The Holy Grail of Food and a good second choice…

In approximately 12.5 hours, my plane bound for the States takes off. In between now and then, I have to try to get 7-8 hours of sleep, finish packing, travel to Heathrow and shower. Not in that order obviously. so, one might think that I don’t have time for a) cooking or b) blogging. But you would be wrong! Because I hate packing so much and because I have been struck with a very inconvenient case of insomnia lately, I find myself drifting into all sorts of projects that I might otherwise avoid. Suddenly I am struck with the urge to write a card, organize a drawer, hydrate, find my vitamins…all things I would usually put off in favor of more pressing things. So here it is, my last blog for the next ten days….

Tonight’s recipe was DELICIOUS.

Palak Paneer (Spinach and Cottage Cheese) India….page 182

It’s always a bit of a risk cooking something that you already know that you like. I am a very imaginative person and I often get a very particular idea in my head about the way something should be and then I feel very disappointed when it doesn’t turn out the way I expected.

Classic example: I was once in the Copenhagen airport and I saw a faded sign for what I thought were some sort of delicious cheese dough balls fried in dough. I read the sign which, in my head, I pronounced “mee-cro-cer-rot”. I assumed that this was some sort of local delicacy in the Danish language. So, I boldly went up to the fast food counter and ordered this wonderful item, my mouth already watering for melting cheese. The fast food attendant gave me a very strange look so I assumed that my accent was throwing him off. I repeated my desire for “mee-crow-cur-rot” and pointed to the sign. He said, in perfect English, “microcarrots?” That’s right. The sign said “microcarrot”. In English. And upon closer inspection, those were little carrot sticks, not amazing fried cheese sticks. And because I was too embarassed to admit my mistake, I said, yes, microcarrots, please. Utter disappointment. Since then, “mee-crow-cur-rot” has been my code word for the perfect, amazing food…the unattainable, holy grail of cheese-related dishes.

However, I did not experience this kind of disappointment tonight, despite my high expectations and that is because you really cannot go wrong when you are cooking with cheese. It might be my cardinal rule of cooking. When in doubt, melt some cheese.  While this palak paneer was not the holy grail of food like mee-crow-cur-rot, it was incredibly delicious.

The recipe was really easy – a quick saute of some onion, spinach, ginger and garlic. Add tomato, cinnamon stick, cumin and some cottage cheese and presto! Delicious palak paneer!

Tonight I did not forget to take a photo but I really did not feel that the photo captured exactly how delicious it was. Instead, I thought I would share one of my favorite stores in London – the International Cheese Centre.  I am sure if mee-crow-cur-rot ever becomes commercially available, it will be here first.

the search for mee-crow-cur-rot continuesThat says it all really.....