JediMomma's Journal - One Local Summer Challenge--Curried Paneer Potato Balls, Ice Cream

One Local Summer Challenge--Curried Paneer Potato Balls, Ice Cream

Jun. 27th, 2008 at 9:27 AM

Yeah, alright, it's not the prettiest picture I've ever taken (I'll make up for it below with the ice cream pic). Partially, this is because I forgot that I needed to take pictures, and so it just wasn't set up properly. Partially because, well, it's just not a very pretty dish. But it tasted good! The paneer potato balls are good, but they need a little work--a little something more. Admittedly, this time we decided that the "little something more" was Major Grey chutney out of a jar, and decidedly non-local, but next time I've got other ideas. These would go great with a cucumber raita, but we don't have any cucumbers yet. Ah well, more's the pity. The strawberry raita I did made was wonderful, but not particularly good on the paneer balls--great on it's own, though. And the kale? I don't know what I did, but it was knockout good. I mean, damn.

Paneer Balls
Paneer: homemade, cowshare milk, ~20 mi
Potatoes: Good Life Farms CSA, ~35 mi
Cornmeal: Bridgeton Mills, ~20 mi
Cilantro: backyard
[not local: many indian spices, lemon juice to make paneer, salt & pepper]

Raita
Strawberries: Amish farmer, ~20 mi
Yogurt: homemade, cowshare, ~20 mi
Ricotta: homemade, cowshare, ~20 mi
Honey: local, don't know where from exactly though
Ginger Mint: backyard

Kale
Kale: backyard
Butter: cowshare, ~20 mi
Cream: cowshare, ~20 mi
[not local: pinch of sugar, salt & pepper, nutmeg]

Well, at least here's a pic worth looking at, if for no other reason than it's ice cream!

Strawberry Ice Cream
Strawberries: Amish farmer, ~20 mi
Cream: cowshare, ~20 mi
Milk: cowshare, ~20 mi
[not local: sugar, salt, vanilla, vodka]

Comments

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moonshineray wrote:

Jun. 27th, 2008 03:52 pm (UTC)

The icecream sounds good, why vodka? Curious. I noticed our sorbet recipe had optional alcohol, but we opted out.

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jedimomma wrote:

Jun. 28th, 2008 02:18 am (UTC)

The vodka is for the strawberries. It has a very, very, very, very low freezing point (I think something like a few degrees above absolute zero?). You soak the strawberries in it, and it helps keep the strawberries from freezing solid in the ice cream. The berries are still a bit frozen, but more like "slushy" frozen than "break your teeth" frozen. Neat, eh? Too bad you can't do something like that with chocolate chips in ice cream....

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(Anonymous) wrote:

Jun. 27th, 2008 06:47 pm (UTC)

Mmmm. Looks yummy to me. I'll have to try some paneer, it sounds wonderful right now.
Debbie

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peskyaura wrote:

Jun. 27th, 2008 07:36 pm (UTC)

That ice cream looks amazing. If I cooked, I'd wanna do it just like you. :)

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(Anonymous) wrote:

Jun. 28th, 2008 03:37 pm (UTC)

OK: one last time:
HOW do you cook kale? Isn't it one of those "either 30 seconds or 30 minutes" kind of veggies? Anything in between is disgusting?

Help. My kale sucks. I mean, when I try to cook it. I like shredding it into wedding soup and other broth-type soups, but that's it. Nothing else tastes good to me.

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jedimomma wrote:

Jun. 28th, 2008 04:02 pm (UTC)

The trick with kale is that it's bitter, so if you want to cook it straight rather than adding it to soups or something, you need to blanch it to remove the bitterness. Blanch chopped kale (or other assertive greens, like mustard greens or collards) for 7 minutes in water at a rolling boil (with a bit of salt). Drain and then immerse in ice water, then you can saute it in butter, cream, whatever. Bacon is good (well, duh). This kale recipe was sauteed in a bit of butter, then I added some cream & nutmeg, and a good pinch of sugar--yum!

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