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

Baked Egg and Cheese (v0.9)

I first made this incarnation of the dish a few weeks ago; I made it again tonight with significantly less fat (skim milk, 50% reduced fat cheese, and egg whites) and it came out almost as good as the original. If I hadn't had the original, I would have never known what I was missing. I think it might make sense to use full fat cheese for the shredded stuff on top, as the low-fat stuff doesn't seem to get as crispy. (Gwraig and Cwningen enjoyed both versions of it.)

I'm still tweaking the recipe some, which is why I left it at v0.9.

Ingredients:

• 4 small canned potatoes, diced
• 3 oz cheddar cheese, cubed and
• 1 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 piece of bread, cut into squares
• 4 eggs or 1 cup liquid egg whites
  
• 1/4 cup milk
  
• 1/3 cup flour
  
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 + 1/4 tsp chili powder
  
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  
• 1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 deg. feh.
   
2. Lightly oil a 9" square pan.
   
3. Mix potatoes with 1/4 tsp chili powder and place into pan; add cubed cheddar and bread squares.
   
4. In a bowl, combine the eggs and milk; beat the eggs if needed.
   
5. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and the remaining chili powder to the bowl and mix.
   
6. Pour the mixture over the ingredients in the pan, pouring slowly to ensure even coverage.
   
7. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the ingredients.
   
8. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.
   
9. Allow the dish to rest for a few minutes afterward.

This is based on a recipe found in Better Homes and Gardens' Cookbook: Chile Rellenos. Many thanks to BHG for their wonderful and accessible cookbook.