The Harvest Day Cheese

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Paneer-Cheese-art - 12/26/18

"The Harvest Day Cheese - Or - Nearly boil a gallon of milk" by T.H.L. Eidiard an Gobihainn.

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NOTICE -

This article was added to this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium, with the permission of the author.

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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The Harvest Day Cheese

- Or -

Nearly boil a gallon of milk

by T.H.L. Eidiard an Gobihainn

Dernehealde's "Cast Iron Chef"

In the course of cooking over time, cooks like many people get bored. We understand that to become greater than that which we are we must push out the limits of understanding and press forward into unknown and perhaps even untried territories.

I wish this was the real reason for such a thing.

In truth, I like cheese.

It started something like this:

I cook for our camp at Harvest Days every year we get to go. I have over time garnered a portable kitchen that in some ways is better than the one I have in my own home. With this kitchen I feed us all. Now, when I say all, I do mean all for no one is allowed to leave our camp hungry. More than one pelican, knight or laurel has been told in the most dulcet of tones that I can manage to sit down, shut up and eat. They have never regretted it.

It is a noble effort to try especially with many new people every year in our shire, to introduce them to cooking they may never have had. Chinese, Italian, Greek, and Middle Eastern all have places in our menu. We tell people we wear garb not costumes, but in the same moment we will turn our heads and bite into a "Big Mac". So, I try to give them dishes they may never have had and to try to get myself to stretch my skills. Consider it garb food.

Now I think you can understand part of the why, let me get into the how. One of the dishes I made this year was called Mutter Paneer, a dish of Indian origin made from cheese (Paneer) and peas in a curry sauce. I found a version from the Khyber region of India that used tomatoes and a tomato base with a red curry. I read an article about Indian cooking in a magazine called Saveur. It is a cooking magazine for non-chefs that can tell you how to do things without a $90,000 kitchen and a staff of 20. Buried in the article was how to make Paneer. Then the idea came to make it at Harvest Days.

To make Khyber Mutter Paneer and make the Paneer cheese on site at an event for dinner that evening; there was a challenge suitable for a "Cast Iron Chef"!

I will just give the recipe for the cheese first, as that is the order in which you make it.

Paneer Cheese

Preparation time: about 3 hours including wait and drying times.

You will need:

· 1 gallon whole milk

· 1 cup lemon juice

· 1 large steel pot

· 1 colander

· 1 square of washed muslin (the bleached seems better as the weave is tighter)

· 3 strong friends or people willing to work for food

· 3 foot of string

1. Put the milk into the big pot and heat it to almost boiling. DO NOT LET IT BOIL!

2. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the 1 cup of lemon juice.

3. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Place the muslin, dampened with fresh water over the colander and slowly pour the contents of the pot into it, letting it slowly filter.

4. Allow to stand covered for about 15 minutes. Gather up the corners of the cloth and begin to twist the curds (that is the cheesy goodness) into a ball at the bottom. Keep twisting it until it is the size of a tennis ball and somewhat solid.

5. This is where the 3 people come in! Pass it around as it will make your hands very tired very quickly. As it drains it will begin to get harder, until about the consistency of a heavy cream cheese. Once twisted to about the right size, take the string and tie off the ball in the muslin.

6. Hang it up and let it air dry about 30 minutes to an hour. Longer is better. Makes about 1 pound.

Khyber style Mutter Paneer

· 1 large can of Diced tomatoes

· 1 pound of tomatoes, quartered

· 1 can of garbanzo beans*

· 2.5 oz of FRESH basil, chopped fine

· 2 tablespoons of curry powder

· 1 cup of water

· 1 pound Paneer Cheese

1. Heat the 1 cup of water to almost boiling and add in the chopped basil.

2. Let stand for 3 minutes. Add in the 2 tablespoons of curry powder and mix well, set aside.

3. In a large sauce pan add the diced tomatoes and the sliced tomatoes, heat over a medium heat until it begins to steam and the sliced tomatoes begin to cook, about 15 minutes.

4. Add in the garbanzo beans and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes. The sauce and beans should begin to thicken slightly. Cut the Paneer cheese into smallish shreds and set aside.

5. Add the curry, basil and water mix to the pot, return to a medium heat.

6. Mix in the cheese and serve. Some of the cheese will melt in the pot, making it get thick fairly fast.

Serve with popadoms and a big smile.

Will serve 6 normal people or 3 from our shire.

*We used the garbanzo beans in place of peas due to a food allergy, but either can be used in this type of cooking.

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Copyright 2018 by Bryian Winner. <eidiard at gmail.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited. Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, please place a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.