Monkey Nut Butter

The Recipe

Makes: 300g
Preparation: 15-20 minutes (if you are using shelled peanuts)

There is no hard evidence on exactly when the peanut came about, however, the origins can be traced back to Peru. In archaeological finds, pottery from Peru made by the Moche tribe depicted peanuts in their artwork. This was around 3500 years ago.

I’m a big fan of peanut butter… not a huge one, just a big one. It has to be creamy, not crunchy and it has to be sticky enough to stay on the roof of your mouth but just enough so you can still tongue it off.

While living here in Singapore, I love an indulgent breakfast of thick toast & peanut butter, or peanut butter and kaya but my favorite pre-ride fuel is peanut butter and jam on white bread, of course.

I don’t usually have store-bought peanut butter in my house because I’m not a fan of the palm oil, hydrogenated oils, salt, stabilisers and other rubbish they put into commercial brands. One brand I have found in cold storage and fair price finest is Adams peanut butter. It is all-natural, but sometimes, when the mood strikes me, I like to make my own.

History of Peanut Butter

There is no hard evidence on exactly when the peanut came about, however, the origins can be traced back to Peru. In archaeological finds, pottery from Peru made by the Moche tribe depicted peanuts in their artwork. This was around 3500 years ago.

Europeans discovered peanuts in Brazil in the 1500's and it wasnt until the 1700's that peanuts made their way to North America.

Peanut butter, or an ancient form of it was invented by the Incas and the Aztec where they actually ground up their peanuts into a paste. The peanut butter patent that we know of today was given to a Canadian, Marcellus Gilmore Edson in 1884.

During the great depression, peanut butter became a staple in American households due to it's high protein content. It was also the soldiers ration in World War II where they topped it with jelly in between sliced white bread - the prefect hold in your hand meal. They called this delicious protein, vitamin B3, E and Magnesium paste monkey butter. Cute, huh?

So there you go and here’s the recipe for my monkey nut butter;

INGREDIENTS

250g shelled raw peanuts (I bought about 350g of whole peanuts and shelled them).
2.5 teaspoons of unrefined brown sugar
2tsp fine sea salt
40-45g sunflower oil (preferably cold pressed), depending on how runny you want your peanut butter.

METHOD

If you are using whole peanuts, pull up a chair, entice an assistant, switch on some music and have an ice cold refreshment nearby as shelling peanuts will take some time!

If you are a are a saner human being, buy the raw peanuts from the supermarket. Do not buy the roasted and salted ones. In doing this you can control the oil and salt content in your monkey nut butter.

Roast the shelled peanuts in an oven at about 160 degrees Celsius for 15minutes

When the peanuts are done, remove them from the oven and while hot, pour them onto a clean tea towel and rub them to remove the skins

Once the skins are completely removed (okay, a few stray ones were left in the final mix), pop them in a food processor or a baby one like mine and blitz away until the peanuts are ground quite finely. Add the sunflower oil (40g for a thick spread or 45g for a more liquid consistency), sugar and salt

And you're done. Easy as pie, cheap as chips… I’m off to make some bread, I think that should have been done before the monkey nut butter?

Easy Paneer

The Recipe

Makes: 200g
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Setting Time: 40 minutes

Paneer is a fresh cheese commonly used in South Asian cuisine, particularly in Indian dishes. It is made by curdling milk with lemon juice, vinegar, or other acidic ingredients, then straining and pressing the resulting curds.

Paneer is a fresh cheese that requires no rennet or aging time to set. It is a type of ‘cottage cheese’ that is very common in both Southern and Northern Indian cuisine. In the Northern Indian sub continents (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), paneer is more commonly known as chhena where it is predominately made with buffalo milk and used to make desserts. Chhena has a softer texture than paneer - is not set as hard as some of the moisture is retained.

Paneer is very easy to make by separating the curds from the whey in milk with an acid element such as lemon juice or vinegar. If you don’t have the time to make paneer or really couldn’t be bothered – queso blanco is a good substitute.

INGREDIENTS

1 litre of FRESH milk
2-3 tsp lime juice or lemon juice, depending on what flavour you prefer

METHOD

Boil the milk. When the milk starts to boil, add the lime juice and stir constantly. Wait a few minutes and if the milk does not curdle, add a little more juice. (How easy)

When the milk starts to curdle (you will be looking at a thick white mass at the top and a greenish-yellow liquid at the bottom), remove it immediately from the heat.

 You can then strain the milk into a fine cheesecloth with a bowl underneath to catch the water. You can use the water to make almond milk, add it to soups, or whatever your heart so desires.

Squeeze the whey gently to remove any excess liquid pushing downwards. Be careful not to burn yourself as the paneer will be very hot!!

 Secure the cheesecloth and place it on a plate with something heavy resting on top of it while it sets. The setting time should take about 30-40 minutes

You can use the paneer straight away or store it in the fridge which will last 2-3 days. Store in a sealed container.

NOTE: If you wish to keep the paneer soft, store some of the liquid that was drained from the cooked paneer. Once the milk starts to curdle you should take it off the heat unless you wish a harder-set cheese.

Throw the paneer into a palak paneer, and eat it with freshly grilled peaches or on its own!
The paneer will taste very neutral so feel free to throw in some herbs, salt, pepper or sugar.