Paneer Florentine

I have been struggling to push myself and blog more on the regular savoury food that we have at home. But often, since I like to prepare food fresh and on time, I seldom get to click pictures and thus post on it. A stronger push was thus necessary to let readers know that I do eat things beyond all the cakes and cookies I keep posting. 

Frankly speaking I rarely eat my own sweet bakes and I bake in small quantities sufficient for my daughter and husband. So the regular everyday meal is just like in any other home though I must confess that I am a little lazy in savoury experiments.

Paneer florentine was born out of circumstances of unavailability. Many years ago, myself and Vishal had a dish called Fish Florentine in a restaurant called One step up on Park street. Vishal being the savoury experimenter at our home, decided to give it a try and it came out quite wonderful.

While trying out the same dish in Allahabad, we were stuck at an odd hour where we could not find fish so we thought of trying the same with Paneer. The dish came out wonderful and we were surprised how the humble paneer fitted perfectly in this French dish. 

The word Florentine (pronounced Flor-en-teen), in culinary world, refers to a recipe that is prepared in the style of the Italian region of France. Florentine recipes typically feature a bed of Spinach on which a main ingredient such as meat, poultry or fish is laid and then topped with a Mornay sauce which is a béchamel sauce with shredded or grated Gruyère cheese and an egg yolk. A florentine recipe may also be topped with cheese which is browned as in au gratin.

Ingredients : For 2-3 servings

• half a bunch of spinach leaves
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 150 gms Paneer, cut in cubes
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tbsp refined oil
• 1/2 tbsp all purpose flour (maida)
• 1/2 tbsp whole wheat flour (atta)
• 1 1/2 cups milk, warm
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

Procedure : 

Wash spinach leaves very well.

Boil water in a pan and add the spinach leaves. Turn off the heat and immediately drain the spinach leaves and put in cold water. Drain and roughly chop.

Take oil in a pan and saute half of the chopped garlic. 

Add the spinach and saute for a while. Season with salt.

Lay the spinach in a baking tray of your choice.

Place the paneer cubes randomly on it.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Now, make the béchamel sauce (basic white sauce) by taking butter and oil in a pan. As soon as the butter melts, add the all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Turn the heat to medium and keep stirring till the flour turns a little brown.

Meanwhile keep milk a little warmed up. Pour this warm milk to the pan and stir continuously till the sauce thickens to the required consistency. Warm milk is poured to avoid the formation of lumps in the sauce.

Season with salt and black pepper.

Pour white sauce on the paneer cubes in the baking pan. 

Sprinkle the grated mozzarella cheese on top and some dried parsley. 

Bake for 15 minutes or till the cheese melts and gets a beautiful brown colour. 

Serve with Garlic toasts or plain buttered toasts.  

Happy Florentine-ing

Amrita

Crepes with Spinach Paneer filling

This Durga Puja turned out the best one for Vishal Vaanya and me as we had the lovely company of my sis-in-law and her family from Lucknow. We spent seven crazy days full of fun, non stop eating out and visiting beautiful places. It was more of a 're-discovering Kolkata' for me and I have replenished my love for the city. 

Park street, as usual, enthralled us with its beauty and I discovered some lovely restaurants there serving amazing food. Along with my niece, I enjoyed the street food served opposite Vardaan market from the famous Puchka's, Bhelpuri, Jhaalmuri and the irresistible Kulfi. With my sis-in-law, I discovered some amazing shops that I have never visited before. The Santiniketan trip was like a cherry on the cake. I was unaware that there exists such a relaxing and beautiful getaway from the city life. 
Well, everything good comes to an end and their short trip ended soon and now we are struggling to come back to our routine life. 
This particular recipe was tried a month back when I saw it on a tv show. I am a sucker when it comes to breakfast options and the fusion crepes shared on the program excited me. The healthy ingredients made the otherwise 'lazy Savoury experiment' person in me try them soon. 

I served the crepes with some balsamic vinegar and honey glazed beetroot. 

(To make them, take olive oil in a pan and add the chopped beetroot. Add balsamic vinegar, honey and soy sauce and let it cook. Adjust seasoning and serve.)

Ingredients : 

Crepes : 

• 4 tbsp all purpose flour (maida)
• 4 tbsp besan (gram flour)
• a pinch of turmeric powder and red chilli powder
• salt to taste

Filling : 

• two handfuls of spinach leaves, washed and finely chopped
• 50 gms paneer, crumbled
• 1/4 cup sweet corn kernels
• a small onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
• 1 tbsp oil
• salt to taste

Procedure : 

Filling : 

Heat oil in a pan.

Add jeera and as it splutters, add chopped onion.

Cook for a minute and add the chopped spinach leaves.

Cook for another minute or two and then add the crumbled paneer , sweet corn kernels and salt. 

Mix and cook for another minute. 

Allow to cool.

Crepes : 

Take all purpose flour and besan in a bowl. 

Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt and mix well.

Add water, as much as required, to attain a crepe like consistency. 

Heat a non stick pan and pour a little oil.

Add a ladle full of the crepe batter and let it cook.

Turn side and allow to cook.

Remove and let it cool to touch.

Take a crepe and make a slit from the centre.

Arrange the filling on the side next to the slit in a triangular manner.

Start rolling the crepe in a triangular shape with the filling till you finish the entire circle.

You may saute the rolled crepe on the oiled pan again to give it a glaze on top. 

Happy healthy indulgence

Amrita

Tiranga Bread Roll

My daughter, Vaanya, had Independence day celebrations at her Montessori today. All parents were informed a couple of days back to dress up their child in colours that represent the National flag. I must confess that I have been the laziest Mom around in terms of showing enthusiasm for such events by running around arranging dresses. This time I wanted to be different and decided to charge up my lazy self and go the market to buy a piece of cloth for her dress. Thankfully my Mom is an expert in stitching and happily agreed (with much more enthusiasm than mine) to stitch a frock for Vaanya. With one day left for the celebrations at school, me and my mom were discussing the buttons and ribbons to be added and so finally the frock was ready. A beautiful dress with the colours of the flag for my most beautiful daughter who was equally happy to wear it to school and participate in singing 'Nanha Munha Raahi hoon'. 

  This year while scratching my head on a recipe for Independence day celebration, I strictly avoided going the sweet way. I was reminded of these bread rolls that my mom made often. Grated cucumber, carrots and crumbled paneer with crushed peanuts make way into these crisp bread rolls. The combination is amazing and I can eat 2-3 of them in one go. Since the filling has all the colours of the flag, I nudged my Mom to help me make this recipe for the blog. 

 Ingredients : Makes 12 bread rolls

• 12 slices of white sandwich bread, edges trimmed
• 2 medium sized carrots
• 2 medium sized cucumbers
• 100 gms paneer
• 50 gms roasted peanuts
• salt and black pepper powder to taste
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Procedure : 

Peel and grate carrots and cucumbers. 

Take a little butter in a pan and saute the carrots and cucumbers till the water from the cucumber dries up. 

Crumble the paneer and add. Mix well.

Add salt and black pepper to taste and mix well.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. 

Crush the roasted peanuts and add to the mixture. 

Heat oil in a deep pan for frying. 

Take a bowl with water wide enough to dip the bread slice.

Take one bread slice at a time, dip it for a brief second and squeeze out the water by pressing between your palms. 

Take a portion of the carrot-cucumber-paneer mixture and put in the middle of the bread slice.

With your hands shape the bread in a roll and keep aside. Repeat the same with all bread slices.

Once all are ready, deep fry them till golden brown.

Enjoy them with your cup of tea or relish with some tamarind chutney or ketchup. 

Happy Independence day

Amrita

Nolen Gurer tart

It all started with the first batch of Nolen gur I had bought for my experiment with the Mousse and since then I have been trying my hands on quite some unusual recipes. I tried a batch of Nolen gur muffins which was such a hit at home that we made it again and again and loved it each time. The natural brown colour that it imparts along with its sweetness gives an amazing experience. Sadly it is available only in Winters. No wonder that is the reason I have been making the most of it. 

The Nolen gur tart was actually an experiment during Diwali. I wanted to make something special for my parents and jumped onto this idea. The tart was a breeze and so was the mousse. The most difficult part was shaping the nolen gur sandesh into flowers. It took loads of patience and determination and I was somewhat happy with the end result. 

Ingredients : For 6 tarts

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 30 gm unsalted butter (cold)
• 2 tbsp nolen gur, powdered 
• little cold water for kneading

Nolen gurer mousse Filling : 

• 1/2 cup paneer
• 1/4 cup nolen gur
• 1/4 cup whipped cream

Topping-Nolen gurer sandesh :

• 1 cup milk
• a pinch of citric acid/1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp grated nolen gur
• red and green food colouring

Procedure : 

Tarts:

Take flour, nolen gur and butter in a bowl and rub the butter cubes with the flour till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (in texture). 

Now add cold water 1 tbsp at a time and knead to get a smooth dough. Do not over knead.
Wrap this dough in a plastic sheet and refrigerate for half an hour.

Take out the dough and roll it with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Roll it roughly to the size of the chosen tart tin with 1/8" thickness. 

Gently press the dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the tart tin. Trim excess dough.

Line all the tart tins the same way. Make holes on the sides and bottom with a fork and refrigerate for another half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Bake the tarts for 15-20 mins or till they get a light brown colour.

Take them out and let them cool.

  

For a detailed step by step illustration refer here

Nolen Gurer mousse: 

Dissolve Nolen gur in 2-3 tbsp warm milk.

Blend paneer in a blender till smooth without adding water.

Mix paneer with the dissolved nolen gur.

Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Fill cooled tart shells with a tbsp of the mousse and allow to set in the regrigerator.

Refer here for details.

Nolen gurer sandesh for topping : 
Take milk in a pan and bring it to a boil. 
Mix in the lime juice or citric acid and stir till you see the milk curdling and the whey separating.
Turn off the flame and let it stand for 2 mins. Meanwhile prepare a vessel by placing a muslin cloth or use a colander.
Strain the mixture into the muslin cloth. I usually save the whey to use it to knead my dough for roti or use it while boiling dal.
Bring the sides of the muslin cloth together and hang it to drain excess liquid for 30 mins. This is the Chenna.
Take the chenna in a plate and knead it with the heel of your palm for 5-10 mins till you get a smooth and doughy texture. 
Melt the nolen gur in little warm milk.

Add the kneaded chenna to a non stick pan on low flame and keep stirring continuously to avoid burning the chenna.

Add the melted nolen gur and mix with the chenna. 

The chenna will gradually change colour as it gets mixed with nolen gur and will become lumpy. This should take 10-15 mins of continuous stirring.

This is called 'Makha' or 'Ready to be moulded' stage. 

Remove from heat and allow to cool enough to handle with hands.

Take a little portion of this nolen gur flavoured chenna and pat it flat to fit the top of tart over the mousse. Repeat the same for all the tarts.

Divide the remaining portion of chenna into two and add green and red food colouring to each. 

Make leaf shape with the green one and give vein impression with the backside of a knife.
Place it on the tart.

Take a little portion of the red coloured chenna and pat it to a rough rectangle with a longer side than width. 

Very carefully with the help of a knife, lift it and roll it gently from one end.

The chenna is very fragile, so be very gentle and patient with the rolling. 

Pinch off the end and place on the tart. Make three such rolled flowers for each tart.
Refrigerate before serving.

Happy Nolen gurer tart relishing
Amrita

Nolen Gurer Eggless Mousse

The season of Indulgence is here. It is the perfect time of the year to dig into recipe books and bring out those spicy and sweet treats. For me there is always a reason to experiment with something sweet!

During Diwali, a reader asked me to suggest her a Nolen gurer souffle recipe which she fondly remembers relishing at a famous sweet shop in Kolkata 'Balaram Mallick & Radharam Mallick'. Having found my love in cooking/baking very recently i.e. around 3 years, I had not yet heard of this delicacy leave alone tasting it. The season's gem was bought and thus began my trials with it. I experimented on my Mango mousse recipe by simply substituting mango for Nolen gur. The result was great with a wonderful and smooth texture but this time I wanted to experiment on an eggless recipe. This recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal's website and worked amazingly good for an eggless version.

Ingredients : For 3-4 servings

• 1 cup paneer
• 1/2 cup whipped cream 
• 1/2 cup grated Nolen gur/Date palm jaggery
• Nolen gur shavings for garnishing

Procedure :

Dissolve Nolen gur in 2-3 tbsp warm milk.

Blend paneer in a blender till smooth. Do not add any water. 

Mix paneer with the dissolved nolen gur. 

Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Pour in serving bowls and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to set. 

Garnish with Nolen gur shavings.

Nolen gurer mousse(egg based)

This was my first trial with egg whites as the base. I simply substituted in my tried and tested Mango Mousse recipe.

A big thanks to Parvati Sinha, the reader who gave me the inspiration to try this wonderful recipe. 

Happy Mousse relishing

Amrita

Komla-lebur Chenna Payesh/Orange Kheer

Just the other day, I suddenly remembered that we are approaching that wonderful time of the year when the markets are flooded with some amazing and fresh fruits and vegetables. The first fruit that came in my mind was Oranges and I had a sudden strong craving for it.

Today being the 'Sweet day' on our blog, I just had to sync the two-Oranges and Sweet. Now, normally that should not be too difficult for the crazy Baker mind of mine. After all, I can put my hands on anything from Orange cake/cupcakes/cookies...But somehow I wanted to try something more easy, something more different and perhaps something more traditional. 

A quick search on the net led me to the perfect answer. I found a super easy and fast method of the very famous Bengali Kheer-Chenna Payesh. The interesting bit was the addition of oranges in it and the super easy method was making it in the Microwave. Though I made all the ingredient myself and used the stove top for it, I have added the easy microwave method too at the end.

Vishal, my husband, helped me buy the best Oranges available and I decided to serve the sweet in the orange itself which I shaped as a basket. The kheer/Chenna payesh was such a hit and everyone in the family admired my idea of serving in the orange basket. My father declared it 'Darun' (Wonderful in Bengali)

Stove top method

 

Ingredients: For 3-4 servings

• 500 ml milk (I used Amul Tazaa)
• 1/4 tsp citric acid/1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp sugar
• Orange segments
• 1 tsp Orange rind

Procedure :

Chenna-Take 1 1/2 cup milk in a pan and bring it to a boil. Add citric acid/lemon juice and stir well till the milk curdles and the whey separates. Line a bowl with muslin cloth and drain all the chenna with the whey into it. Collect the muslin cloth by its all four sides and tie it to allow the whey to drain completely(I normally tie it to my kitchen basin Tap) for 20-30 mins. 

Kheer-Take 1 cup milk in a pan and add sugar. Bring it to a boil, allow it to simmer on low heat till it reduces to half. This should take around 15-20 mins. 

Add 1 cup milk and the drained chenna(crumble it with your hands) and mix well. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Orange Basket-Make knife marks on the orange top in the shape of a basket with a handle. Carefully remove the marked segments with the help of a knife. Loosen the white part covering the orange segments to the skin with a knife and then cut the orange through half. With the help of a spoon remove the other half of the orange to make the basket. Reserve orange segments for use in the kheer/payesh.

 

Add the orange segments and the orange rind to the now cool kheer/payesh. Refrigerate.
Just before serving, remove from the fridge and serve in the orange baskets. 

Microwave method : Adapted from Tarla Dalal

Ingredients : For 3-4 servings

• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup condensed milk
• 1/4 cup grated paneer
• orange segments
• 1 tsp orange rind

Method :

In a microwave safe bowl, combine milk and condensed milk and microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring in between after every 1 minute. Add the paneer and mix well. Microwave again for 1 minute. Cool completely and add the orange rind and segments. Refrigerate.

Notes:

• You may add some chopped nuts like Pista or Almonds to get a nutty taste.
• You may add cardamom powder to the milk to add in the flavour. 
• Do not leave the kheer/payesh in the orange skin baskets for too long as it might make the kheer bitter. For better results, refrigerate the kheer separately and add to the orange baskets just before serving.

Happy Orange Kheer/Payesh eating
Amrita