Cheesy Potatoes - Take 2

Growing up in my house, if you had ham, you had Cheesy potatoes, or that was what we called them.  Mom makes the BEST cheesy potatoes.  So, this week I was going to cook a ham and visualizing my larder in the basement pantry, I saw that loaf of Velveeta necessary for Mom's recipe...if Mom had a recipe.  Just like mine, they are mostly just in her head.  Sorry, Kraft, I must say that I am not a fan of this loaf of wiggly cheese but for Mom's Cheesy potatoes it's a necessity.  I don't remember when I bought it which was a problem.  I cut it open to use it and noticed this was not the wiggly orange goo I expected it to be but rather a darker orange and more solid form that had me checking the expiration date.   Hmmmm.  Into the trash it went.  I already had my potatoes boiled.  Now what was I going to do??   Necessity is the mother of invention, or so they say.  "They" being those people that say important or clever things. I looked in my fridge and came up with a pretty tasty alternative to Cheesy potatoes.

 New ingredient to try:



Ingredients: 

5 large boiled potatoes
1 tub of Savory Lemon and Herb Philadelphia Cooking Cream (pictured above)
2 T flour & 2 T water mixed
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 ounce of cheddar cheese (simply because I had a lunch box size of individually wrapped cheddar cheese in my dairy drawer)
1/2 t salt


Slice potatoes. Spray baking dish (smaller than a 9 x 13) with cooking spray.  Mix all ingredients other than potatoes together over low to medium heat.  Stir continually to avoid scorching milk. When mixture is smooth, place sliced potatoes in baking dish and pour hot cheese mixture over the top.  Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.  Serve. 

I had tried other Philly Cooking creams but had never tried lemon.  I'm not a big lemon fan but bought it because it was marked down.  It came in handy for this dish.  It gave it a unique taste.  I think you could subsitute the other Philly flavors for a different potato side dish.  Enjoy.

 

Shahi Paneer on the Menu

It's been awhile since I posted anything...lazy I guess.  I haven't stopped cooking, just stopped taking the time to write about it.  So today, all alone on a rainy Sunday, I craved the flavor of Shahi Paneer.   Let's talk first about making paneer.   Yes, you can buy it.  Yes, it is easier to buy it. But I like to make my dishes myself.  I know what is in them and I know where they come from.  The one exception is breads.  I succumb to the packaged ease of roti or naan without having to get out a rolling pin. 

Paneer is a fresh cheese that is not aged and does not melt.  It's very easy to make.  For the basic paneer, you only need:

1 gallon of whole milk
about 1/4 cup of vinegar or lemon juice
Optional:  spices to flavor your cheese like cumin, coriander, salt, cilantro

That's it! 


First prepare your staging area that you will need after the cooking process is done.  For me, I use a large bowl, an even larger collander, and a sheet of cheesecloth or a large clean tea-towl.  Also, you'll need an area to press your cheese once it is cooked.  Again, for me, I use a flat area, like a baking sheet, an upside down plate, and a large bowl filled with water for weight.


In a large saucepan or roaster, pour in a gallon of whole milk.  Cook on high till boiling, stirring almost constantly.  If you are using the spices to flavor your paneer, add them now.  Turn off the heat and pour in the vinegar or lemon juice. Immediately, you'll see the milk curdle and the solids will separate from the liquid.   Use a slotted spoon to remove the curds from the water and place them into the cheese cloth you have draped over the collander/bowl.  If your bowl is large enough, you can pour your water through this, but this water is very hot and you risk of burning  yourself.  I prefer to use the slooted spoon.

After all of the cheese has been removed and placed in the cheesecloth, gather up the sides of the cheese cloth and twist it together with your little lump of cheese in the bottom.  Your goal here is to isolate the cheese into a flattened ball.     It's hot so be careful.  Turn the twisted cheesecloth upside down and place the package onto the baking pan.  Place the plate, upside down, on top of the cheese package.  Then place the heavy bowl on top of the plate to create a weight.  This needs to sit this way for about 90 minutes to two hours.

After the time has elapsed, unwrap your package and find your very own fresh paneer. :)   It then needs to be cubed for use.  This first part can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator.

So now to use the paneer in a dish, and my choice of the day is Shahi Paneer.

This is my simple Shahi paneer recipe but it is a delicious treat.  I have kept this a little healthier by limiting the amount of ghee I use but feel free to indulge if you want a richer dish.

Ingredients:

Paneer created in the first step of this post
1 Onion
5 Roma tomatoes
1 can of diced tomatoes
3 green chilis
1 1/2 " ginger
2 black cardamom
1/4 to 1/2 cup of cashews soaked in milk
1 t red chili powder
1 t garam masala
1/2 t black pepper
1 t coriander powder
2 T tomato sauce
1/4 c milk, cream, or fat free half & half
salt
cilantro for garnish
oil/ghee


Chop onions and tomatoes and green chilis.  Grind ginger.   Heat oil in a large vessel and add the 2 black cardamom, green chilis and ground ginger.  Stir.  Add chopped onions.  Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and canned diced tomatoes, cover, and cook until the onions are a mushy consistency.

Grind cashews thoroughly or process them in a small food processor or Magic Bullet type of processor.    In a separate saute pot, boil water and then shut off the heat.  Add paneer to this pot.  It will not melt. 

Add hot tomato mixture to a blender and add the ground cashews.  Blend to smooth. 

Now, at this point, you can make yourself a lot of work and pour this blended mixture through a strainer.  Yes, it makes it a beautiful smooth sauce but it also is manual labor.  If  you are cooking for someone and want a perfect dish, you can strain this mixure.  If you are cooking for someone who is more concerned with the taste, just use this well-blended mixture.

If you are going for a very rich dish, add ghee to your original pan and heat it.  Add tomato sauce, and the dried spices and salt to taste. 

Fry this mixture until it thickens even to a paste if you are a patient chef.   Drain the water from the paneer and add the cubes to this paste.  Add the milk/cream/half & half in a thin stream while stirring.  The dish does not need to come to a boil again.  When it comes to the consistency you like, you are done.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with roti.

 

Chicken Sukha on the Menu

Tonight I tried a new food suggested as a favorite of my friend Rufus.   He linked me to a recipe on Facebook for Chicken Sukha.  http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150208306425570&id=810775646&ref=nf.  If you can't see the link, let me know and I will paste it in here and give credit to the author.   I halved the recipe.  I often only make half a recipe if it is something new in case I don't like it.  But this one I enjoyed.  I can never follow a recipe to the letter :)  I have to make changes.  In this recipe, I used dried and reconstitued coconut - easier for me and I always keep it on hand.  And I did not use the tamarind directly - but soaked it in just enough water and then got it all mushy and used the thick juice and no pulp.  After roasting and grinding the dry spices, the smell was fabulous!  But if you look at the number of dried red chili peppers, you''ll understand that I curbed my impulse to taste it :)  I use a coffee grinder that I bought especially for my spices.  Don't share the grinder - both of these aromas are very strong and you don't want your food to have a coffee taste!  I also added more salt than this recipe calls for.  I like my namak!  So here is my finished result.  And thanks Rufus and Sarita for the recipe!

Garden time

My gardens are now complete.  NOTHING beats the taste of a tomato fresh from the garden.  I have two small gardens in my back yard.  Garden one is now planted with 12 Juliet grape tomatoes, 2 Roma tomatoes, 4 Jalapeno peppers, 4 Thai Hot peppers, 4 Hot Hungarian Yellow Wax peppers and my find from the Farmer's Market this morning:   Ground Cherry.  I was intrigued by the plant so I bought it, knowing I had one spot left in my garden.  Just looking it it, it looks a bit like an eggplant plant but produces something along the line of a small sweet tomatillo.  I can't wait to pick the little husked fruit and give it a try.  The flavor has been compared to smoky pineapple.

Garden 2 is stocked with 6 Roma tomatoes, 1 Early girl tomato, 3 English cucumbers, one finger eggplant, 4 green bell peppers, 3 zucchini, and a thyme plant I'm trying to resurrect after spending the winter indoor.

My herb garden, which I grow in 3containers, has 2 kinds of mint in one container, rosemary and another Farmers Market find from today...Globe basil.  It;s a round bush, almost resembling a Bonsai, with tiny basil leaves.  I just had to have it.   The biggest container has parsley, sage thyme, 2 kinds of oregano, basil, arugula, and chives.  Fresh vegetables and fresh herbs...mmmmm.  It makes me sad to live in a colder climate so that I can't grow things all year round.

Stay tuned for garden stories.  The day after I planted most of the garden we had lots of rain and my back yard doesn't drain very well.  So my plants are getting a wet start.  The weather is supposed to turn hot tomorrow so the tomatoes will certainly get started growing and forgive the cool spring nights.

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