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Tag Archives: cheese

Saag paneer: Indian greens curry with farmer’s cheese

One of my favorite desi dishes is saag paneer: Spicy greens with chunks of farmer’s cheese. It’s very similar to palak paneer which, if I understand the names properly, is made primarily with spinach as the leafy green. I enjoy a mix of several greens, including fenugreek leaves and mustard greens to add some oomph […]

Brazilian cheese puffs: pão de queijo

I adapted this from Simply Recipes. I didn’t use a mini-muffin pan since I don’t have one, and I increased the amount of cheese. As Elise Bauer points out, the resulting cheese bread puffs are like crispy mochi popovers. Or, alternatively, like a South American version of gougères.

Zucchini, (sweet) potato & cheese gratin

Here’s another dish that makes use of our garden’s summer surplus of zucchini. Inspired by the potato, squash & goat cheese gratin recipe from the The Kitchn, except that I reversed the proportions of summer squash and potato. And added sweet potato, changed the cheese composition, among one or two other things. 🙂

Honey fromage blanc ice cream, plus a drink

One of my strongest food memories from France was stopping at a roadside shack in Provence, run by an grizzled, bearded man with a Harley-Davidson out front. It was a warm summer day, and we were hungry and thirsty. Maybe try this fromage-miel-something-something? Out comes a nearly overflowing parfait glass (a.k.a., sundae glass) filled with […]

Brussels sprouts & cauliflower gratin topped with panko+nuts

Hellllooo, Winter! Brussels sprouts and cauliflower star in this cheesy, creamy seasonal dish. Mine is a somewhat lighter version of the Epicurious recipe, taking copious hints from comments mentioning how heavy the original felt. Already crisp panko breadcrumbs gave me a head-start, so I didn’t need to fry the topping. I also added cornstarch to […]

Zucchini & rice gratin

The annual zucchini inundation has been going on since last month. Usually we chop then dry-sautée three or four of them in olive oil, and serve as a side dish. But if we skip cooking zucchini for a week, we accumulate a bagful which sits forlornly in the fridge. So what do you do with […]

Two winter gratins: squash and leek, cauliflower and fennel

[I nearly forgot about this article, so with winter is coming to a close here in California…] Gratins are an excellent merging of comfort food and decadence. I mean, what do you do with leftover winter squash or root vegetables? Add cheese! Add cream! Bake until bubbly! Members of the onion family, such as leeks […]

Pizza with chicken, cheese & chutney

Here’s an example of my being a food mutant: I don’t like pizza. To clarify: I don’t like deep dish pizzas, which are far too soggy. Thin crusts tend to change my mind. I don’t like tomato sauces —oh, I love tomatoes, sauces and tomato sauces, but on pizzas the gloppiness issue crops up again. […]

I made more cheese.

Chemistry makes everything better! Adding a bit of acid, i.e., vinegar, made a lot more curds form. Really, dramatically more. More than twice as many curds as last time. This cheese was somewhat firmer and more squeaky. I was relieved that it didn’t taste or smell vinegary at all; its flavor was only slightly tarter […]

Macaroni and cheese: simplified (somewhat)

The search for the ultimate macaroni and cheese never ends. That’s a good thing, too, because it’s fun to try out and taste more dishes made of pasta and cheese. Tonight’s version was based on the creamy baked mac-and-cheese by Deb of Smitten Kitchen. The main draw was the avoidance of both pre-cooked pasta and […]