Paneer for Parents

My parents have been visiting, and we have been eating all kinds of good food because I wanted to show them some of my favorite new dishes.  We had our Super Bowl Fiesta, of course, which I already talked about.  The Plantain Fritters were a big hit.  Later in the week I also made them my Half-and-Half Bean Soup, which I have been jokingly calling my "famous" Half-and-Half Bean Soup (after having been in the Rancho Gordo newsletter, yay!), and also I made them my veggie wrap sandwiches which I love. 

Also, I had an opportunity to make homemade paneer for them, which I served with a vindaloo curry I made.  I had a fun time showing them how I make homemade cheese.  Paneer is easy but it does take a few hours to press if I want it firm enough to cut and fry, like I prefer it when I make it for curry.  I used a lot of fresh lemon juice to make the paneer and since that wasn't quite enough I also added a bit of lime.  Some places don't use salt in their paneer but I like to.  My mother said she could still taste the citrus and that she liked it that way.  They said they'd never had homemade cheese before, nor any type of paneer, even restaurant paneer, so it was all a new experience for them.  They both said they loved the curry, so I am glad they enjoyed it.

I have a ton of paneer left over, and I think I am going to try to make saag paneer out of it.  Saag means spinach, so saag paneer, for those who aren't familiar, is spinach with cheese.  It is seen commonly in U.S. Indian restaurants and sometimes appears sortof like creamed spinach.  The paneer is sometimes kept in cubes within the spinach or sometimes is mixed in to make more of a creamy sauce.  I think I am going to mix it in like a sauce.  The dish also, of course, is seasoned with various spices.  I am going to give my first homemade version of saag paneer a try today, since I need to use the paneer while it's fresh, and I'll report on that later.  Wish me luck.

We've had a great time while my parents have been visiting, feasting on all kinds of great foods.  Now they are headed out.  I hope they've loved the food the've tried.

Happy eating!