My First Cheese

I tried my hand at making paneer, an unaged Indian cheese. I was inspired by Amy's Palak Paneer, and by the utter lack of availability in the local supermarkets. It came out better than I had expected; the most fascinating part of the whole process, aside from the sheer joy of unwrapping a bunch of towels to find a legitimate hunk of cheese, was watching the milk curdle. It happened almost instantly, despite the disproportionate ratio of mlik (80oz) to lemon juice (2.3 oz).

Here's the finished product:



It isn't the best by itself; the taste reminds me of spit-up milk. It's meant to be added to a dish with a rich sauce, so I can forgive that. It also takes being fried quite well, and that was how I chose to preserve the majority of the cheese (the initial shelf life isn't very long, apparently).

Recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_21470,00.html