h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sorry about the pun, I won't do it again.

Probably.

I made some paneer (Indian cheese) last week, and now I have a couple of pints of whey in the fridge that I'd really rather not tip down the sink if there's something useful - usefully *edible* - that I can do with it. Anyone got any ideas?

Sensible answers only please. A tough request, I know

...

Nope, I got nothin'. I can't work with these conditions.

Only thing I know, that might be useful, is that you can use it in baking when a recipe calls for milk.

It's also sometimes drunk just on its own, but I'm not sure how exciting (or palatable) an idea that is.

Half a mo...

Well, that's actually not unpleasant. It has a faint milky taste, could use a little sugar maybe... and coincidentally, last night I was looking at a jar of milk powder I bought some time ago for... I'm not sure what now, and wondering what I could use it for so that I can reclaim both space and a storage jar in that cupboard.

Let's see. I think I used four pints of milk to make the paneer and I've got about 2½ - 3 pints of whey left (it made about 8oz of curd), so maybe I could reconstitute it with some of the milk powder

Well, it's almost, but entirely, quite unlike milk out of a carton, and I wouldn't put it in my tea, but it's definitely, shall we say, milk-ish, and certainly drinkable. Probably good for a recipe that calls for milk. Perhaps I could make yoghurt with it.

Oh! That's what I bought the milk powder for

It also didn't use up very much of the milk powder.

And you know I meant 'almost, but not quite, entirely unlike milk out of a carton', right?

Get pigs, to feed it to, and grow your own bacon

I only have a nursery rhyme acquaintance with whey so I have nothing to add to this serious discussion.

hang on... this is a 'serious discussion@? oops. bye!

So. Tapioca pudding for afters tonight

And for several more nights too, I reckon.

OOOO! beast! not had... gosh.... that since... probably school days!

Actually, this is what I really fancied making http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sweet_milk_pudding_with_68274

But I don't have any vermicelli. I do however have lots of tapioca, so I just adapted it.

"Serve in small portions."
Yeah right

I'm not sure if I've had it at all...

I think most of the adults in my life were of that generation who were fed tapioca pudding until it came out their ears, leaving them with an abiding hatred of it. So for that reason I don't remember it being on the menu at home or school.

As for why I haven't had it since, I'm not sure. Maybe you need to develop a taste for it early on in life. I think I'll try it just to see.

We hardly ever had tapioca pud at school, unless my scarred memory is shielding me from the horrors of it by burying it deep in my subconscious....

No, it couldn't be that - I loved both tapioca and sago puddings when I was a kid (more so than rice pudding) and I loved school dinners, especially school puddings But to best of my recollection school puddings usually involved something that could had with custard, like a pie or a sponge pudding.

why not http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junket_(dessert)

I don't think the junket would work: the stuff that forms the curds would be needed, and it was taken out to make the paneer.

No suggestions for whey. There are several diet drinks based on it, but they don't agree with me. Could you store cheese in it? It probably won't keep for very long, though. Try baking with it - pancakes maybe?

I remember tapioca. I used to love that kind of pudding, although I did join in when the others called it "frog spawn".

It's academic now - I used all of the whey to make the tapioca pud (it came to a little more than two imperial pints, almost three US pints), but if (when) I make paneer again I'll look into some other uses.

And I still have plenty of milk powder left

By the way, I added whole cardomoms, allspice berries, juniper berries and a few small pieces of (proper) cinnamon to it, as well as the traditional grating of nutmeg over the top.

Well, that wasn't quite a success. There was separation. But by gum it tastes good