Cheese and the cottage. Two of my favorite things.
So why not make cheese at the cottage?
Tea, of Tea & Cookies suggests that if you're going to make cheese, paneer is probably your best bet. You'll have no problem if you follow her instructions exactly. She's an expert.
My paneer making adventure, on the other hand, began with only a recipe and a dream. I'm not an experienced cook. I had no useful guidebooks or internet on hand. It's amazing what you realize you don't know when there's no access to google. Conversions, for example. Who knows how many quarts are in a gallon? What is a quart anyway? Is that the same as a litre?
But the great thing about paneer is that even when it doesn't go quite right, it still tastes fantastic. Here are a few tips (based on my mistakes) to help you on your way.
Stick to the recipe exactly. Don't over juice. No lemon will ever produce just the right amount for what is required by the recipe so it's natural to go overboard. When making paneer, if the recipe says 2 tbsp. Stick to just that.
Bring on the boil. I didn't boil the milk completely so it didn't curdle as well as it should have. I'm a tentative milk boiler. I see it start to bubble and it brings me back to that day when I tried to make hot chocolate on my dad's stove. I was eleven. My father's stove was ruined. In my defense however, you pretty much have to have a hawk-like patience and timing to achieve milk boiling perfection.
And finally, this one may seem obvious, but I'm telling you, if you're away at the cottage and you've only packed your vacation brain, it's an easy one to miss. Make sure you've brought your cheesecloth. You might ask, What is cheese without cheesecloth? Wet and runny. The cheesecloth allows you to squeeze out most of the liquid. Luckily, I was able to macgyver up a substitute using coffee filters and a colander. It worked, but it was very slow going.
And here's the final result. I served it on pasta. It tasted like heaven. Paneer is the lazy cooks dream cheese.
