Paneer Curry

I'm a pretty big fan of curry in all its forms (and there's a lot of em, from red curry, to green curry, Indian curry, and Thai curry, and so on), but one of my favorites involves Paneer, a type of Indian cheese. Unfortunately, it's not the sort of thing I tend to have on hand. Hell, I haven't the foggiest idea where to even buy paneer. In an attempt to imitate it, I came up with this alternative: fried mozzarella cubes. The soft, mild mozzarella cheese worked wonderfully in the following red curry recipe.

-=Red Curried Beef with Fried Mozzarella=-

First off, the fried Mozzarella--

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 egg

Mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Vegetable oil

In a small pot, heat up the oil. Combine the flour, water, bread crumbs, and eggs and stir until even. Coat the Mozzarella cubes in the mixture, and fry one at a time for 5-6 seconds each. Make sure to remove the cheese quickly, or else it will melt too much and fall apart completely. Once done set the Mozzarella aside. The fried cheese can also be served by itself with a bit of salt as an appetizer

Next up: Rice

1.5 cups Basmati Rice

2.5 cups water

In a medium pot, combine the water and rice, and heat, covered, on HIGH. When the water begins to boil, turn heat down to LOW, stir, and let sit, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until water is all absorbed. Rice should be soft and fluffy.

Finally: The curry

4-5 small Russet potatoes, cubed

2 large carrots, sliced

1 head broccoli, chopped

4-6 oz cooked steak, cubed

2-3 oz red curry paste

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp garlic powder

1-2 tbsp garlic salt

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp cinnamon

In a large wok or pan, heat the coconut milk and regular milk. Add the curry paste, garlic powder, garlic salt, paprika, and cinnamon, stirring until even. Add the potatoes and carrots, and simmer until potatoes are cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. When the potatoes are soft, add the steak, broccoli, and cheese, and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve over the rice when done.

Fishy Capers?

I came up with this one when I remembered a small jar of capers and a large jar of manzanilla olives that was left over from house dinners. I decided to make a sauce based around these ingredients to go with my last piece of salmon, which is easily my favorite fish of all time.

-=Grilled Salmon w/ Sour Cream Caper Sauce=-

-=Over A Kale Rice Pilaf=-

1 Salmon Filet

1/4 cup Sour Cream

1/4 stick Butter

5-10 Capers

5 Manzanilla Olives

1 tsp Dill Weed

1 cup White Rice

2 cups chopped Kale

1/4 cup milk

Melt the butter in a small saucepot and finely dice the capers and olives. Cook the capers and olives in the butter, then add the sour cream and stir until smooth. Leave the pot on low heat and start cooking the salmon on medium in a pan with olive oil. In another pot, start cooking the rice with 1.5 cups water and some salt. Once the water boils, turn the heat down to a simmer and add the milk and kale, stirring until even. Cover and let steam. When the rice and salmon are cooked, serve the salmon on top of the rice and pour the sauce over it all.