Communication Issues, Health Issues, and Paneer Issues

Good morning!  2 big test matches coming up today, oh boy!  India and South Africa which promises to be a real Clash of the Titans, and there is also the 3rd Ashes test in Perth.   There's going to be some Hashim Amla action on the SA side, and Steve Smith is joining the Australians which shoud help them out a bit.  My preview?  India -SA will be a draw, and England might win.  But never take my predictions seriously; anything can happen in Test Cricket.

And now we come up to the Communication Issues of this post.  First of all, apparently Liz Hurley, the model/actress who was married to Arun Nayar (sp?) is having an affair with the famous Aussie spin bowler Shane Warne!!!!  Holy smokes!  People were up in arms about it for a while because Liz Hurley's public relations people failed to communicate to the media that she is no longer with her husband.  So, if he's single and she's single, that's fine.  They're both adults.

And another communications issue:  The PCB has banned pakistani players from using Facebook and Twitter.  While under contract, they are no longer allowed to use social networking sites.  The PCB claims that this will curb corruption because bookies will find it more difficult to contact the players.

 Hogwash.  A ban is silly.  If you don't want bookies contacting your players, then ban the players from publishing their personal contact info on these social network sites.  I have noticed a very disturbing trend on facebook where regular people post their phone numbers, home addresses and birth date on the public forums.  This is dangerous...please do NOT post your personal contact info!  A criminal could do you some serious damage.

And that's not all, the PCB wants to sue people who put up fake player profiles on Facebook and charge them with fraud.  Yes, it sounds silly, but keep in mind that the King of Morocco jailed a student for putting up a fake profile of the King's brother.    So lots of communications issues today.  Be careful in the cyber-world, kids.

And health issues.  Sohail Tanvir of the Pakistan team has a knee injury and won't be playing in the NZ T20's.  Zaheer Khan (yet another Khan in the Khanosphere) the India pace bowler, won't be playing in the first test against South Africa because he hurt his arm or something, and finally; Daniel Vettori, NZ captain, has a sore back.  No wonder, he bowled more than 200 overs against India.   Everyone is breaking down!  As I always say, get some rest and eat some good pakistani food, and you'll all be right as rain in no time.

So all of my jabbering brings me to this:  I have Paneer Issues.  Paneer is a lovely fresh pressed cheese which goes well in Karahi dishes or in spinach salans.  My issue with paneer is that it's VERY expensive in the shops, and you only get a tiny slab of the cheese.  No value for the money!  Aararg!  So today, in order to "stick it to the man", I'm going to show you how to make your own paneer.  This isn't just about cooking delicious food, this is about making a political statement!

For those of you who like mexican food, paneer is the same thing as queso fresco.  So first off, today we'll learn how to make the cheese, and tomorrow we'll learn how to make a spinach paneer salan.  Go get some cheesecloth and let's get started!

Ingredients
1 litre full-fat milk
3 or 4 tablespoons of lime/lemon juice or vinegar
a little bit of salt

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the milk and salt but don't let it boil, about 80 C or 176F.
Add the lemon juice or vinegar one tablespoon at a time while stirring the milk, until the milk separates into curds and greenish coloured whey.   You may need to use more than 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar for this to happen.
Allow everything to cool down to a temperature you can handle, and strain the whey from the curds through a cheesecloth.
Save the whey and use it instead of lemon juice the next time you make paneer.
Rinse the curds, and wrap the cheesecloth on itself in order to squeeze out as much moisture as possible from the curds.  The more you squeeze, the firmer the paneer will be.
Shape the paneer, still in the cloth, into a block shape, and wrap it up very tightly.  Then place something flat and heavy on top of it.  This will squeeze out even more moisture and give the paneer a good shape.  The longer it's pressed, the firmer it will be.
Finally, if you want, you can soak the paneer in cold water for a few hours to improve it's appearance.  But that's up to you.

Right.  Now you have paneer or queso fresco.  Have a good one today sticking it to the man, and I'll see you at the test matches. 

Happy Cricket, Happy Cheese, and Happy Sticking it to the Man!

ps thanks to Wikihow...their article on how to make paneer is the best one I've seen and I've liberally copied from it as they explain it much better than I can!  Thanks wikihow :)