, if you are extracting honey, you have a lot of on hand). You then "Squeeze out as much water as possible" This is a bit difficult because it is really, really hot.
You must then hang it to further drain and cool. My cooking partner devised this, I must say, ingenious method.
Emboldened by our success with the Cheese, we decided to make our own Ghee. Ghee is sort of clarified butter used frequently in Indian cooking. It can be easily bought at the local co-op. Which you will do, after your Twin Towers of butter melt, separate, burn and turn black.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Jason and I (well, Jason mostly, I was all for papadoums) move onto Naan, a lovely warm bread, often accompanying Indian DInners. The first hint of trouble here came when I noticed Jason mixing it up on one of Cabal's bowls. Clean, but still, Dog Bowl Naan? The second, when it would not RISE. I am thinking if your yeast packet says "Expires June 2005" it MEANS it. I made papadoums.
Here is the Cheese, now remarkably Cheese-like being fried up in preparation for the Cheese and Spinach Dish. I am making a Vegetable Curry. It is at this point dinner takes on a Banquet like quality, and we start to wish that we were having people over to share in this Feast (Boss is hiding out writing on a deadline)
Or maybe not. We were not perhaps the neatest of cooks. Still...
Sure did end up being a pretty fine dinner. And we sure did have some fun cooking it. I'm going to miss our friend Jason when he leaves tomorrow, but we are going to cook again someday. The Ghee will clarify, the Naan will rise, and we will have People over to be amazed at our skills.
Love and Dinner,
Lorraine
Jason had the idea that we should make Panir, a sort of Indian Cheese. I'd never tried it myself (neither had he, as it turns out) but what the heck, I'm always up for adventure. Turned out to be amazingly simple. Boil some milk and then pour water and vinegar into it until it turns into a curdled mess!
It is then strained thru some handy cheesecloth. (which, if you are extracting honey, you have a lot of on hand). You then "Squeeze out as much water as possible" This is a bit difficult because it is really, really hot.
You must then hang it to further drain and cool. My cooking partner devised this, I must say, ingenious method.
Emboldened by our success with the Cheese, we decided to make our own Ghee. Ghee is sort of clarified butter used frequently in Indian cooking. It can be easily bought at the local co-op. Which you will do, after your Twin Towers of butter melt, separate, burn and turn black.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Jason and I (well, Jason mostly, I was all for papadoums) move onto Naan, a lovely warm bread, often accompanying Indian DInners. The first hint of trouble here came when I noticed Jason mixing it up on one of Cabal's bowls. Clean, but still, Dog Bowl Naan? The second, when it would not RISE. I am thinking if your yeast packet says "Expires June 2005" it MEANS it. I made papadoums.
Here is the Cheese, now remarkably Cheese-like being fried up in preparation for the Cheese and Spinach Dish. I am making a Vegetable Curry. It is at this point dinner takes on a Banquet like quality, and we start to wish that we were having people over to share in this Feast (Boss is hiding out writing on a deadline)
Or maybe not. We were not perhaps the neatest of cooks. Still...
Sure did end up being a pretty fine dinner. And we sure did have some fun cooking it. I'm going to miss our friend Jason when he leaves tomorrow, but we are going to cook again someday. The Ghee will clarify, the Naan will rise, and we will have People over to be amazed at our skills.
Love and Dinner,
Lorraine
83 Comments:
Oh YUM. I might try that cheese, now you've said it was simple. I love that spinach and cheese dish.
Sounds like you had a delicious feast
Yes, must try to make this cheese.. Had indian for dinner here last night.. Tikka Masala with tofu :) (nan from a packet.. cheating..)
Hello to Jason, it's been a long time, look forward to seeing him play again somewhere in the world :) Preferably not soaking wet and covered in mud like last time ;)
xox
The cheese was REALLY simple, who knew???
Hi Hera! Soaking wet and covered in mud? Man oh man, gotta love it....You should come back here again soon, and we will play music and do some cooking!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Also, tickybox. Now I run to bed.
hehe yes, that was Glastonbury 2005.. madness, thunder and lightning..
Yes lets! soon.. xxox!
ps: grr you all have me hooked on twitter now..
I love palak panir/paneer. Vegetable curry is pretty good, too. The picture looks absolutely delicious. :)
Unfortunately, while I like vegetable curry, it doesn't always like me. ::sigh::
Still, looks very tasty!
Love the food post of course!!!
Indian food is my next venture really. I can't improvise it for crap so i'm starting with the basics like i did decades ago w/ italiany meals.
Looks like it was an amazing dinner.
Time for bed for me. Hubby''s been sick so part way through the night i moved into the guest bed (snoooooooring...poor guy!). Must actually put sheets on the guest bed tonight just in case.
Oh, you can also buy naan at the grocery store.
Well, I can. It's not fresh, though it can be warmed. Believe it or not, it can be found in the Deli, near the pitas, not with the rest of the baked bread.
mmm paneer :) i didnt realize it was a quick set cheese, that does make sense though. i imagine refrigeration id quite a premium there.
so jealous. kit's so hard to cook when i come home as jon leaves.
love the cooking and honey adventures. that actually sounds like a tops day. do you only make honey in spring? honey and pears are divine.
mmm paneer :) i didnt realize it was a quick set cheese, that does make sense though. i imagine refrigeration id quite a premium there.
so jealous. kit's so hard to cook when i come home as jon leaves.
love the cooking and honey adventures. that actually sounds like a tops day. do you only make honey in spring? honey and pears are divine.
oh for fods sake. i forgot the tcky box.
hera the picture in your icon is beautiful.
I started cooking Indian after Boss got me some cookbooks. He was tired of listening to me whine about there being no Indian places within 60 miles of us...
Not hard at all.
I am getting pretty sleepy Fiends...
You guys made sag paneer? I am so coompletely jealous as it is my favourite Indian dish.
And what better way to spend the day than cooking?
Of course the problem with using my mom's computer (apart from the annoying French keyboard) is that I need to log on everytime. and you can't tick the box if you're not already logged on. Ha!
I've never had palak paneer..but it looks awfully good. (Ariandalen, I have the same problem with curry...tasty, but my system hates me after) Naan is one of my favorite things too..onion naan, garlic naan.. you're making me hungry!
Oh, and Marjorie, I'm not completely sure what I'm gonna study yet..I've always wanted to study art, but I may try to find a way to combine that with anthropology. Library science looks good too. (Can you tell I"m a Libra??;)
Yummy food! Thank Fod I already had dinner.
Trader Joe's sells frozen naan which I pop in the oven before dinner. Well, I did. I'm trying to cut gluten out. Blah!
Also Nat, you don't have to be logged on. Just hit "PREVIEW" instead of "post" and after it's queued up, chose "EDIT" instead of "publish" voilà! The ticky box magically appears. Check it and publish.
OK, now I know what ghee and naan are. My life feels more complete and I may go to sleep in peace. I do love a bit of food porn before I retire for the evening! ; )
Dymphnasis
Mmmm. All sounds delish.
I am staying with brother and family. My sister-in-law can cook anything, I believe. Tonight it was homemade pizzas.
I think I am out of synch with everyone. With all these times zones, too. Foo.
Hope all are well, or as well as can be.
That meal looks yummy. Add me to the "gotta try this!" list. :)
Am back from several long hours at urgent care where I learned I've been hosting quite the party for microorganisms in my body. Good times. They actually had to give me an antibiotic *injection* (ouch) before starting me on the oral meds.
I should probably go to bed now.
Yikes Lexo! I'm glad they let you go home. Go to bed and stay out of the sun.
Mom lecture over. We return you to your normal program.
Nighty-night Fiends!
Ow -Lexa, poor thing. Get rid of those nasties quickly.
Hey Hera, the new pic is stunning.
That looks and sounds yummy!
Make your own ghee is easier if you microwave it, IME - doesn't seem quite so prone to blacken and burn. But I would have t admit I rearely cook Indian from scratch as it is easy to get takeout, here.
Saag Aloo is one of my favourites... well, anything with spinach really.;-)
HEra - you were at Glastonbury in 2005? If I'd a known I might even have gone. As it was, i stayed home and got flooded there instead...
lexa, home you feel better soon.
kali - anthropology would be awesome. (and Art and library science, but anthropology is what would make be envious!)
Saag Aloo...with Aloo Paratha.
I REALLY want some Indian food now, but alas, we are just having steak and veg.
Making cheese is fun :) Paneer is acid-curdled, and very simple. Another really easy one is yogurt cheese: buy (or make) plain yogurt, hang it up in the cheesecloth for a while. It's a bit like tangy cream cheese, and excellent with garlic and fresh dill mixed in.
If you store the yeast in the freezer, it will keep pretty much forever.
That looks like it was fabulous! Nicely done :) Glad you guys had fun and safe travels to Jason.
I am so hungry now...
OH...love palak paneer - looks horrible tastes great (at least at the rest. I go to!) I also love muttar paneer - paneer + cheese in a spicy tomatoey sort of sauce.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/muttar-paneer-recipe/index.html
A friend of mine from Indian said that Paneer was "easy" to make, but I never believed him...maybe I will give it a try after all!
Me, too, Dan. I think it's time for my magically delicious breakfast. Where's my damn tiara?
On the teapot; where else?
Had palak paneer on Sunday night from our local *d'lish* Indian restaurant, so tasty. I've always been too intimidated to try making it myself but now perhaps....
Looking forward to the honey post later, did I mention that I got the most amazing organic Lithuania honey? Thick and cloudy and so so yummy.
Is this where I shamefacedly admit I have yet to find an Indian dish I like? I have strange taste buds.
Lexa - Yipes!! Feel better!
Yummy post! Maybe I'll have Indian food tonight. Have a great day, everyone!
Om, and indeed nom! Now I want to make cheese.
I get naans out of a packet. Store in freezer, throw in toaster oven. It's almost obscene, I know.
We have lots of leftovers, who can say how much fun lunch will be????
Morning all!
Today is going to be a whole lot of sticky! All abut the honey, and a honey post tonight, earlier than usual , I think, as it wil be just me.
Liouse, your honey sounds great, but did you know, there is no way to correctly label honey "Organic" ? If by organic they mean nothing has been done to it, it should read "Raw" or "Fresh"
You can't tell WHERE the bees got the pollen now, can you? They can fly up to 5 miles, and there is no telling what pesticides and such they encounter.
Just an interesting Bee Fact.
Did you also know, she says getting into tonights post, here in the US there is NO regulating of labels? "Grade A" honey is just a made up term, as is clover, or wildflower. or buckwheat. Most commercial honey has the bees being fed primarily with sugar water...
Perhaps you could post us some recipes? Look like a wonderful feast that was fun to make.
Odd dreams last night. My undergrad advisor (I have not seen him 25 years) was scolding me about a number of things. Odd.
So my Gunter's All-Natural-Grade A "Wildflower" honey may not have been produced with actual wildflowers? 8(
I suppose they can't really call it Gunter's Artificially-Induced Sugar-Water Bee Puke.
Our last batch of naan sat there and did nothing. Like a giant bowl of playdoh. So disappointing.
I must try making cheese. You have inspired me! I must have something to do while I wait to garden. And much luck to you with your honey extraction.
Re: Organic Honey - in the UK, honey can be certifed as organic if the hives are kept on land which is certifed as organic and they are at least 4 miles from any land which is not - so it is possible but very difficult - as they also have to avoid other possible pollutants such as motorways and towns within the 4 mile radius(although labelling is regulated here)
I suppose we realy need to know what the rules in Lithuania are ;-)
I had some gorgeous local honey from an island I stayed on in Greece - they grow lots of herbs and the bees get their pollen from there.
I think it might be one of the things you are not suppose to carry across borders, however.
*ahem* jsut wandering off to check the limitation on honey-smugling. back. Not for me, you understand. No. it's for a friend.
Y'know, a bit of toast with some honey on would be very tasty right about now...
Hm. I can get local honey right across the street. But I can't get anything good to put it on...
Oy, Jess you make me laugh!
Jess, i think you may have jut provided them with their next advertising slogan. Advertising for the straight-talking consumer.
Now my Lithuanian's a bit rusty.... but the label says things like "ekologinis" and "eko agros" and "eko-medus" and "sertified public" and "The layer of white glucose on surface of crystallised honey shows that honey is natural and not processed thermally". Also the proportion of bee:hive in the picture means that either Lithuanian hives are teensy-tiny or their bees are MONSTROUS!
So yours is Naturally-Induced Giant Bee Puke?
Giant Bee Puke is so much better than Regular Bee Puke, or Bee Puke Lite
I stick with Bee Puke Classic after all of that nonsense with the ill-fated release of New Bee Puke.
Indian food so yummy! And soooo messy if you do it right.
We did a Feast for the Father-In-Law once- we made such a pile of mess in his kitchen he looked ready to faint. He never has tried to cook it himself- I think we scared him off.
BTW- you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar to curdle the paneer (wife claims it's more authentic), but it takes 2x as much and I think it gives the cheese an off flavor.
My fave- tandoori style chicken kabobs on the grill. Bright red and yummy too.
I am spending my lunch catching up so I will be brief:
There's only one hour
for me to make and eat lunch.
I want curry. :(
The frowning face counts as a syllable, you see.
Oh Fods I am laughing, you guys are REALLY funny.
I am not sure about Lithuania, but our honey is not processed thermally, I take it out and stick it in a jar, and it has never formed a "Layer of Glucose" on the top.
As far as honey smuggling goes, I tend to label it "Art" and seems to get thru just fine.
Make the Cheese guys. I feared the Cheese, but then Jason showed me the way.
Lovely Haiku El. We are about to do a leftover lunch. The Naan never did rise. Jason took it out and threw it in a tree, for the birds. I am going to miss this guy. Those wacky rock stars.
Don't know the name of the dish, but love curried tomatoey peas with paneer in.
Artificially-Induced Sugar-Water Giant Bee Puke!!!! Too funny. (I prefer to think, wishful though it may be, of it as bee spit. 'Cause that would be soooo much better, right?)
Time to pry monsters from the tv and go have an adventure. Speaking of monsters - saw the M v A movie. The monsters loved it (natch), I actually thought it was just okay. Only caught one visual reference to other movies, ariandalen, but more of the spoken ones. Still tempted by Dragonball. :) But not this week.
Still don't know if we're moving for certain this month. Get this; my guy called the landlord yesterday, who answered the phone but pretended he was not himself. *insert expletives*, I think we're in for a bad time.
Do not fear the Cheese,
marvelous Indian Cheese.
Rock star shows the way.
that Addams Family house is made for cooking, that kitchen is a divine bell of perfection, any gadget, any thing, right at your fingertips...
ONLY thing missing, sushi grade fish.
but that Indian food! it looks delicious.
and Q twittered that the NRN was flung into a tree.
so..mistakes were made?
No, no mistake Kitty, he MEANT to throw it in the tree...
::snort:: I will remember to mark as 'art' any future honey-smuggling attepts.
Is throwing unseccessful baking into trees permissible for all fiends, or only rock stars? (I have a poor track record with baking involving yeast . . )
I have it on good authority that ANYONE may fling Bad Pastry into tress. In fact, it is encouraged.
Woo! (I don't actually have any trees in my garden - so can only fling pastry at other people's homes), I am visiting my parents at easter - thus i shall be able to try again to make proper hot cross buns, secure in the knowledge that I may fling them into the trees if they don't work.
The olive tree in the garden is probably sending all good wishes so my dough never gets bad, then...
Yum! I'm a big fan of Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and he has a number of lovely recipes for homemade paneer. The paneer with spinach that uses chickpea flour in the yogurt sauce is extra yummy, as is the paneer bake in spicy tomato sauce with chickpeas. All EASY and fast. All worth making, and the paneer is even easier if you get a chinois-type of strainer (with dense mesh) into which you can pour the liquid proto-cheese, and only the whey will come out and the curds will make a nice little self draining hat.
I always called it bee spit, although I think your Bee Puke Thread is way funnier. Plus the pastry flinging.
Passover commences tonight so I had to search for matzoh - took three tries before I found the KP variety (yes, left it to the very last minute...) Mother-in-Law made it in, but threw off my whole day by getting in an hour earlier than expected, so I had to run get her as spouse was stuck at work. How often do arriving guests get in earlier when their flight is canceled???? Well, unless they have a Quiche to work over the airline, I mean.
So. With all the sticky talk I'm thinking of cooking something with honey. You remember, Father's Honey, from the Romanian Orthodox church down the street.
Oh, if any Fiendom Come peeps like Mexican vanilla extract, bring a container and I'll decant some for y'all because my nephew, the cruise ship guy, keeps sending us huge bottles. I have an extra quart and my SiL is threatening to send more. Judging by the weight of MiL's bag (ooof!) there may be some in there. God. It could be a gallon. No telling with them.
Marla,
I want to see the cheese come out in a nice little hat! And the chick pea flour version sounds really cool.
I can't speak for everyone, but I do believe a little pastry flinging is good for the soul, helps one get over the disappointment.
I don't want to jump the gun on this bee post, but have A FREAKING LOT of honey.
Princess Fluffy, we would take some magic vanilla...
Quiche, do you have Giant Bees too?
Would explain the vast quantities of honey. .
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@ Fluffy - don't panic me - please tell me you have pre-Passover hamtez chasing rituals that you observe - this food/table/Seder will NOT be ready until tomorrow at sunset.
Just a drive by to say. Yes! Vanilla. Real vanilla is heaven. When people use "vanilla" to mean mundane it breaks my vanilla loving heart!
All this food talk. I may have to pick up something on my way home. Nothing nearly as interesting to be found in my cupboards.
Mmmm vanilla. I'm now wondering about vanilla/honey combinations. .
On which note I shall leave you all as it's bedtime.
Tybalt has got off my lap and put himself to bed in his box of recycling, which is usually a sign that I am up too late.
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Right now I have dead Bees. Hundreds of them. All over the garage.
You fiends are killing me with laughter today. Fod, I love you!
Princess Fluffy, I will bring a container for vanilla, oh yes I will.
And I'd throw my pastry rejects at the trees, but I'm more likely to snap off a branch. "Four!" anyone? (golf term for duck)
Good! Takers for vanilla! Here's the label info: Orlando Natural Blended Vanilla. Aged. Organically Grown. This Product Does Not Contain Coumarin.
I have an extra 1,000 ml bottle. Smells niiiice.
Dead bees make me sad. But cheese hats make me happy. So I guess it all works out evens.
I'm makin' pizza. Woot! \o/
(Crust, like Naan, is from a packet. I can't be having with all that kneading and flinging.)
Kate - our whole family thought tonight was Erev Pesach. We are bad heathen Jews. It is tomorrow night.
Sigh. At least I got the matzoh.
I usually end up eating my bad baking - silly me - I have plenty of trees for the flinging.
mmm, vanilla.
i hate cheese so i dont' feel the need to make any.
Tonight's dinner is a cod and escarole stewy like thing. Will twitter it :D
I have to take ben to the easter bunny in about an hour. We leave for Tahoe tomorrow and come back saturday, if i don't take him today, we won't be able to do it and he'll be sooooo bummed!
Yeast never rises for me. Therefore i never make bread. I keep telling hubby to do it. He and yeast are friends (his beer ROCKS) so he should make the bread in this house. :)
Were the dead bees expected? How long do bees live?
(I know nothing about beekeeping except that minutes from where I grew up in South Dakota there is this HUGE beekeeping operation.)
Fluffy - so, Pesach - Jews will be thin on the ground at our Seder, but we always have a table full of folks. Sam was not paying attention during Hebrew School, and I am a naturalized Jew (RC by inculcation) so every year I freak out a bit. When the KFP dairy stuff appeared in the stores three weeks ago I was SO sure that I had missed it.
Enjoy whenever you gather!
oh i am a heathen jew because my seder is going to consist of a nice grilled cheese samich wiht tomato and avocado.
I kind of d miss seder and the traditions. i did email my old rabbi. i found him online, as well as his son who i played wiht in sunday school. i'm now just more spiritual, but i miss the pomp and circumstance every now and then.
hammetz what?
lol
oooh kfp soda is the bomb, made form real cane sugar, seek it out :)
I have sadly never been to a Seder, but would really love to at some point.
All Bee Questions will be answered soon, I am doing a Bee Post now....
Checking in really quick during my sister's visit to say...
I got a package! :)
The corset fits
Thanks, Q :)
One word immediately comes to mind, Adri.
Damn!!!
You look fantastic in that corset!
Adri - I love the corset on you - hot girl!
Hmm, now I understand the taste of the honey I had this morning (They didn't have my beloved organic in the shop)...it was Artificially-Induced Sugar-Water Bee Puke.
This has been a hilarious string to wake up to today.
Lorraine, you are hereby officially invited to Sam's Seder for Hungry Jews - I know this year would be difficult, but find yourself in the Chicago area next year at the appropriate time (I can remind you - obviously I think about such things) and be prepared for much silliness and food. And I can connect you to my bengal loving friend around the corner (with two beauties who prowl her house).
Looking forward to the bee posting.
Adri! Hot! I knew that would be right for you. Corsets don't work for me, I don't FEEL right in them. Looks great on you tho!
Kate, many thanks! I may take you up on that.
And the Bee post is up!
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