Haha awesome!
I owe you more kudos but it’s hard to post on my phone. :)
But for real, thanks! The recipe was great!
Do you make your own paneer? Or can you just buy chunks of it at an Indian grocer?
I buy it. Those two recipes, plus some rice and frozen breads, cost me about four hours and a sink’s worth of dishes, so it’s just one of the things I’ve gotta save time on, sadly.
I assume paneer is a relatively easy cheese to make (as far as cheese goes), which is the reason I ask. My wife’s grandmother used to make ricotta at home, and her main remark is how much milk it required (Apparently, she worked at a school, and would take home milk that was about to expire, and just use that).
Yeah, it’s basically: boil gallon of milk, add tbsp of lemon juice, allow to separate, strain, then compress. It makes enough for one decent-sized recipe.
I bought pre-fried frozen chunks of paneer to make everything a little easier.
Hmm… so just lemon juice, not renit?
For paneer? Yes. There are a few other fresh cheese that use acid instead of rennet too.
Yes, or even white vinegar if you want to keep it pure.
But while that’s delicious it isn’t actually ricotta, it’s a soft unpressed farmer cheese. Real ricotta is made by adding acid to hot whey, the milky liquid left over after making cheese. Ricotta means “re-cooked”. So it actually isn’t wasteful at all, it’s a peasant food.
Edit: Oh you were actually talking about paneer-- I believe paneer and farmer cheese are basically the same thing. Paneer is just compressed to make it solid and squeaky.
Duhhh, oh wait
Yep! It’s good stuff. I see it like more flavorful, less healthy tofu and it’s great in all sorts of Indian preps.
Yeah I went to the effort of mansplaining ricotta to you poor fools and didn’t want to delete it!
Totally fair, although frying the paneer is really fun; sometimes if I forget about them, they’ll start popping and jumping and effectively flip themselves, which makes them the only food item I know that actually assists in its own cooking process.
Indian week continues with some chicken tikka masala + some vegetable pakoras (potato, carrot, onion, chili, and cilantro + gram flour and spices), as well as from-a-jar tamarind chutney and from-the-freezer paratha :)
While I smoked a pork loin yesterday I decided to try something different; smoked Italian sausage. 3 hours @ 225. It gave them an almost pepperoni flavor. Different from a grilled or pan cooked sausage but just as good with some peppers, onions, and warmed marinara.
I can’t even visit this thread anymore because all Armando seems to cook are delicious look things that are full of carbs :(
Dude, seriously your pakora game is mighty strong. Those look awesome. And I have a soft spot for tikka masala, too.
Just for you:
I made another attempt at Ninfa’s (Houston)-style fajitas, based on a bit aggregated research. Since outside skirt steak is pretty much impossible to get, and inside skirt is actually a fairly different cut, I read that you can substitute flatiron or flank steak (pictured) with good results.
I’m pretty happy with how they turned out, getting outside on an open flame would probably improve my char-ratio (definitely the best tasting part), but I had pretty good results even on cast iron on my stovetop. I’m happy enough that I’ll probably continue to make this with minimal tweaks.
That sounds awesome.
Also props on your Whirley-Pop (rebranded Crate and Barrel version.) I am a popcorn connoisseur. I know how strange that sounds. But I make a metric ton of it for myself and others. I should probably share ideas on it if anyone else here loves popcorn.
Any recommendations on cleaning a the top lid (gear mechanisms) of the whirley pop? It’s getting kind of gross, but I think you’re not supposed to submerge it in water.
They say that but honestly it’s easiest to just spray hot water on the top and pot (with top off) once you are done popping and it has cooled down a bit. That way you don’t warp the pot. The gears get gummy, but as long as you have the metal ones, they hold up well. I have one older one with the nylon gears that is nearly stripped. Whirley-Pop sells replacements in the metal version.
I actually don’t like to use soap on it because it develops a bit of a seasoned inside after a pop or two and makes it easier to clean when that time does come.
If you pop anything sweetened or with sugars, clean it EVERY use.
If you pop normal batches and will reuse it again soon, you can go 2-3 popping sessions with not much but a wipe down.