We at Cook the Books Club have been reading and getting inspired to cook from The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, by Helen Simonson, hosted this round by Simona of Briciole.
I enjoyed the book which provided a real as well as entertaining glimpse of life at that time, and characters with plenty of flaws, quirks and all the realities of human nature. Here's a quick summary from the Booklist Review:
"Constance Haverhill is sensible and useful, but those admirable qualities aren't enough for her to live on in post-WWI England. Lady Mercer has Constance spending the summer at the Meredith Hotel in seaside Hazelbourne with her mother, Mrs. Fog, whom Constance nursed through a bout of influenza. A chance meeting in the lobby has her taking up with rebellious Poppy Wirrall, who spent the war years as a motorcycle courier and now runs a ladies taxi service with all-women drivers. Poppy's brother, Harris, lost half a leg in the war and longs to fly again. In an attempt to cheer him up, Poppy buys a decrepit Sopwith Camel and hires Harris' wartime mechanic to fix it up. Simonson (The Summer before the War, 2016) brilliantly captures the pains of a generation of young people at a crossroads in an England ravaged by war and a flu epidemic, especially of the women who kept the home front going only to be tossed aside when the men came home. Constance is a quietly lovable heroine, a woman who longs for independence but is stifled by society's expectations."The novel also captures the prejudices, snobbery and ignorance in general of the era. A pair of visitors from India are scheduled to take part in the Peace Parade, but then eliminated due to their Colonial origins, as not being worthy of inclusion. So, I decided to feature Basu and Pandora, who, is revealed, after putting aside his more ordinary honorific, to be the new young Maharaja of Kochi Benar. Then of course there is a quite hypocritical turn around, a Royal welcome! And he is able to help with the exciting developments and resolution of the storyline. So, in remembrance, a delicious curry and cheese in their honor!
The curry is topped with a light cheese, Paneer. I had most of a 1/2 gallon of milk go off, as may have happened to you at one time or another! So, of course I looked up things to do with it, and discovered the miracle of Paneer! A very easy and delicious cheese. Here's the directions:
Gently bring the milk to the boil in a large pan, stirring regularly to prevent it catching. Once boiling, add enough lemon juice to get it to split. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 30 minutes – this will help the curds separate from the whey. Strain through a muslin-lined colander, catching the whey in a bowl. Twist the muslin to squeeze out any remaining liquid. Optionally, you can tie and hang it up to continue draining overnight. Once cool, chill the curds, setting a plate and something heavy like a tin of beans on top to press them down. After an hour you could stir-fry the paneer and it will crumble into a scrambled texture. Or leave it overnight so it’s firm enough to cut into cubes and fry.
When frying paneer, a non-stick pan is really helpful. Try not to turn the cheese before the sides have turned golden and crisp, or you might find it sticking to the pan. I was surprised by how good it was.
Next, was to use it in a curry. I found a recipe for a delicious Spinach and Paneer Pulao, from Delicious magazine. That site doesn't allow you to copy and send. At any rate I did make a few changes, i.e. instead of spinach I used Chaya, or Tree Spinach, a perennial tropical plant. I do love perennials, they keep on keeping on!
I want to try more paneer recipes now, it was really worth the little effort of saving off milk! And it makes you feel so productive and frugal!
Keep tuned in for the coming Round-up of posts after the 31st of May at our Cook the Books Club site.
Also linking with Marge, The Intrepid Reader and Baker for Weekend Cooking, and with Heather for her May Foodies Read.
