Living it up on a Saturday night

If you really want to live it up on a Saturday night, here is an idea: make cheese! This was actually my second time making cheese, so I basically felt like an old pro going into it. The first time I made saag paneer, because it is one of my favorites. This time, I figured I would try something that I didn't already have really high standards for, with the hopes of really loving my final product more. So I figured I'd try the paneer butter masala that Brian posted about. I'll repost the recipe, which comes in the form of a video, in case you were interested.



I had to watch the video a couple times before I decided that it just didn't matter that I had no idea what spice comes before the ketchup. And for that matter, I also decided I didn't want to cook with ketchup, so I just skipped that. Also, Sweden has fried onions in practically every grocery store, which was not something I would have expected.


Two liters of milk in a giant pot.


curds & whey


finished cheese cubes!

It still surprises me how easy it is to make paneer. I guess this is the simplest cheese to make, but that doesn't mean it isn't incredibly gratifying. The hardest part this time was figuring out a way to get the cheesecloth to stay in the strainer without having to hold it in place. It had these loop things on it, so while it didn't fit over the edge of the strainer, I was able to use some twist ties to hold it in place.

And this is why we don't ever throw away a twist tie, Greg!


finished paneer butter masala



And then I devoured it, because it was super tasty. I think the only thing I might do differently next time is to quickly fry the paneer. I wanted to try not frying it, because I hadn't had it like that. So now I know that I prefer it fried.