Fried Cheese: The Way to a Man's Heart

Comfort foods. Weekly repeats. Perfect meals to end stupid days. Dishes so mastered and honed over time they can be whipped up blindfolded, and if not served once a week, induce withdrawal. My food crack comes in the form of tacos or something involving lemongrass. S needs a dose of fried paneer cheese curry.

Paneer is a wallflower of cheeses. Plain, bland, and if served up cold on a platter, would be passed over in favour of its creamier and sharper Italian and French cousins.

I’d had paneer many a time in paneer saag (cheese and spinach curry) at Indian restaurants but little did I know it could be fried. FRIED! Resulting in a golden brown crust and a soft, salty, squeaky interior. Making fried cheese curry is a bit of a labour of love but can be sped up with a little multi-tasking.

 

First cut the cheese into cubes and marinate in a mixture of 1-2TB mustard oil, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp cayenne, ½ teaspoon cumin. Let the spices penetrate while making the base for the curry sauce. Heat 2TB of an oil with a high smoking point like coconut oil and fry the cheese cubes on all sides until golden brown. This takes patience and a lot of flipping and if the pan has gone to shit like mine, causes a bit of a smoky mess. Once fried, set cubes aside. Depending on the state of the oil, reuse or dump and put in some fresh.

"Hey, wait a minute! Why doesn’t it melt?" It has something to do with the way the curds and whey are separated and not having the resulting types of protein that break down when heated. Read more about it here. http://culturecheesemag.com/cheese-iq/squeaky-cheeses

In a food processor or mortar and pestle, mix or pound a big piece of ginger, two cloves garlic, a handful of mint or coriander, and one small white onion. After a paste is formed, let it sit so the garlic can release its anti-oxidant powers (the internet says this happens but it could be total bullshit).

I’ve strayed away from the original recipe due mostly to laziness. As I’ve mentioned before, a teaspoon of any good garam masala and a dash of turmeric and cumin is all that's needed. I fry the paste to remove the strong onion taste and add cumin seeds, cardamom pods (just one!), ½ tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp garam masala, ½ tsp ground cumin. After 2-3 minutes of stirring and frying on medium heat, add a bit of water, some frozen peas and mushrooms, and simmer about 5 minutes. At the end add about a ½ - 1 cup of plain yoghurt (I use Greek or labneh). Stir until completely mixed in and add the cheese cubes. Give one final stir and serve with rice or if feeling particularly Paleo, cauliflower rice.

 

On a side note: I went to my Asia shop last week but they didn’t have the usual paneer. I bought something with foreign writing that looked like paneer and cut into cubes like paneer but when put in the pan, was most certainly NOT paneer. That night we had a gooey mess of a curry!  

Tacorrific!



tacocat: favourite palindrome

At least once a week I MUST have some sort of taco. I use the term loosely because I’m not sure rotis or chapatis are traditional Mexican filling holders. I also sometimes use Indian, “jerk”, or Moroccan seasonings for the chicken, turkey, lamb, pork or whatever gets fried up. The taco toppings are usually rocket lettuce, fried onions and peppers, guacamole (smashed avocado with lime juice and salt), Greek yoghurt and occasionally  cucumber or tomato salsa.  

pork and guac on the left- chicken and mango salsa on the right

Lately because of the change in eating habits, it’s all about the lettuce wraps instead of tortillas. Corn tortillas have fewer calories than flour or chickpea flour but lettuce is basically calorie-free but serves the same purpose. I've tried a few different kinds of big leaf lettuces, but Chinese lettuce is the sturdiest.

easy to pick up and hold

Some people might say that this is just a salad. Oh, how wrong! There’s something so satisfying about wrapping food up and stuffing it into your mouth with your hands. Forkfuls of lettuce are so pretentious.

not salad!!

Tacos are fast food and fast food needs a side like fries. But fries are so naughty! All that starchy whiteness and oil. Enter sweet potato fries, the staple snack of hipster craft brew pubs everywhere.Cut into fry like shapes and add paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Add a bit of oil and corn starch and bake in the oven at 220 for about 15 minutes. Fast, healthy and satisfying.

The Cure-y for the No Cheese Blues

cheese=happiness

Some people call themselves “flexitarian”; others “semi” or “part-time vegetarian”. I like the name eatmeatonlyacoupletimesaweek-arian. I didn’t enter 2015 planning to do this. It just sort of happened as a result of changing my overall eating habits. Though it is healthier and better for the environment (and if we all ate less meat, arguably better for the edible animals themselves), I find it very easy to fall into the trap of substituting the high from meat, with the high of cheesy, carby deliciousness. No meat doesn't automatically equate to healthy. After all, both a hamburger and a grilled cheese sandwich have about 300 calories and a lot of carbs.

So I have had to go beyond vegetarian lasagne, pesto-y pasta, quesadillas, and feta stuffed mushrooms (all of which I love and make from time to time) to find meals that are cheese-less as well as meatless and lowish-carb.

my new favourite multi-grain rice

Lisa’s Kitchen http://foodandspice.blogspot.com/ is one of my go to websites when I need a recipe and/or inspiration. She’s heavy into Indian food but has a range of cuisines and dishes. As long as I have the four S’s (salt, spice, sweet, sour), I end the meal satisfied. While I do have all of these ingredients, I think you could get a similar result with a good curry powder and some cumin.

Ingredients of original recipe plus my changes.

Chickpeas, Mango and Spinach in a Tomato Coconut Gravy

• 1 cup dried chickpeas (I used canned)
• 2-inch piece cinnamon stick (I used ground)
• 2 black cardamon pods, crushed (I used green)
• 1 tablespoon coconut or other cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds (I used black)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced or grated
• 2 to 3 red or green chilies, seeded and finely chopped (I made a paste with above)
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon amchoor powder (optional)(I used this, it adds a bit of sourness)
• a few handfuls of dried curry leaves (I store mine in the freezer)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 teaspoons coconut sugar or brown sugar (I used jaggery)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 large red mango, peeled and diced
• 1 teaspoon garam masala (I used madras masala)
• 1/2 cup water, or as needed
• 2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves, washed and torn (I used kale and added carrots, peas, and green beans as well)

my 6 euro mortar and pestle

I begin any curry I make by pounding the hell out of garlic, ginger, chillies, and any herb I have on hand like mint, cilantro (shhh, don’t tell Stephen. He’s one of those weirdos who thinks cilantro tastes like soap), parsley, or even basil. For some curries, I’ll also throw an onion in too. Pulverising herbs for 10 minutes is cheaper than a therapist or massage, and there’s the added bonus of releasing the antioxidants in the garlic.

 

Raghavad Iyer of 660 Curries fame was on one of my favourite podcasts, The Splendid Table, a few months ago and he explained how you can get 8 unique and distinct flavours from ONE spice such as cumin seeds. 1) as is 2) ground 3) toasted, no oil 4) toasted and ground 5) toasted in oil, 6) toasted in oil and ground, 7) soaked in a liquid, 8) soaked in a liquid and ground.

 

For this curry, the mustard seeds and cumin seeds are toasted in coconut oil and unground. I love when they just start to release their nutty, smoky aromas. I then add the paste and the other spices and cook for a few minutes so the curry doesn’t taste of strong raw onion and garlic.

Then plop in chopped tomatoes, jaggery (Indian sugar), salt, and any other vegetables. Chickpeas and coconut milk come next and mango is added last so it doesn’t get too mushy.
I ladled it over my new favourite multi-grain rice so it is very colourful with the bright yellow curry and the purplish rice. So yummy, so filling, and damn healthy. Win!

Alterna-oodles

squash that looks like pasta. Nature is cool!

In my 20s I dated a guy whose mother was a fabulous cook. When we broke up, I missed our weekly meals with her as much, if not more, than the guy himself. It was in her dining room, I first had deliciousness such as roasted lamb with mint sauce, shepherd’s pie, and artichokes dipped in butter. One night she made spaghetti Bolognese using spaghetti squash as the noodles. To me this was the coolest, most innovative use of a gourd I could ever imagine.

Though I didn’t really care at the time, noodles made of vegetables are such a healthy alternative to the flour based pasta. Here in Ireland, I’ve searched high and low for spaghetti squash to no avail. So enter Plan B, the zucchini (or courgette as they call them here).  For my first attempts at making noodles, I used a vegetable peeler and made long, fettuccine looking strips, but it was a rather time consuming process.

 

Then I found this spiralizer. Less flashy than others on the market, but small and handheld without any attachments. Perfect. There are two ends with different sized blades. Peel the courgette and stick it in the black part and twist. The noodles come out the side. I found I need to have a pair of scissors handy, otherwise they are all super long (think: peeling an apple in a spiral strip)

One courgette is enough for one person and takes about two minutes to spiralize

add a bit of salt to draw out the water

 

Zucchinis, like most vegetables, are full of water and this can create some annoying watery messes in the bottom of the bowl. I haven’t completely figured out how to solve this problem, but for now, salting and draining for 30 minutes and then squeezing out the excess seems to work.  I then fry them for a couple of minutes, though the internet says some people put them in the oven. It’s also important to use a very thick sauce or paste.

I use these noodles at least once a week with a satay sauce, pesto, or marinara sauce. Here I've gone Italian and the result was very good. The noodles on their own don't have much flavour but do absorb whatever is on top pretty well. They have a bit of an al dente bite. After a meal like this, I feel full but without the heaviness a giant bowl of pasta creates.

turkey meatballs in marinara sauce

 

Meatballs

• 300 g ground turkey breast
• 2 cloves, diced
• Fresh herbs, finely chopped
• ¼ cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg whisked
• Grated parmesan
• Salt and pepper
• Mix all ingredients by hand; shape into balls and fry or bake

Marinara

• For the base, fry 1 onion, 1 chopped celery stalk, 1 diced bell pepper until soft
• Add can of chopped tomatoes
• ¼ cup red wine
• Fresh  herbs
• Salt and pepper
• Use a hand held blender to make smooth sauce and cook down until very thick and add meatballs and simmer for a few minutes

Rice: Faked and Fried

When I tried the Paleo Diet for a few weeks, one of the many “food hacks” I carried with me back to Reality, was using cauliflower as a rice alternative. It’s time consuming and takes a few steps, but the end result actually feels and nearly tastes like the real thing but full of Vitamin C, fibre, and only 25 calories per serving. Topped with a bold and bright curry, it’s a satisfying meal.

Chop cauliflower into small pieces and blitz them in batches to get a rice or tabouleh consistency.

do in batches or the pieces don't get small enough

this is three servings

 

 

Fry in a small bit of oil for 3 or 4 minutes. Adding white or green onions helps the flavour.



I use coconut oil because it has a higher smoking point

after about 4-5 minutes

 

with a chicken and vegetable curry

De-Floured Pizza

real pizza in Naples in the good 'ol days

I can proudly say that I haven’t ordered a pizza in 2015. This may not seem like a big feat, but in 2014, I probably ordered 25. Each of my halves probably contained at least 1000 calories (not including the garlic herb dip, side of potato wedges, and requisite coke), so from my lazy deliveries alone, I likely consumed nearly 30,000 unnecessary calories. This doesn't include the 7 or 8 pizzas I ate in Naples.

These days my brain is unable to NOT do the math like above and I’m constantly looking for ways to make my favourite foods healthier without resorting to processed “low-fat” or “non-fat” chemicalised crap. I was happy when I stumbled upon a recipe for a polenta crust because I happen to have a giant bag of coarse polenta in my pantry.

I’ve used my coarse polenta to make a citrus polenta cake and corn bread, but I’ve never made the actual polenta you put in a bowl and eat with a dab of butter. 

very sceptical at this stage

The polenta when mixed with the water and milk gets a consistency like thick cafeteria mashed potatoes. This is then spread onto a sheet pan greased with olive oil. I didn’t spread the polenta all the way to the edges for fear of it being too thin, but in retrospect this would have been the way to go to get a crisp, thin crust like base.

after baking, I added some leftover rocket pesto

Take the cooked crust out of the oven, add ingredients and bake until cheese is bubbly and brown.


mushrooms, peppers, spinach, and reduced fat mozzarella

you can't really go wrong with bubbly brown cheese

The flavour of the crust was savoury and not too corny.  There was a lovely crunch on the edge pieces. Next time I’ll add herbs and more salt and make sure it’s spread thinner. All in all a good vegetarian meal with low calorie crust, sautéed veggies, and skimmed milk cheese. A lot healthier than its brutish Four Star Pizza cousin.

Original recipe found here: http://www.macheesmo.com/the-polenta-pizza/

 

Pork Chili Impro-verde

Usually I can pinpoint the exact moment and location I tried a new cuisine, but my first taste of pork chili verde eludes me. Was it stuffed inside an enchilada at an Iowan Mexican restaurant with its ubiquitous ladlefuls of refried beans and red rice? Was it during a post-drinking session at Taco Cabana in Texas? Or did I just see in on Food Network? I do remember my own past concoctions made with fresh tomatillos, cilantro, and serrano peppers.

After a friend posted a picture of his chili verde creation simmering away on the stove, I immediately had an intense craving that wouldn’t go away. I had to have that spicy, sour, succulent melt in your mouth pork and sauce wrapped up in a sweet soft corn tortilla.

The foreign food stores in Dublin have either a majority of central Asian or east Asian ingredients but both have a couple of shelves of salsas, corn tortillas, and tins of refried beans and pickled chillies. When I went to buy the ingredients, I noticed that this particular store didn’t have the enormous tin of tomatillos that are usually on offer (for an insane 6 euros!). Instead of going on a mission for the key ingredient, I decided to improvise with what was already in my kitchen.

Green apples. Right color. Acidic and slightly sour. Close enough. And so a new recipe was born.

 

Blitz all ingredients (except pork) in a processor or blender until it has a salsa like consistency.

Put pork in a Dutch oven or some sort of oven proof thing with a lid. I’m too lazy to brown the meat first, but it might make it better. Pour the salsa on top and put in a 150 degree C oven for 2-2 ½ hours. Take out and pull apart the pork with two forks and mix in with the salsa.

Serve with favourite ingredients like guacamole, sour cream, greens, etc.

in the food processor

2 hours + later

 

served on corn tortillas "grilled" on stove burner