Palak Paneer II

After last time you'd think we'd have given up.


Ingredients

• 14oz block of paneer
  
• 2 10oz packages chopped frozen spinach
  
• 1 large onion, diced
  
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 lobe ginger, minced
  
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
  
• 2tsp garam masala
  
• 1.5tsp cumin
  
• 2tsp coriander (we didn't actually have this)
  
• some water (maybe next time use chicken stock)
  
• yogurt to taste
  
• 3tbsp butter
  
• about 1/2oz goat cheese? Though some recipes use sour cream or just cream. Something thick and dairy, though.
  

Reheat spinach in a microwave, then put in a blender and chop to desired consistency. Set aside.

To a saute pan, add the onion with the garlic and ginger and the butter. Cook until onions are translucent and soft. Then add the tomatoes and cook over low heat until the tomatoes are pretty completely disintegrated. Then add the spinach and the spices / salt to taste. Add water (about 1/2c?) and cook for a while - until the spinach is heated through and cooked pretty well. Add milk, yogurt, sour cream, cream, buttermilk, and/or goat cheese. We had all of these on hand, but we wound up trying milk, yogurt, buttermilk, and goat cheese before we were satisfied. I think next time just a lot of yogurt? Anyway, take it off the heat and correct seasoning to taste.

In the mean time, fry the paneer on a frying pan. It's really pretty easy - just use a non-stick griddle or griddle pan. We didn't even use oil. Aim to brown it on all sides. We turned the individual bits with chop sticks. Pretty cool. Last time it just melted. But maybe that's because the oil wasn't hot enough or something. This time, no oil = better? Anyway, add the paneer to the palak (spinach). Serve (over rice?).

Thoughts:This was actually pretty great. I was surprised. The palak took a LOT of correction to get the seasoning right, though. But it was good. I think next time I'd use more yogurt (or perhaps just heavy cream) and a little more tomato. Also, chicken stock instead of water. I've seen recipes using some tomato paste? Also, we didn't have coriander. Could have been a nice flavor. But overall, I was pleased with this. It's definitely the first time we got the general idea right. We're getting closer.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Berry Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients

• 8oz blueberries (or something like that)
  
• 6.5oz blackberries (or something like that)
  
• 3/4c whole milk yogurt
  
• 1/4c sugar
  
• 2tbsp lemon juice
  
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
  

Start by adding the berries to a pan and simmering with the lemon juice until they're really soft and cooked down. Then add the sugar and vanilla and dissolve those. Let the mixture cool in the fridge. When cool, mix with the yogurt and prepare in ice-cream maker. Transfer to another container and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

Thoughts: The flavor was good, but not quite as strong as we had been expecting. Possibly we should have used more berries and cooked them down longer to get a stronger berry flavor. Similarly, the yogurt had relatively low fat content compared with most ice-creams, and it freezes REALLY solid. How do you fix it? I hear alcohol is the answer: a few tbsp of liquor prevents the frozen yogurt from freezing really well. This will require some testing. Perhaps if we selected the correct liquor, it could serve to strengthen the berry flavor. Kirsch or something? I don't know yet. This is a work in progress.

Disaster Index: 4/10

Update: I unfroze it, added a little dark rum, and refroze it in the ice cream maker. Got a little bit better, though I'm now thinking something a little more fruity might have been wise. Well, next time.

Fresh Lime Custard Berry Tart

This was a little complicated.

Ingredients

• Crust
  
  
  • 1 stick butter
    
  • 2tbsp neutral oil
    
  • 1.75c flour
    
  • 0.25c sugar
    
  • generous pinch of salt
    
  • 1 egg yolk
    
  • 2-3tbsp milk
    
• Filling
  
  
  • 1/3c sugar
    
  • 2tbsp corn starch
    
  • 1c milk
    
  • 2tbsp butter
    
  • zest of one lime
    
  • juice of half a lime
  • 3 egg yolks
  • berries - I used about 2/3 a pint of blueberries, 6oz of blackberries, and about 8 strawberries
    
• Glaze
  
  
  • Juice of two limes
    
  • 2tbsp jam - I used guava
    
  • Honey to taste
    
  • 2tsp corn starch
    

First the dough. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Then chop the butter up into small pieces and cut it into the flour. Next time I'm using the cuisinart like I usually do for making a pastry dough. Whatever. Then add the milk and combine, being careful not to overwork the dough or heat it too much with your hands. When it JUST sticks together (it will have the consistency of wet sand), wrap it in plastic wrap and form into a disk. Stick it in the fridge for 4 hours to chill.



When that's done, take it out and, on a well floured surface, roll it out. Fit it into a springform pan or tart pan, if you have one (I didn't). I lined my springform with a little waxed paper. Make sure the dough goes up the side a little bit. I had to actually press it into the pan with a well-floured drinking glass. It works. Anyway, put some more waxed paper or parchment paper in the middle and weight down with dry peas (classic) or the change from your change jar (my way), being careful that it doesn't actually touch the dough. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, remove currency, and bake for another 15 minutes. This is called "blind baking". I'm just saying.



Now the filling. Set the crust aside to cool. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, lime zest, and corn starch, whisking thoroughly. In a sauce pan, bring the milk to a simmer. When it's simmering, take it off the heat and (TEMPERING FIRST), whisk into the egg/sugar mixture. Tempering means you add just a LITTLE, stir it together, add a little more, whisk thoroughly, and then add the rest. This is so it doesn't scramble the eggs.



Now return the mixture to the sauce pan and set over low heat, whisking constantly. In about a minute, the mixture will seize up (it's really sudden) probably because of the corn starch. Ok. Take it off the heat and stir a little more, then add the butter and stir until it's melted. Now pour it into the cooled crust. Dot with the berries. Actually mine had ridiculous piles of berries. Anyway, try to arrange them radially. It looks nicer. People will appreciate that.



FINALLY, the glaze. Juice those limes you used - mine were the driest limes I've ever used, so I needed two of them, but you could conceivably use one. Mix in the jam and whisk thoroughly. Then add honey until the sweetness is well balanced. Add the corn starch and whisk together, then pour it into a sauce pan and cook over low heat until it thickens. Take it off the heat and spoon it liberally over the tart. Cover the tart and fridge it until completely cooled - at least four hours, though I just made mine like two days ahead of time, so that's possibly a better option.



Thoughts: difficult to make alone. Especially in the B-more heat and humidity. I've NEVER had that much difficulty with pastry dough. It was ridiculous. I think that if I had a tart pan, that would have simplified things a LITTLE, though also the pastry dough recipe is not my usual pastry dough recipe OR method, so next time I'll try my usual and see how that works out. There were confounding factors here, is what I guess I'm saying. Berries were super cheap at Giant Foods this week, so that is the origin of that. By the time I got to the glaze, I had no sauce pans left so I actually microwaved it for 30 seconds at time (stirring in between) until it thickened. It got a little weird - corn starch does that - but it thickened well and the whole thing was pretty amazing.



Disaster Index: 1/10

Banana Lavender Spoom

it is a noun.


Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
  
• 1/3c sugar plus a little to taste
  
• pinch of salt
  
• 2 ripe bananas
  
• about 1tsp lavender buds (pick them up at Penzy's)
  
• about 1/3c water
  
• handful of blueberries (optional)
  

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add about half the sugar and the lavender buds and blueberries if you're using them and cook for a few minutes. Put the whole concoction in a blender with the bananas and blend until smooth. Put in the fridge to cool. In another pot, bring water to a simmer. In a heat-proof bowl, add the egg whites, the rest of the sugar, and the salt. Over the water (as a double boiler), whisk the egg whites until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are hot to the touch - about 2 minutes - and then take off the heat completely and whisk until you have stiff peaks. Now take the fruit puree out of the fridge and fold the eggs and puree together. Pour the stuff into an ice-cream maker. When it's done in there, put it in the freezer for at least an hour.  

Thoughts: Actually quite easy to make and harder to mess up than you'd think when you're cooking egg whites over simmering water without scrambling them. The texture was great and the flavor combination is actually really good. The one bad thing was totally my fault - I added a little too much salt. So it's a little weird tasting. But I would make this again. It's like ice cream but actually quite healthy for you. And the texture is very light and fluffy.  

Disaster Index: 6 for flavor, 1 for technique.

Carrot Top Pesto

It turns out these things aren't toxic!

Ingredients

• 1 bunch carrot tops, chopped
  
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
  
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/3 cup olive oil (about; we just eye-balled it)
• 1 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded or powdered or what-have-you
  
• garlic powder, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste (you'll need a lot of salt)
• water, if you need it
  

Put everything except the olive oil in a food processor. Slowly add the olive oil through the hole in the top. You may not need all 1/3 cup, or you may need more. Scrape down the sides of the food processor periodically. Add seasonings to taste.

Thoughts: Easy to do. Pretty tasty -- carrot tops taste a lot like parsley, as it turns out. I kept hearing they were bitter, but they aren't really. You could also try adding some toasted walnuts to this. I bet it would be good.

Disaster Index: 2/10 pretty good

Cherry Peach Clafouti

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs stone fruit (in this case, about 1 lb cherries and .5lbs peaches)
• 3 tbsp flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp citronage
• confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pit all your fruit and put it in a 10-inch tart pan (with high sides, preferably).
Sift together flour, salt, and sugar. Gradually whisk in whole eggs, egg yolks, milk, vanilla, and liqueur.
Pour wet ingredients over the fruit.
Bake until puffy and brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly (cake should sink), then dust with sugar. Eat.

Thoughts: Recipe was hella easy, let me tell you that. We made a few modifications. The original recipe called for 1 cup milk and 1 cup heavy cream, but we only had whole milk so we just used that. It also called for kirsch, which we didn't have, but we figured orange would complement the stone fruit just fine. We also forgot to butter the tart pan. We also had the issue where we had too much batter for our pan, which is why we recommend using one with high sides. But most importantly, this recipe was a literal disaster. LITERALLY. It was terrible. I will just say that a lot of our baking recipes that we get from Martha Stewart are not super great, which surprises me a little. The thing about this dish is that the fruit releases a whole mess of water, which in turns prevents the custard from settling completely and it just gets really runny and gross. If we were to try to make this again, I would probably cut up all the fruit, mix it with some sugar, and then let it drain for forever. I'm pissed with Martha for even making this recipe. What a mess. Dan says he'll eat it, but it's pretty much a waste of eggs, two cups of milk, and a bunch of really delicious fruit. We're going to try chilling it and then grilling individual slices to see if that makes it edible. Because it isn't really right now.

Disaster Index: 6/10 (4 for Dan, 8 for me)

Margaritas

Ingredients


Makes two drinks.

• 3 oz tequilla
• 2 oz citronage/triple sec
• juice of one lemon (2 tbsp)
  
• juice of one lime (2 tbsp)
• salt
  

Thoughts: Feel free to add other juices to this, as long as you keep the lime juice. The acidity needs to come from somewhere. We recently made grapefruit margaritas and originally left out all the lime juice, and we had to add some back in. So even grapefruits are not acid enough. Bear it in mind.

Disaster Index: 1/10