Keep It Simple

I have been crazy busy. I've been missing this blog. I've got new projects in the works, a full-time job, a life, and the rest but I must make some time for this blog too because I enjoy it. There is too much I enjoy doing and not enough time!

Here is a very quick and very healthy lunch. Often, I have a batch of yogurt cheese in the works. Sometimes I add herbs, sometimes I add smoked salmon. And sometimes, like this time, I use goat's milk yogurt to make the cheese. I'll post the how-to this weekend.

If you love avacados, you just love avacados and scooping it right from the peel into your mouth works every time. But a couple additional steps and you have a great lunch. Toast some homemade bread, spread with the yogurt cheese, top with the sliced avacado then season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Now that's good. It's gone all too soon so repeat as necessary.

Siggi's Icelandic yogurt is about as thick as the volcanic ash which is grounding flights all over Europe. As far as yogurt goes, I like that. But I can also strain my favorite yogurt and get the same thing. I'll be doing this soon with some goat's milk yogurt and I've done this dozens of times in the past, like with the smoked salmon yogurt cheese. And I should have picked a different flavor, that's my fault. Give Siggi's a try if you haven't tried strained yogurt (seems to be all the rage). Then go make your own and get creative with the flavors. Go sweet, fruity, savory or plain.

Tzatziki

This traditional Greek meze is easy to make at home. The ingredients are simple but used the right way will yield amazing flavor. I begin by straining non-plain yogurt. You can use the plain yogurt of your choice. The process is the same as making yogurt cheese and the consistency is up to you. I didn't want it quite as thick as yogurt cheese so I strained it for 12 hours. Granted, this might still be thicker than you prefer but it's half as long as when I made the yogurt cheese. Besides, no matter how long you strain it before you make any recipe, the yogurt continues to give off whey. You then decide to either mix it in to whatever you've made or strain it off as it appears.

8 oz. yogurt cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2-1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced or shredded
juice of half a lemon
heaping tbsp chopped fresh dill
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients and then chill for a couple of hours to let the flavors develop. Use as a condiment for lamb or chicken or dip into it with warm pita bread. It's just good no matter how you eat it.

Yogurt Cheese Salmon Spread

Make my own cheese, you ask? Of course. It's easy. Yogurt cheese is the easiest cheese to make. It's mostly a waiting game. I've made herbed yogurt cheese before but it's too good and too easy not to make again and again. Little planning is required with the exception of having to wait overnight to enjoy it. So it's something that I can make any time because we usually have yogurt. And the flavor combinations are only limited by your imagination. It's a great alternative to cream cheese and mayo.

Line your strainer with two layers of cheese cloth. Place your strainer over a bowl. Put your yogurt in the lined strainer (I use my favorite, Nancy's Organic Non-Fat Plain). Cover up the yogurt with the excess cheese cloth and refrigerate. Let it go only a couple of hours or overnight. The longer it drains, the thicker it gets.

I used two cups of yogurt - give or take a bit. If you have a bigger strainer, use more yogurt. If you don't have a bigger strainer but want to strain alot of yogurt, just tie up all your yogurt in the cheese cloth and hang from a wooden spoon set over a pitcher.

The next day you have yogurt cheese. My 2 cups of yogurt yielded just a hair over eight ounces of yogurt cheese. Think of the possibilities. Simply eat it as is. Salt it. Pepper it. Mince fresh herbs and combine or shape the cheese into a log and roll in the herbs. Add crushed nuts. Add diced vegetables. Use as a dip or spread instead of cream cheese. I've made yogurt cheese with goat's milk yogurt and look out - If you love goat cheese, I suggest you try the goat's milk yogurt cheese.

For this latest batch, I blended in 4 oz. of smoked salmon. I let it chill for a couple of hours to let the flavor really sink in and it made a big difference. There was no need for additional seasoning because the salmon is flavorful and salty. This didn't last long in our house. It went onto flatbread crackers and was stuffed into celery stalks and finally just scooped up with a spoon.

Herbed Yogurt Cheese

Yogurt cheese is the easiest cheese to make. It's more like a spread. It's not cheese you slice. Take the plain yogurt of your choice. I prefer Nancy's Non-Fat Plain. It's the thickest of the fat free yogurts I've tried. Plus, as you can see below, it's got all those good bacteria and no sugar. Plop some into a strainer lined with cheese cloth. You'll need a fine mesh cheese cloth and double up on the layers. Place the sieve/strainer/colander over a pitcher or pot or anything deep enough to hold what you're using.



Then you simply wait. Overnight is best. Once all the whey has drained, you're left with a cream cheese-like spread. At this point you can add all sorts of things to make it tasty or just leave it plain. To this batch I added some herbs from the garden. Mostly mint but also tarragon, rosemary and a bit of sage. A minced clove of garlic and some sea salt. Let it set in the refrigerator a while to soak up all the flavors. garlic, onion, cilantro, and salt. Use on toast, crackers, on tortillas to make a wrap, or as a veggie dip. Anything you want.