who goes home?
I made palak paneer Friday night and it turned out the best yet AND it was super simple so I want to write down what I did.
1 bunch spinach, washed, about two inches trimmed off the stems, and sliced a few times to make it easier to fit in the pan
1 small onion, halved and sliced
5 cloves garlic
large pinch cumin seeds
several large pinches garam masala
1 Roma tomato, chopped
three spoonfuls plain Greek yogurt, with some whey poured in as well
1 340g package paneer
butter for frying
canola oil for frying
I would have used ghee but when I opened my jar of ghee there was a tear in the safety seal. I am going to have to try to take it back to the store and exchange it, but the problem is I don't think I have the receipt. I'm hoping they will just be nice and let me exchange it because I go to this store all the time. Plus the tear is mechanical looking and the contents inside LOOK fine, so it's not something I would do if I were just trying to cheat them; I'm just nervous about eating something like ghee where the safety seal was broken.
Moving on.
I sauteed the onion and garlic to translucency in the butter on medium, then added the spinach and let it wilt, then tossed in the tomato and spices. After a few more minutes, I reduced the heat to low and blended it with an immersion blender, adding in the yogurt and whey. Then I covered it.
I heated some canola oil in a cast iron pan to medium-high, then added the cubed paneer, and tried to get it golden on all sides. I didn't quite manage it, but I didn't burn any pieces, and every piece had at least one side perfectly golden crunchy, and nothing stuck to the pan, so I'm happy.
Added the paneer to the sauce, stirred, and recovered until it was time to serve dinner (about 15 minutes later).
It was soooo good! And I didn't have any of the paneer sticking problems I usually have, and the sauce spiciness was just right.
---
Pippa has continued her tradition of always messing up something on her glasses on holiday weekends. For Armistice Day, she went for losing both her nose pads. This doesn't render the glasses unusable but it does mean that they constantly slide to the end of her nose like a Victorian moneylender.
We went to a party last night, all three of us--a family friendly wine and cheese party. Pippa fell asleep pretty early and didn't make a peep before we left, so I really got to enjoy myself. I actually had four glasses of wine over the course of the evening, much more than I usually drink. There were more than a dozen kinds of cheese, fruit, carrot cake, pumpkin pie, etc. Great conversations. A quieter affair than the party last year but lots of fun. I'm glad we went.
---
This morning I intended to be at Mass 30 minutes early to let Pip play on the playground in back and work off energy. I arrived 15 minutes late. Ten minutes of that was because Pip had diaper needs. The other 35 minutes was due to the buses being all messed up. I had to wait 10 minutes for a bus, and then the bus got stuck for 20 minutes because of a Remembrance Day parade marching along the street, which Translink had neglected to reroute the buses for.
I surprised myself by tearing up when I saw the parade. Pippa was interested of course so I was trying to explain to her what the parade was about and that's when I teared up. I'm getting soft in my old age I guess.
In the city set upon slime and loam
They cry in their parliament 'Who goes home?'
And there comes no answer in arch or dome,
For none in the city of graves goes home.
Yet these shall perish and understand,
For God has pity on this great land.
Men that are men again; who goes home?
Tocsin and trumpeter! Who goes home?
For there's blood on the field and blood on the foam
And blood on the body when Man goes home.
And a voice valedictory . . . Who is for Victory?
Who is for Liberty? Who goes home?
G.K. Chesterton
1 bunch spinach, washed, about two inches trimmed off the stems, and sliced a few times to make it easier to fit in the pan
1 small onion, halved and sliced
5 cloves garlic
large pinch cumin seeds
several large pinches garam masala
1 Roma tomato, chopped
three spoonfuls plain Greek yogurt, with some whey poured in as well
1 340g package paneer
butter for frying
canola oil for frying
I would have used ghee but when I opened my jar of ghee there was a tear in the safety seal. I am going to have to try to take it back to the store and exchange it, but the problem is I don't think I have the receipt. I'm hoping they will just be nice and let me exchange it because I go to this store all the time. Plus the tear is mechanical looking and the contents inside LOOK fine, so it's not something I would do if I were just trying to cheat them; I'm just nervous about eating something like ghee where the safety seal was broken.
Moving on.
I sauteed the onion and garlic to translucency in the butter on medium, then added the spinach and let it wilt, then tossed in the tomato and spices. After a few more minutes, I reduced the heat to low and blended it with an immersion blender, adding in the yogurt and whey. Then I covered it.
I heated some canola oil in a cast iron pan to medium-high, then added the cubed paneer, and tried to get it golden on all sides. I didn't quite manage it, but I didn't burn any pieces, and every piece had at least one side perfectly golden crunchy, and nothing stuck to the pan, so I'm happy.
Added the paneer to the sauce, stirred, and recovered until it was time to serve dinner (about 15 minutes later).
It was soooo good! And I didn't have any of the paneer sticking problems I usually have, and the sauce spiciness was just right.
---
Pippa has continued her tradition of always messing up something on her glasses on holiday weekends. For Armistice Day, she went for losing both her nose pads. This doesn't render the glasses unusable but it does mean that they constantly slide to the end of her nose like a Victorian moneylender.
We went to a party last night, all three of us--a family friendly wine and cheese party. Pippa fell asleep pretty early and didn't make a peep before we left, so I really got to enjoy myself. I actually had four glasses of wine over the course of the evening, much more than I usually drink. There were more than a dozen kinds of cheese, fruit, carrot cake, pumpkin pie, etc. Great conversations. A quieter affair than the party last year but lots of fun. I'm glad we went.
---
This morning I intended to be at Mass 30 minutes early to let Pip play on the playground in back and work off energy. I arrived 15 minutes late. Ten minutes of that was because Pip had diaper needs. The other 35 minutes was due to the buses being all messed up. I had to wait 10 minutes for a bus, and then the bus got stuck for 20 minutes because of a Remembrance Day parade marching along the street, which Translink had neglected to reroute the buses for.
I surprised myself by tearing up when I saw the parade. Pippa was interested of course so I was trying to explain to her what the parade was about and that's when I teared up. I'm getting soft in my old age I guess.
In the city set upon slime and loam
They cry in their parliament 'Who goes home?'
And there comes no answer in arch or dome,
For none in the city of graves goes home.
Yet these shall perish and understand,
For God has pity on this great land.
Men that are men again; who goes home?
Tocsin and trumpeter! Who goes home?
For there's blood on the field and blood on the foam
And blood on the body when Man goes home.
And a voice valedictory . . . Who is for Victory?
Who is for Liberty? Who goes home?
G.K. Chesterton