Homemade Paneer

April 23, 2012 · by ·

We love Indian food in our house. Back in my college days, I lived right in the heart of “Curry Hill” in New York. Living along a corridor of fantastic kosher and Indian restaurants, I had the opportunity to discover my palate for Indian food. I don’t think I had ever had authentic Indian food until I moved to New York. Dining at local Indian places was far better than any of the other kosher options in the neighborhood. One of the first dishes I tried was mutter paneer. It’s a curry dish made up of peas and the special Indian cheese called paneer. From there, I samples a variety of dishes and have made a variety of Indian dishes in my home. Had never tried making paneer dishes at home. You can’t find paneer cheese with a kosher symbol. It never occurred to me that I could make it. Finally, one day, I came across a couple blogs that discussed paneer. All it contains is milk and lemon juice! Whoa! Who knew it could be that easy to make. I quickly picked up some cheesecloth and got to work.

Paneer
Ingredients:

1/2 gallon of whole milk = 8 cups
3-4 tbsp. lemon juice

Before you get to working on the stove, get your strainer and cheesecloth ready. Set the strainer in the sink and line it with some cheese cloth. You may need to double layer the cheesecloth, depending on how big the holes are.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat up the milk. Bring the milk to a boil, but don’t let it boil over.

When the milk starts to boil, turn off the heat.

Start by stirring in about 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Keep stirring and you should see the milk start to curdle. If it’s not doing it’s curdling job, add some more lemon juice. I needed a bit over 3 tablespoons total.

Keep stirring the curdles.  Pour the curdy cheese mixture in to the cheesecloth-lined strainer.

At this point, the mixture is a bit like a dryer cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. This is also a good point to add a little bit of salt. The cheese is pretty bland on it’s town.

Pull up the size of the cheese cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, while forming the mound of cheese in to a disc shape.

Now it’s time to press the liquid out of the cheese. I like to press the liquid out similar to the way I press the water out of tofu.

Place the lined cheese on a rimmed plate and place a heavy plate on top of it. Weigh it down with a heavy can or two. Press the cheese for an hour – pouring off the liquid when needed.

When completely drained, you will have this lovely disc of cheese. Cut it up however you’d like and use it in a variety of meals. We had it in our palak paneer!

Enjoy!

Filed Under: dairy, Dinner, easy, Gluten Free, indian, Main Course, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , ,

Mushroom, Spinach, and White Bean Casserole

February 21, 2012 · by ·

Recently, I have been on this casserole kick. Don’t know where it came from. I didn’t grow up with casseroles. When I hear the word “casserole,” I think of Paula Deen and her twang as she talks about adding mayonaisse and cream of mushroom soup to cans of green beans. Definitely not my kind of cooking. The other kind of casserole I kind of know are the hotdishes of the tater tot variety that I use to see at various Minnesota potluck dinners. Again, not my taste. Though I do love tater tots. One day I will turn tater tot hotdish in to a healthier me kind of dish.

This morning I cooked up some brown rice, and had a nice vegetable market haul sitting in my fridge. I decided to elevate the casserole and the brown rice in to a mighty tasty dinner. Behold, the healthy and hearty casserole!

Mushroom, Spinach, and White Bean Casserole (adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
Ingredients:

10 oz. chopped mushrooms (I used a mixture of crimini and white)
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1.5 cups chopped spinach
1 can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1-2 handfuls of shredded cheese (I used cheddar and monterey jack)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup parmesean cheese
2 tsp. tarragon
2 tsp. thyme
ground black pepper
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

In a large pan saute the mushrooms in some olive oil. Add a bit of salt. Stir.

Add in the onions and garlic. Saute a few minutes. Add in the spinach and the beans. Let some of the liquid evaporate. Add in the rice mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese, shredded cheese, and spices. 
Combine the rice mixture and cottage cheese mixture in a large bowl. Stir until well combined.

Pour mixture in to baking dish. I used a 9×13 and a 9×9. Sprinkle with 2/3 of the Parmesan cheese, cover with foil and place in oven for 30 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 20 or 30 minutes more or hot throughout and golden along the edges. Sprinkle some of the chopped tarragon, and the remaining Parmesan.

Enoy!

Filed Under: Dinner, Gluten Free, grain, whole grain · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Gluten Free Crackers (Mary’s Gone Crackers Copycat Recipe)

February 20, 2012 · by ·

I’ve become a gluten free guinea pig. Scouring the web, bookstores, and brainstorming new ideas for gluten free meals and snacks. The main meals aren’t too complicated. Dinners have only needed minor tweaking to adapt to gluten free. The hardest area has been snack food. We aren’t a big cake/cookie family – but the kids likes her crunchy stuff. Pretzel sticks have always been a mainstay in her feeding therapies. There’s only so much popcorn one can handle.

Store-bought snacks are not cheap. Coupons are hard to come by for the kinds of foods we are looking for. So I am trying to make my own. When we first began our gluten free adventure, I asked a friend for pretzel ideas. She mentioned the Sticks & Twigs by Mary’s Gone Crackers.

I’ve quickly become addicted to these gluten free pretzels. They aren’t like ordinary pretzels. They are full of seeds and stuff. They have a great crunch. They have a nice, nutty flavor. More involved than a standard Snyder’s pretzel. Unfortunately, at $4.50 a bag – they don’t fit my budget too well.

Looking at the ingredient label, I pondered trying to make my own. The ingredients aren’t too complicated; brown rice, quinoa, flax seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, and tamari. I have these ingredients in my pantry. While googling for ideas, I came upon the crackers of Mary’s Gone Crackers fame. They are basically the same pretzel taste in a cracker. I figured that I would tackle that first – and then I could move on to pretzels.

The first time I made the crackers – my results were uneven. Some pans came out ok, and some pans came out – well, not so ok. By the second time – I finally got it down pat. Similar to the pretzels, the crackers cost around $4.50 for way too few crackers. Happy to get about 3 times as many crackers at a significant savings by making my own. I do plan on playing with the recipe more to add flavors – like garlic and rosemary.

I am still determined to figure out how to make the pretzels – in the meantime, enjoy these yummy crackers!

Gluten Free Crackers (Mary's Gone Crackers Copycat Recipe)

 

 

Gluten Free Crackers (Mary's Gone Crackers Copycat Recipe)
 
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This recipe was slightly adapted from here.
Author:
Recipe type: Crackers, Snacks
Cuisine: Gluten Free
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa (dry)
  • 1 cup brown rice (dry)
  • 2-3 tsp. water
  • 
2-3 tbsp. tamari or soy sauce
  • ⅓ cup whole, toasted flax seeds
  • ¼ cup chia seeds
  • 
1/4 cup black sesame seeds (could also use gomasio)
  • 2 tsp. salt
Instructions
  1. Prepare rice and quinoa as per your regular methods.
  2. Add cooked brown rice to Cuisinart and process with a small amount of water.
  3. You should process brown rice to a mush.
  4. Add quinoa to the mix and process a bit more to incorporate.
  5. Add the tamari or soy sauce and mix a bit more.
  6. Take the dough out and place in bowl. Mix in other seeds and seasonings with a wooden spoon. The mixture will be very sticky.
  7. Spray baking pan with oil spray or rub olive oil on baking sheet. Do not use parchment paper.
  8. Drop teaspoon size bits of dough on to cookie sheet. On a half sheet pan, I got around 16 balls.
  9. Take a small piece of parchment paper, spray lightly with oil and place on top of each ball and flatten. I pressed down on to the paper with a stainless steel measuring cup. It seemed to work best.  The cracker should be very thin and flat.
  10. Bake at 350 degrees. Keep an eye on the crackers. Remove them when they have browned and are comepletly dry. Don't let them burn. I took them out at around 17 minutes. Keep an eye out. Different pans conduct heat differently.
  11. Cool crackers on rack.
  12. Enjoy!

 

 

 
P.S. As a follow-up, I did succeed in making the pretzels. 
Filed Under: Gluten Free, munchies, Snacks, Vegan · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Roasted Chickpeas

February 19, 2012 · by ·

Behold – the humble can of chickpeas. Only 89 cents. So cheap, and what lies beneath is so so rich.

Have munchies on a Saturday night? This can of chickpeas can achieve greatness. So much greatness, you will wish you had three cans of chickpeas to go around.

Back in college, during a visit to my aunt in Maryland, I was introduced to these crunchy, roasted chickpeas. As a snack – it was so good. I assumed that it was a Moroccan treat and I was in on some awesome snack food secret.

To my dismay – everyone’s doing it. Everyone’s eating these crunchy treats. Probably because it’s so cheap and easy to make.

Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt
cumin, curry, or other spices (you can play with the flavors on this one)

Preheat the oven to 400.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

Place the chickpeas on a sheet pan and roll paper towels over the chickpeas to remove the skins.

Toss chickpeas with olive oil and spices.

Bake for around 30-40 minutes  – until browned. 

Sprinkle with salt when done. Serve.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Gluten Free, munchies, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Veggie Lentil Loaf

January 31, 2012 · by ·

Sunday is my day to make things. I spread out my wings in the kitchen, so to speak, and get down to business. It will never be my day to shine as a once-a-month cooking type person, but I can at least try to get createive in the kitchen. I try to make something new, using a new skill or a new ingredient. Whatever it may be – I have a few extra minutes, so why not use it to cook something tasty. I get extra excited when whatever I make becomes an easy meal for during the week.

I am trying to make more gluten free, whole meals that can serve everyone. I don’t like having to prepare multiple meals to fit the eating habits of various family members. I’m also trying to spend less and use up more in the house. 
Looking through my cabinets I found some trusty lentils. I’ve been wanting to make a lentil loaf for a long time. I came up with this recipe. Seems to work!

Veggie Lentil Loaf
Ingredients:

2.5 cups of cooked lentils (I recommend you cook the lentils in veggie broth)
2 cups rice, cooked (I used basmati)
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, grated
10 oz. mushrooms, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. rosemary
2 tbsp. flax + 2 tbsp. water OR two eggs

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place lentils in a large mixing bowl and mash half of them. Add the rice to the bowl.

If you are going the flax seed route, this is where you will mix the flax seed with the water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

Saute the onions and garlic for a few minutes. Add in the mushrooms and carrots.  Add in the spices. Saute for another 3-5 minutes.

Add the vegetable mixture to the lentil/rice mixture. Mix in the ketchup and another tablespoon of olive oil.

Press the mixture into loaf pans. I had enough mixture for two loaf pans. Drizzle ketchup on top of each loaf.

Bake in the oven for about an hour.

I served this with a vegetarian onion gravy made up of earth balance, veggie broth, onions, garlic, herbs, and potato starch as a thickener.

Dinner was some lentil loaf, roasted brussel sprouts, and sweet potato fries. Yum!

You can definitely play with it.

Enjoy!

Apologies for the not so pretty picture…
it was just that kind of night
Filed Under: Dinner, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, whole grain · Tagged: , , , ,

Homemade Caramel Corn

January 8, 2012 · by ·

I have always hated shopping. As a kid, even more so. I was the worst companion at Dayton’s or City Center. I just wanted to get out of there. I do remember though, that at the end of each shopping trip to Dayton’s, the experience was sweetened by a trip to Candyland. This old school candy and popcorn emporium was some sort of tastebud paradise. A bag of popcorn or caramel corn for my sisters and I, and a bag of jujubees for my mom. Life was good.

I don’t think I have had real caramel corn since once of those shopping trips, but I was reminded of the crunchy sweet goodness of the stuff the other day. While browsing the kosher grocery store on Thursday night, a woman next to me had cart full of tubs of caramel corn. I mosied on over to the aisle and saw that the tubs were $5 and that they also contained pretzels and peanuts. Huh? We didn’t need the glutens, and $5 for a small tub of popcorn and sugar seemed pretty overpriced. We always have popcorn in the house. There’s always sugar and butter as well. What more did I need?

I set out to make it motzei shabbat. J is the expert at the popcorn making  – so I put him to work at the stovetop. We don’t do microwave popcorn. I find it too chemical tasting. I was surprised by how easy it was to make the caramel corn. Just a few ingredients, and a few easy steps! It really is as good as I remembered. Even the kid who doesn’t like caramel loved the stuff.

Homemade Caramel Corn
Ingredients:

6 quarts cooked popcorn (stovetop, storebought, or microwave)
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cups corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Place the poprcorn in the biggest mixing bowl you have. I have a few of those restaurant sized stainless steel bowls. If you don’t have them, then just throw them in to a couple of baking pans. The disposable foil 9×13’s are perfect for this.

Preheat the oven to 250.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter at a medium-low heat. You do not want the butter to burn.

Whisk in the brown sugar, corn syrup, and the salt.

Keep stirring.  Turn the heat up to medium high. Let the mixture come to a boil for a few minutes. Keep stirring.

Turn the heat off after a few minutes. Add in the baking soda and the vanilla.

Pour the mixture over the popcorn.
Stir the popcorn to coat it entirely.  If you haven’t already done so, dump the popcorn in to the baking pans.

Place the baking pans in the oven at 250.

Stir the popcorn every 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven after about an hour and let cool for aout 10-15 minutes. 

Break up the popcorn and store in an airtight container. Or eat it all up. It was be hard to fight the urge to keep eating. It’s that good! Enjoy!

Filed Under: Dessert, Gluten Free, munchies, Snacks, sweet · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Teriyaki Tofu and Veggie Rice Bowl

January 6, 2012 · by ·

So the other night around dinner time, J suggested we go out and get Chinese take-out. Of course he said this after dinner was already prepared. He also knows that the kosher Chinese place in the neighborhood pretty much sucks and I always get food poisoning when I eat there. Of course I looked at him like he had two heads when he suggested it.

Don’t get me wrong – I like take-out as much as the next gal; but a: it’s not in our budget and b: I refuse to pay for crappy food.

I do still try to consider what J wants when making the meal plan. He mentioned being in the mood for a greasy bowl of teriyaki chicken or beef – similar to what you could hypothetically get from a crappy Chinese take-out joint.

I hemmed and hawed about this. I even considered  being a nice wifey and getting him some $5 dollar special. Gasp!

We do have all the ingredients though and I had a package of tofu sitting in the fridge. I decided to make some teriyaki tofu. I figured that I could make it better, cheaper, and definitely healthier than any neighborhood joint. And none of us will get sick after eating it! Yay!

Teriyaki Tofu & Veggie Rice Bowl
Ingredients:

1 package of extra firm tofu
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. ginger, minced
2 shallots
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 small zuchini, chopped
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1/2 red pepper, chopped
3/4 cup green peas
scallions, chopped (garnish at the end)
red pepper flakes

Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients:
4 tbsp. tamari (you can also use soy sauce or Braggs Amino Acids)
2.5 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. mirin
2.5 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. ginger, minced
1/2 tbsp. sriracha (or more)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. corn starch
2 tbsp. warm water

Cube up the tofu and press it down to remove all the water.

In a wok, stir fry the tofu in a small amount of vegetable oil mixed wth a small amount of sesame oil. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Add in the ginger, garlic, and the shallots. Cook for 2-3 more minutes.

Add in the other veggies. Cook for a few minutes. Let the zuchini soften a little.

Mix up the teriyaki sauce ingredients.

Add to the stir fry. Cook for a couple more minutes. Add in the scallions and some red pepper flakes.

Serve over some white or brown rice. Enjoy!

Filed Under: asian, Dinner, Gluten Free, Main Course, rice, tofu, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , ,

Quinoa Veggie Burgers – Gluten Free

January 4, 2012 · by ·

I recently moved my younger daughter over to a gluten free diet. For dinnertime, this means that for the most part, all of us are eating gluten free.  I definitely don’t mind, but it’s sometimes hard to convince the rest of the gang that gluten free could be good. I am also new to the gluten free thing for the most part, and having a hard time coming up with fun and tasty things that the whole family will enjoy. Emphasis on the easy part. 

When discussing gluten free stuff with a friend, she mentioned that there is a lot that can be done with quinoa. I had never really gone past pilafs and salads with the grain. It has also been a Pesach-only food for us. I have always loved quinoa, but the rest of the family haven’t been huge fans. I love that it’s a grain and a protein at the same time.

When I bought the quinoa the other day, I had no intention of turning it in to burgers. The idea came to me when I decided I wanted something french fry like and needed a main dish to go along with. I haven’t had a burger in a long time – veggie or otherwise. I have read about various quinoa and lentil loaves, and decided that this could probably work as a burger. I was right. Tonight’s burgers were a hit. They made everyone happy. Even the little one scarfed down two!

Quinoa Burgers
Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
1 onion
2 carrots
1 small zuchinni
6 mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
Handful of shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1/3 cup rice flour or corn flake crumbs
salt
pepper

In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, chop up the onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Switch in the shredding disk and shred the rest of the veggies. Put the veggie mixture in to a mixing bowl and press down on the mixture with your hands and drain the liquid.

Mix the quinoa in to the vegetables. Add the cheese and seasonings.

Mix in the egg and flour.

Form in to patties and fry them on the stove for a few minutes per side.

Move them to a 350 degree oven to finish baking.

Serve them on a bun with all the fixings or in a wrap or however you tend to eat your burgers.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: burger, Dinner, Gluten Free, grain, sandwich, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , ,

Amazing Onion Rings and Dipping Sauce

January 1, 2012 · by ·

Some of you who know me, may know that I am obsessed with onion rings. Whenever I go out to eat, I often judge a place by two things; if they have onion rings, and if they are any good. Often times when you go out to eat they will toss you a plate of those dreadful Kineret freezer bag onion rings. Or, in the case of a place like Dougie’s, they will throw some onions in whatever batter everything else is getting tossed in. That’s just not how it’s supposed to be done! I wish there was a good kosher restaurant that would step up to the plate and do it right. If you know of some place, please, pretty please – fill me in on the details.

I have eaten onion rings at both kosher and non kosher places. I have sampled onion blossoms, strings, wedges, and whatever shape they come in. I just want them to give me that greasy, but not too greasy and crunchy feel that I need. I am a fan of both the breaded style and the battered style – again it just has to come out right. Both can achieve greatness. 

The recipe I will share with you today is for a battered recipe. This onion ring came out perfectly crunchy with the right balance of coating to onion. It was especially good with the great horseradish dipping sauce I made. Highly recommend this recipe when you are in the mood for some greasy goodness!

Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoons horseradish sauce
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon oregano
dash of salt
2 grinds of black pepper
splash of some sriracha or cayenne (optional)

Mix up the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set to the side while you make the onion rings. It’s that easy!

Onion Rings – slightly adapted this Martha Stewart Recipe
Ingredients:

1 large Vidalia onion, sliced in to thin rings
Vegetable oil for frying
3/4 cup flour
1/8 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup ice cold water

Soak the sliced onions in cold water for about 5 minutes and then dry them well on a towel.  Let them dry while you make the batter.

Start to eat up your oil. You will want at least an inch of oil to cover the onions.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Slowly whisk in the ice water. Whisk until you get a nice, smooth consistency.  Sit the bowl over a bowl of ice. Keep the batter cold.

Dip the onions in to the batter. It needs a thin even coating. The batter will puff up, so it doesn’t need to be too heavy. Place the onions in a single layer in to the hot oil. Fry onions in batches for a few minutes each. The onion rings should be light brown.

Drain onion rings on a paper towel.

Serve hot with the dipping sauce on the side. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Appetizers · Tagged: , , ,

Mock Crab Rangoon

December 30, 2011 · by ·

This recipe came about on Sukkot, but I finally made it when I could photograph and write about it.

At least one of our sukkot meals during yom tov tends to be something pretty casual. Sometimes it’s omelettes, sometimes an easy salad. It always includes something warm. It’s usually comfort food that works well for when it’s just us. Except this year, we didn’t have any “just us” meals. We had to play up the casual meal a bit.
J suggested we do a fried bar food fest. It got a bunch of us talking and reminiscing about all that good bad-for-you food that we love, that we don’t eat anymore now that we are kosher. Some of it just is never available as good at kosher restaurants. It’s hard to find the right onions rings, and hot poppers. Don’t tell me that Dougies is a good stand-in. That place stinks. Anyhow, I wanted this meal to be dairy.

The conversation came around to crab rangoon and cream cheese wontons. The wontons are totally a Midwestern thing. I have never seen them on an east coast menu  – treife or otherwise. Whenever we used to eat out at LeeAnn Chinn’s in the Twin Cities, these wontons were always ordered. My yom tov guests also brought up crab rangoon – which I have never had due to the whole crab thing.  We kept kosher in the house growing up, and my mom has a seafood allergy. Crab was verboten. Anyhow, crab rangoon is basically a cream cheese wonton with crab added to it.

I decided to make it. I always have surimi (mock crab) and cream cheese around. I happened to have some wonton wrappers in the freezer. So this worked out. Was easy to make and was a big hit with everyone.
Mock Crab Rangoon
Ingredients:
1 8 oz. brick of cream cheese – softened at room temperature
5 sticks of surimi, chopped up (approximately – use more or less depending on how crabby you like it)
2 tsp. lemon pepper grinded
3 scallions, chopped finely
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 package of wonton wrappers

vegetable oil for frying

In a small bowl, mix up the cream cheese, crab, scallions, and spices.
Take a wonton wrapper and plop a teaspoon of the mixture in to the center of the wrapper.
Fold up the wonton. Here are some good wonton folding instructions. You will get the hang of folding after you screw up a few.

Heat up a pan with some vegetable oil. I don’t like to deep fry, but you could if you like. I use about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch of oil in the pan.
Once the oil is hot, add the wontons carefully to the pan. Fry until lightly brown on one side and then flip. It’s about 2 minutes a side.
Drain on paper towels. 
Dig in! It’s especially good when dipped into a hot and sweet chili sauce.
Filed Under: dairy, munchies, Snacks · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
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