in my kitchen this month…..
the warm hues of Autumn seem to be following me inside. The golden quinces, rosy apples, the burnt orange of the kuri squash and the enticing amber of the cider (we had a little sip when we siphoned it off into the second demi-john and it’s tasting good) echo the crisp colours of the garden. While my jewel-coloured jellies and magenta liquor around the sloes are reminding me of the rich colours of the berries in the hedgerows.
This is obviously on a good day! There have been quite a few damp days lately when the colour that most springs to mind is grey. These are the ones when I’m as glad of the colour in my kitchen as the warmth of the wood-burning stove.
in my kitchen …..
….there are things fermenting in every corner. I know this doesn’t sound ideal but I’m becoming addicted to cheese-making and there are regularly little tubs of cheese culture or tubs of curdling milk lurking. Not to mention the home-made booze – the Quince Ratafia and Fig Liquer just need a shake every now and again and one of the demi-johns of cider will soon be ready for drinking. Guy invested in a bargain bottle capper off ebay so we’ve been soaking labels off old bottles and will soon have a good new game. Hopefully lovely bottles of dry cider to enjoy too.
My latest easy cheese is Paneer. It’s a doddle to make; if you have surplus milk you can decide in the afternoon to make it for supper. And it holds its shape well, making it great for cooking briefly in a pan with a little oil and tossing into Indian spiced chickpeas or a vegetable curry.
Making Paneer cheese
Ingredients
1 litre whole, organic milk
3-4 tablespoons of either lemon juice or leftover whey from previous cheese-making.
In a large saucepan over a medium heat, warm the milk to 80 degrees centigrade. Keep an eye on it as it can boil over quickly. Turn off the heat and add 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice or whey. Stir until the milk separates into curds and whey. If it doesn’t seem to be separating, add another tablespoon of the lemon juice or whey.
Pour the mixture into a colander lined with muslin or cheesecloth which is placed above a bowl.
Gather the corners of the cheesecloth into a bundle and squeeze out as much of the excess liquid as you can. Save this whey as it can be used in future cheese-making or try replacing some of the milk in pancakes for whey, resulting in a sourdough type taste.
To press it into a solid cheese, set the bundle (still wrapped in muslin) in the middle of a plate with a good lip to catch the liquid that will be squeezed out. Put another plate on top and press until the bundle has flattened – weigh the plate down with something heavy like a few cans to help press. I found a use for my extra large jar of pickle at last!
Press the cheese for at least 20 minutes, though an hour is ideal. Drain off the liquid that has collected and unwrap the paneer.
Use or store immediately. The cheese will firm up even more in the fridge.
in my kitchen….
…there’s a dried broad bean. And a copy of Lauren Child’s lovely Princess and the Pea. As we slip from Autumn into damper, colder winter days, reading by the woodburner is definitely tempting.
After I’d read this to Ruby for a bedtime story recently, she decided she’d like to try a pea beneath her own mattress. As I only had dried broad beans to hand (saved for seed) she gave one a go but admitted quickly that she couldn’t feel anything. She suggested that perhaps the bean should be directly under her sheet. A good job we didn’t have the twelve feather mattresses.
Next morning my daughter was disappointed that the broad bean still hadn’t troubled her. I imagine I’ll see a broad bean cellotaped to her pyjamas soon.
In the meantime dried beans and pulses seem very well suited to the warming stews and soups that are needed this month. Recommend Louisa at Eat Your Veg’s Sausage Hotpot, which I sneaked lots of my home-grown squash into and enjoyed with mashed swede from the garden. Chorizo and fish have been cooked in home-made stock (a fishy variety stashed in the freezer since we brought back crab from Wales with tomatoes, potato, paprika and garlic for a sort of Spanish fish stew.
But it’s lamb that is going to be added to lots of slow-cooked winter dishes over the next month. Very local lamb, bought from the brilliant smallholding near us that supplied us with pigs to clear the back garden last year. I’d been talking to Carol recently about how she moves her lambs to different pasture really regularly, thus helping her to avoid the 2 weekly worming that so many farmers carry out. The smallholding is one of those great places that isn’t classified organic but avoids use of chemicals through good practice, traditional rotation etc. Their Berkshire pigs have plenty of space in orchards to root around in and the sheep have lush pasture. So when I heard she was selling half lambs, I jumped at the chance. My head is full of lamb and quince tajine, slow-cooked shoulder eaten with salty home-made cheese and flatbread and lamb koftas. Hopefully the kitchen will be too soon.
Would love to join in again with Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial’s inspiring In my Kitchen.
And the good photos (those near the beginning of the post) are taken by my photographer friend Chava Eichner, whose vegan food blog is soon to feature some Bavarian foodie treats.
It looks like you’ve been having a good time. I love preserving.
BTW what happened to the pea? 😉
Have to admit to leaving the dried broad bean/pea substitute in the bed for a few days before remembering. Now it’s in the kitchen but I think its culinary days are over, even I’m not that shoddy! Do you think I could still plant it?
A visit to your kitchen looks and sounds wonderful! I love paneer cheese. It is so quick and easy. I love making indian dishes with it too.
The lamb sounds divine! We don’t have it often but it’s a great treat when we do. Yumm koftas!
Thank you! I’m new to making paneer but it’s fab isn’t it, definitely going to be made regularly now I know how easy it is. Have you tried halloumi? Lots of cheesy plans now.
Wow, what a bounty! I tried making piccalilli once but have to say it was utterly revolting so not sure where I went wrong! Love the cheese-making too. My eldest wants us to make mozzarella so if the market has got raw buffalo’s milk this weekend, I might give it a try…watch this space…
Lucky you to have raw buffalo milk at the market, I’m trying to get hold of some near here too, really keen to have a go at mozzarella. Feta first I think though.
Ah, I made feta on the blog back in the summer – the actual make went well but it all dissolved in the brine when I was on holiday. Oh dear.
There must be a lot of gurgling and bubbling in your kitchen with all those things fermenting! I love the idea that there’s so many things quietly making themselves while you get on with other things. Beautiful autumnal colours Andrea; just the thing to lift a grey day.
You’re right, it’s a great time of year for things quietly making themselves – a bit like bread-making with all that hands-off proving time. Enjoying the Autumn colours outside today too, beautiful coloured leaves – much better than the damp greyness yesterday.
Lovely goings-on in your kitchen! I have lots of apples, too. I;m yet to find any sloes
Looking forward to reading your friend’s Bavarian teats soon too!
Thanks Ren. I made your toffee apple tarts last week by the way, delicious. We loved the leftover appley toffee sauce on ice cream the next day too.
Like the idea of making paneer – it’s great in curries and I can’t buy it in Germany. Look forward to seeing some Bavarian food on your blog! 😉
Yes, paneer is so useful, definitely going to make it lots now I’ve realised how easy it is.
Lots going on in your kitchen still then! I love the tale of Ruby and the pea/broad bean – might be best not to read the story of the frog prince to her… just in case she wants to test out kissing the amphibians in your garden!
I can just imagine that! We get a few toads too thanks to a nearby pond – very grateful to have them in the garden but they can stay there thank you.
Another gorgeous round-up of the goings on in your kitchen. By the sounds of things you’ll be having a wonderful christmas eating and drinking all the wears (if they’re ready on time?!). I’ve thought about making paneer before and that’s where it stopped. But I really MUST go for it, you make it sound so simple, and I do love paneer in a veggie curry. We visited Warwick Castle recently and the princess in the Princess Tower gave out peas to the children to take home and see if they were after all a princess. Frannie was deeply upset to not be, and I also snuck one under the sheet!! Bless. And thanks also for my Hotpot mention, really must make another of those soon, certainly the weather for it right now
Was Warwick castle good for young kids? We haven’t taken Ruby there yet but sounds as if she’d love it. And we all love the hotpot, will definitely be a regular in this kitchen.
See, that’s the problem with having a girl, none of my sons ever tried to see if they were a true princess by hiding a pea under their mattress.
But I did so love that story growing up, although now I think the Princess was a bit of a whinger. What I DO love are the gorgeous Autumnal hues in your kitchen . And I can’t believe you made your own paneer, how fabulous is that! 
I think you’re right about the princess being a bit of a whinger Celia – but I do like the Lauren Child version where the princess lives in a treehouse and is kind etc rather than just looking lovely. Bet she didn’t make paneer though!
Love the illustrations in that Lauren Child book – it’s a good version of that story! And I never knew paneer was so easy to make – I’ve been trying to find some for a particular recipe…but now I can just make it!
All your preserves and booze sound and look delicious – I can just imaginehow that cider tastes, mmm!
Thank you Helen and have just been enjoying your quince post too – love the idea of using them in a cake.
G’day Andrea and yum re all the preserving, true!
Your paneer looks great! Thank you for allowing me to peek this month into your kitchen too!
Cheers! Joanne
Thanks lots for visiting Joanne and looking at my kitchen realise I do seem to have become a tad preserving obsessed!
lots of wonderful things happening in your kitchen at the moment…I’d quite happily make off with a few of those jars.
Thanks lots and at least those hefty jars have turned out to be handy for weighing down the cheese!
Love all you have been getting up to and admiring your wonderful collection of preserves, so satisfying. Have been doing lots myself, with the idea of giving lots as gifts this year. Love paneer and know it’s simple to make but at the moment my mind is focussed on getting to grips with sourdough!
Good for you making home-made presents with your children. And getting to grips with sourdough is a great focus – I had a good go last year then after about 6 months of enjoying the bread, neglected my starter. Must get one going again, it’s the time of year for slow baking.
Lovely, lovely, lovely look around your kitchen. I’ve been doing a bit of preserving and dabbling with drinks so I was interested to see you doing a ratafia. I’d be interested in you posting that recipe and your expereinces. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks so much and I think ‘dabbling’ is exactly what I’ve been doing, think I’d better check that they work out before I post recipes. Eager to decant rataffia etc but trying to hold off until it’s ready.The rataffia is a Diana Henry recipe from Salt, Sugar, Smoke.
Great post. I feel like I’ve had a good root around in your kitchen cupboards!
Thanks Caroline – although I’m not sure that a root around my kitchen cupboards would be a totally positive experience!
Thanks for the welcome on this months In My Kitchen! I’m LOVING your jars and bottles! Very nice! Also thanks for the vegan link, too! YAY!
Thanks for visiting Jennifer and glad you like the many jars and bottles!