Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Food

Earlier this week my son was visiting me. We have always had a tradition to go out to lunch and have Shahi Paneer. It is one of my son's favorite dishes. We used to go to a restaurant near my old house, but in the new house I hadn't yet found a spot. I figured we might try the local restaurant, but maybe he would like to help me make it. I'd never cooked it before, but both my son and I lvoe to cook. So I looked up recipes. I settled on one from Allrecipes.

So we went out to our local Indian grocery store that was just a half mile from the house. They had the red chili powder and ghee (which I used instead of vegetable oil), but sadly no paneer. So we made Shahi Mozzeralla instead. Now paneer doesn't melt and you can cook it in the sauce, but mozzerella does so you have to add it at the last minute. If we had had time we might have made paneer ourselves as it isn't that hard, but it was 11am already and we were making lunch.

It really made a good garden lunch. It used garlic, onion, tomatoes, and coriander from the garden. Mozzeralla tasted very good with the sauce, but it as a bit too rubbery. Maybe I'll make paneer before he comes next time. He promised to come again in a month.

And as every mother does I had to make dinner for him with one of his favorites. Ham. I paired it with applesauce that I made last fall. I dug the first of the new potatoes out of the garden in the afternoon to make scalloped potatoes. I usually don't have cream in the house, but since I bought it for the Shahi Paneer I figured I'd use it up. And I cut up some carrots for him. Sadly this is my plate and my son doesn't like green beans.

14 comments:

  1. I think I'll give my mom a call. My favorite dish was breakfast crepes with strawberries, and mom makes a chocolate sheet cake with walnuts to die for!

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  2. If my son didn't like green beans I'd give him away ;-)

    Lovely garden lunch and dinner. You're braver and more creative than I. I tend to cook the same-old-same-old over and over. I'd be more creative if I didn't have such an old fogy for a husband!

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  3. Did he at least try the beans for "Mom's sake"? The plate sure looks good!

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  4. How can anyone not like green beans???

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  5. What a nice way to spend the day together! And what a beautiful dinner. As for the beans, I'd beat him with a stick! LOL!!! Just kidding. But come on--doesn't like beans???????????

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  6. Jody, Oh gee. Crepes are a specialty of my sons. They are so good. He made them during a family reunion one time. I totally forgot to have him make me some. The problem though is that he gets up at 10am and I've been up for hours already and eaten. I'd have to plan in advance to starve myself.

    Granny, lol but he cooks for me sometimes. And frankly he eats more normally than anyone else in the family but myself. My daughter is autistic/OCD and she won't eat anything browned or with a sauce. My husband won't touch any veggie or fruits (except cooked apples, corn and potatoes - though he will eat tomato sauce). Ben at least likes sauces and will eat veggie when they are in things (like a curry). He hates green veggies though and thinks mushrooms are evil. But still he will eat green veggies when they are cooked into things. For instance minestrone soup has spinach or chard and beans in it. And he gobbles it all down. My problem is I have the wrong family. I need a family that likes their veggies. And trust me my husband is more of an old fogy than yours when it comes to what he will eat.

    Veggie PAK, no and I've long since given up asking. Once they get in their 20s they don't get harassed about it anymore.

    Mark, I have no clue. But I confess to not liking them if they don't come from my garden.

    Sue, lol I know they were good. I brought them over to my townhouse mates for dinner one night and they loved them. They were gone in three seconds flat. I should have made more, but I just multiplied what I ate by the number of people. Obviously they like beans even more than I do and as you can see from my photo I eat a lot of beans when I make them.

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  7. That Shahi Paneer recipe sounds wonderful...I have got to try it, but not until we have a few ripe tomatoes.

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  8. Daphne - I would have given you some paneer, if you were close by. I always make and freeze them and then use them in dishes. Kids love them. Oh, my kids LOVE green beans:) That is one veggie that will get over faster than I can make it!!

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  9. Green beans doused with garlic oil and zapped until done.

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  10. Mr. H, it is quite good. Especially with tomatoes from the garden.

    Random Gardener, Oh how sad. I'll just have to plan ahead next time. I'll make paneer before he shows up.

    Karen Anne, yum.

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  11. My wife has been meaning to make paneer. And that looked delicious, so I think I'm going to convince her to try the Shahi :)

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  12. Ben, you won't be sorry. The sauce is just SO good. And add a little naan and life is perfect.

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  13. I love paneer. My favorite is Saag Paneer, with the spinach. Yum and yum. You have a recipe for making paneer? I'll have to try that!

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  14. meemsnyc, I've never made it before, but I'm going to try the one in Allrecipes as it looks rather easy. It uses buttermilk to curdle the milk which seems novel.

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