Paneer (Fresh Indian Cheese)

This is a wonderful cheese and can be made in one day if you start in the morning, it will be finished by evening. The flavours are very mild, but it has a unique flavour.

Equipment:

* Stove top
* 3 - 5 sheets cheese cloth or old linen i.e. an old pillow case cut down each side and at the bottom seam throughly washed in soapy bleach water and rinsed very well. (I used old linen, and it worked out very nicely, in fact I don't think I'd use cheese cloth at all.)
* 1 large pot
* 1 wooden spoon
* 1 colander
* 2 plates
* Tin cans, or something heavy like a brick, at least 10 lbs or 22kg.

Ingredients:

* 1 litre or 33.8 ounces rich 3.8% milk (avoid ultra-pasteurized)
* 2 tablespoons white vinegar
* 1/2 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Procedure:

In the sink or over a bowl, line the colander with the cheese cloth or old linen.

In a pot bring the milk to a low boil over medium heat (Be careful—once milk boils, it foams and makes a mess quickly). Stir constantly as it heats up to avoid scalding on the bottom of the pan.

Once the milk has come to a boil, removed from heat and add vinegar one teaspoon at a time and stir until curdles start to form and a yellowish liquid separates the white curds.

It should look like this...



Once the milk starts to curdle and you can see separate curds from the yellowish whey, walk away from the mixture for 10 minutes so that the curds can develop.

After 10 minutes, give it a stir again. Strain the curds over the lined colander.

Gently stir it around a bit to help the whey to drain. Once it is cool enough to handle sprinkle on the salt to taste, just a little not too much. Stir in the salt into the curds, then bring all sides of the linen together and start twisting. The tighter you twist the more liquid will come out. While twisting, stop for a few minutes and squeeze the ball of cheese to get the whey out. The more you squeeze, the firmer your cheese will be.

Once you have squeeze it, let the cheese sit in the colander to drain off the whey for a few minutes. Once the cheese has drained, untwist the cloth, but keep the cheese covered. While still in the cloth pat out a 1/2 inch disc on a plate and place another plate on top, then place your cans, or heavy object on top of the cheese and put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours. More whey will come off the cheese, discard it or save it for making your next batch of paneer. The whey from a previous batch will yield a more tender cheese.

Wrap the cheese and cut it into cubes and enjoy!

You can make paneer makhani (butter paneer), or fry the paneer in a little ghee (clarified butter), or oil for a tasty snack.

*NOTE:

The paneer should not be crumbly, it should be a solid cheese, but soft like goats cheese.

Makes about 6 ounces of cheese. Use immediately, or keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Spiced Hummus

Difficulty: Easy
Appliances: Food processor and blender

* 2 (30 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
* Tahini Sauce, optional, See recipe below
* 2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
* 4 tbsp lemon juice
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 1/2 tsp garam masala**
* 1 1/2 tsp. ground corriander
* 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
* 3/4 tsp salt
* 3/4 cup olive oil
* 1/2 cup water

Tahini Sauce:

4 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp olive oil

Tahini Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a shallow dish, like a 8" - 9" pie tin, place sesame seeds and shake lightly to make an even layer.

Place sesame seeds in oven and toast for 6 - 8 minutes or until golden brown.

If you don't have an oven, you can do this in a skillet over some sort of low heat stirring occasionally until sesame seeds are brown.

Cool the seeds.

In a blender, place the cooled seeds and add the olive oil and blend until you get a thick, but pourable sauce.

Put aside.

Hummus Procedure:

Process garbanzo beans and tahini in food processor. Blend in remaining ingredients in food processor and blend for 5 - 10 minutes or until creamy and all the garbanzo beans are blended. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour or so for flavours to meld. Serve with flat bread, pita chips, or fresh vegetables.

** Available in some super markets, and most indian stores. If you can't find garam masala, here is a recipe you can use. Click here

This recipe makes a lot of hummus, I usually make enough to munch on over the week, so if you don't want so much, try cutting all the measurements in half.

Orange FREEZE

I love this drink... There is a hamburger place in Astoria that serves hamburgers and orange freezes and I live about 2 hours away and I wanted to come up with something that was similar in flavour, etc. It's still a little fizzy from the soda and has a good creamy texture from the ice cream. A must try!

Serves 1 (You only want to blend one freeze at a time in the blender or you could end up with soda all over the place in your kitchen)

4 heathly sized scoops of a good quality vanilla or vanilla bean ice cream
4 ice cubes
1 cup - 1 1/2 cups sunkist orange soda (I like the sunkist because it's all natural) or any kind of soda you'd like to use in case you don't like orange

Place all the ingredients in the blender and on high start out on the lowest setting (on my blender there is a button for low and high and then from there, there are buttons that start out low and then go higher) then gradually go up higher until the mixture is smooth and frothy. Pour into a glass that is at least 16 ounces, preferably 20 ounces if you have it. Insert a straw of your favourite colour (pink was my straw) and enjoy the yumminess of the Orange FREEZE!!

Warning: This drink is COLD!!! Drink at your own risk. Side effects may include brain freeze, temperature drop within the body, and a case of the shivers. :)

Looking To Link With Others

I am looking for some people with other cooking blogs or websites, or any blogs/websites for that matter to link with.... If anyone who views my blog is interested in linking with me, please send me an email... Thanks! :)

Joujoudoll@comcast.net

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is something I made up on my own and have gotten the flavours right where I like it... I love sweet and sour chicken and I live out in the boonies, so it's not so easy to go to town and buy chinese food. It's more convenient for me to go to the small super market near my house and buy some of the ingredients than jump in my car and drive 15 miles to the nearest chinese restaurant... Haha. Most of the stuff in this are things that I usually have on hand, but the fresh produce is something I have to buy when I want to make it. This recipe is not as sweet as some in the restaurants and it has no food colouring in it because I don't want to polute my body with chemicals, but if you want it red, then by all means add food colouring. This is also a lower in calorie version of this favourite, but still has tons of flavour!

Serves 6

Ingredients

Sauce:

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped into big chunks
1/2 green bell Pepper, chopped into big chunks
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped into big chunks
1 tsp. minced ginger root
1 15 oz. can chunked pineapple, drained
2 tbsp. sweet chile sauce, optional
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
3 cups pineapple juice
3 tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
6 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup water
kosher salt to taste
non-stick cooking spray

In a large sauce pan, liberally spray with non-stick cooking spray over medium heat.

When pan is hot, add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion, and ginger root and sauté for 5 minutes.

Add pineapple chunks, sweet chile sauce, rice vinegar, pineapple juice, and soy sauce.

In a small bowl or cup, add cornstarch and 1/2 cup water and stir until completely mixed together.

Season sauce to taste and bring sauce to a low boil over medium heat... When a boil emerges, pour in the water and cornstarch mixture.

Stir with wooden spoon until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Turn off heat and serve with chicken (see recipe below) and jasmine rice.


At this point you have to decide if you want to deep fry your chicken, or pan fry it in a little oil in a pan... This recipe for chicken can be made either way.

Fried Chicken:

4 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 cups buttermilk
1 tbsp. sweet chile sauce
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt
Corn oil for frying

In a zip lock bag combine the chicken chunks, half the buttermilk (1 cup), and sweet chile sauce and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, preferably 1 hour.

In pie tins or any kind of shallow dish, mix flour, breadcrumbs, and salt in one dish and 1 cup buttermilk and 2 eggs in another dish and a large plate for placing chicken on after breading.

Take the chicken chunks and place them in the flour mixture and roll around for an even coating, then place chicken chunks into buttermilk mixture and back into the flour mixture for a double coating. Repeat until all chicken is coated.

Prepare your deep fryer with the corn oil at 350 degrees. When the fryer is ready, place only a few pieces of chicken at a time (about 4-6 pieces). Fry for about 5 minutes or until golden brown, repeat all the chicken in batches.

If you want to pan fry them, you can prepare a large skillet with about 1/2 an inch of corn oil or olive oil in the bottom of the pan over medium-low heat. When pan is hot, but not smoking, add the chicken in batches of 6 - 8 pieces of chicken at a time for 3 - 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Serve chicken with jasmine rice and sweet and sour sauce. Enjoy!

Make Your Own Microwave "Warm Delights" Minis

Okay, I really like those warm delights, the mini ones are 150 calories and very yummy... I was trying to think of a way to replica that at home and I figured out a way that I really like it, but even better than the Warm Delights you buy in the store, and way cheaper too... It's a little more work at home, but I figured out it's 15¢ for each mini cake at home, versus $2.00 per cake from the store... You pay about $4.00 for the cake minis for a package with 2 mini cakes in them, but the regulars only come with 1 cake and those are $4.00 each. I'm sorry, but I really have a hard time paying that much for a cake that is a single serving when I can buy a cake mix for less than a buck at my local super market and a cheap packet of generic brand pudding and make the same thing for much much less. Dollars less in fact. It costs pennies to do at home, versus dollars from the grocery store.

So, here is the Recipe:

Makes 21 Mini Cakes with 1/4 cup dry mix

1 Duncan Hines Cake Mix
1 Sugar Free Instant Pudding Package (4 serving package; in the corresponding flavour of the cake mix)
1 1/3 Cups Dried Egg Whites (you can purchase this at baking shops)
Fruit Preserves, Hot Fudge, or Caramel in the tubs for dipping fruit (I get the low fat caramel and it tastes great, just don't go overboard with it, it can be a bit overwhelmingly sweet if you put too much on.)


Okay, you can do two things... You can either measure out 1/3 cup of mix into little packets or you can just scoop out 1/3 cup of mix whenever you want to make a cake... Then add 1 1/2 tablespoons water and 1 teaspoon oil and mix well.

Now, the Dried Egg Whites are not necessary. This is how I make it at home because I don't have the dried egg whites... I measure out 1/2 cup of mix (just the cake and pudding), and mix in 1 egg white, 2 tablespoons water, 2 teaspoons of oil, and mix well. Then I divide it into 2 mini cakes because I share with my mum whenever I make them. The problem is, I don't know how to make just one serving because I can't put half an egg white in the cake mix... So, for me it works out well to use the egg whites from an egg, but if you are single, it might work best to get the egg whites dried.

Now, I usually very lightly spray the bottom of my bowls (any microwave safe bowl works just fine, I have used correll (sp?), and even a mug.), and then swish a paper towel inside the bowl to make an even coat. Then I pour the cake mix in the bowl and if I am having chocolate cake, I use that caramel that is already made for dipping apples, and put 1 1/2 teaspoons on top and then microwave for 35 seconds in a 1000 watt microwave. Times may differ depending on the microwave, but you want the cake to look dry on top and have no sign of moistness... The caramel will melt and get saucy, so don't let that get dry, just the cake.

You can experiment with flavour, I am thinking of mixing up a white cake version and using lemon curd on top to make a light lemony swirl cake... For chocolate, you could use fruit preserves for flavours, or hot fudge, peanut butter, etc.

I know it sounds odd to microwave a cake, I thought it was too, but if you follow my recipe, you will see that it's very moist and quite good... I also top off with a little squirt of whipped cream. :)

If you don't want a mini, you can make the entire 1/2 cup serving with 1 egg white etc, and you will want to microwave for 90 seconds or so.

I use these little ramekins to make my minis in, but you'll want a bigger bowl, just a normal sized cereal bowl to make a regular sized cake in. :)

I hope everyone enjoys. If you try it, please let me know what you think.

Vietnamese Stick Noodle Salad with Grilled Shrimp

It's been a long time since I've posted an entry, and for that I am sorry.

I've been a bit lazy lately and a lot has been going on in my life lately. I am hoping I can try to make more time for my blog. I really do enjoy sharing recipes with other people and I would love to hear from all of you and if you've tried my recipes how you liked them.

So, since I've neglected my blog so much lately, I will post a recipe to try to make up for it. :) I've been on a lower in fat diet since November and I've been trying to lose a little weight and I hate the fact that a lot of the foods I like are not low in fat and it's hard to replica something that is rich in fat and carbohydrates. Alas, I have come to the conclusion that you can cut the fat by about half and still be safe and limit the carbs and eat the things you love in moderation. So, here is a recipe for something that I love that I've made lower in fat and still just as tasty.

This recipe is Traditionally made with pork, but you can get it with shrimp in the Vietnamese restaurants. It's one of my favourite foods of all time.

Vietnamese Stick Noodle Salad with Grilled Shrimp

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lbs. Stick Rice Noodles, cooked 3 minutes
1 lbs. Raw Medium Sized Shrimp, Marinated (see following recipe)
4 Cups Butter Leaf Lettuce, tore into small pieces
1/2 Large Cucumber, sliced into thin strips
1 Large Carrot, shredded, or grated
1 Bundle Cilantro aka Coriander, chopped
1 Small Package Bean Sprouts
4 tbsp. Peanuts, Chopped
3 tbsp. Green Onion, Chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil or corn oil

Procedure

1. Divide the Nuoc Cham in half. Use one half for marinating the shrimp for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat skillet over medium-low heat with 2 tbsp. olive oil or corn oil.
3. When pan is hot, place the shrimp in skillet and cook on each side for 1 to 2 minutes or until cooked throughly.
4. Place the cooked rice noodles into serving dishes and top with lettuce, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, bean sprouts, peanuts, green onion, and desired amount of shrimp.
5. Pour 2-3 tbsp. of Nuoc Cham on top of each salad and toss to coat.
6. Serve and Enjoy!

Tip: A lot of people over cook their shrimp, and the best way to cook it is to cook until each side begins to turn a red pearly opaque colour and begins to curl up. You want to cook it just until it turns white all the way through, if it cooks for much longer it will turn rubbery, dry, and lose it's flavour.

Nuoc Cham (Dressing & Marinate)

Ingredients

* 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
* 1 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
* 1/2 cup nuoc mam (fish sauce), available at Asian markets
* 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 cups boiling water

Procedure

1. In a small bowl, soak the red pepper flakes in the vinegar for 10–15 minutes.
2. In a second bowl, combine the fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, and sugar.
3. Stir in 11/2 cups boiling water and the pepper-vinegar mixture.
4. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool. Serve at room temperature.
5. Store in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 30 days.