Party Paneer

There's so many cheeses I simply don't know well.  Maybe I've had them without associating a name, or there is some connection to a particular cuisine. but it's still unfamiliar. Paneer is a perfect example of this... "Oh yeah... that's those pieces of cheese in that Indian dish." It's unique enough to hold memory, but not present enough to really know.

Anyway... Setting out on a cheese recipe in which your perception of the product is the description in the actual recipe and vague recollections of Indian food is kind of intereseting.  Honestly, I did not know know what to expect at that end.  I've had grilled halloumi before and that was my best reference point because I read Paneer was not a meltable cheese
A good friend of ours helps steward Winter Hill Farm  a family run farm in Freeport, Maine.  They sell raw milk to a local market and we intend to use this for a lot of our cheese experimentation including this one.  I also found the farm referenced in a database of milk sources kept by New England Cheesemaking Supply Company Good Milk List for Maine.  I should add that there website states this a list of places customers have found good milk.

Reading through the instructions we were both excited to see the separation of curds and whey.  I had no idea what this was going to look like. 

We used Whole Cow Milk vs. 2 percent

The recipe didn't say to stir, but we ended up top stirring a few times as the surface seemed to be thickening

Even though the recipe said it would happen, I was surprised how fast the milk coagulated and formed into curds once the buttermilk was added. Very Cool.

The directions said to slowly bring the temp up to 195F after adding the buttermilk. I wish the recipe gave a range of how long that should take because it took a while and the curds had had all lumped together in a mass well before the temperature got back to 195. I also think it would have helped if we had taken he buttermilk out the refrigerator sooner and given it more time to get to room temp.

Our makeshift draining satchel.  I believe this is the part in which I later found a revision posted on Karlin's Artisan Cheese making website.  Instead of draining the curds for 10 minutes in the strainer and then another 10 in tied sack, the revision suggests to drain for 5 minutes for each of these steps.  The results is that the curds would still be hot, which I'm guessing makes both the incorporation of salt and cumin and brick forming more manageable.

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ready for salt, cumin, and shape.

Per recipe, "place the packet of curds on a draining rack set over a tray and set the weight on top." OR... place classy bottle of cheap wine on top of cast iron pan!  Hey, it worked.

We left the weight on for less than 30 minutes as it had stopped draining.  I think it came our just fine.  The texture was soft but still kept its integrity for forming cubes.

We used most of the cheese for the Saag Panir recipe that was in the book.  It was well worth the price of my Tumeric stained fingertips!