Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Foodie blogroll + Yogurt cheese


So I just joined the foodie blog roll. Have you joined yet? Well if not, I would. Why you might ask? Well, Its a really cool blog roll just for us foodies! It also might get you a bunch of new readers, and you might just stumble upon a couple of new blogs yourself! There are three conditions, first is that your blog has to be at least a month old with 5 posts. Second is that your blog must be 80% food. Third is that you have to put the blog roll somewhere on your sight where people can see it! So if you want to join this awesome blog roll, click here.. . .
What does baking Blondie do at 12 at night? Well, she makes yogurt cheese of course. I mean, what else is there to do when your bored and just had lots of caffeine? lol : ) I saw this recipe on Elle's New England Kitchen, and was then inspired to try it. It just sounded really cool. So at the grocery store I had to pick up some yogurt without gelatin. So I had trouble finding low fat yogurt without gelatin. All either had gelatin, or pectin. So the only one that I could find was Activia. Now you too can regulate your system in 2 weeks! Lol. So that night I decided to give it a try. I wanted to use basil in it.You are supposed to use a cheese cloth so that the water will drain out wile it sits in a colander, but I didn't have one. So I used multiple coffee filters instead. Hehe. Let me tell you, it was not pretty. So, Elle tells you that you can be really creative in this recipe, I decided that I might as well stick to the recipe, instead of making drastic changes.I got the basil from Svens basil plant.So you add flavorings, then as I said, put it in a cheese cloth(or a coffee filter, if your stupid like me) in a colander in a bowl, so that it can drain, turning into a cheese of sorts. Caffeine starting to wear off, I tucked my future cheese in the fridge with care.You wait overnight, and Poof! Instant Yogurt cheese! How cool!This had a really fresh taste to it, and was really creamy. I especially like how it was sort of fun to make. It was almost like an experiment to me. I was like. . .is it going to work? How will it be? I'm not going to lie, I was excited. I really need to lay off the caffeine lol.


Lizzie's Yogurt Cheese (savory version)
Elle's New England Kitchen

32 ounces (2 lbs) Lowfat plain yogurt

Herbs of your choice (I typically use oregano and basil, but a mix of your favorites, or even a blend like herbes de provence or a cajun or italian spice mix would work, about 1 tablespoon of each)

Minced garlic (optional, to taste - I like about 4 - 6 cloves)

Sea or kosher salt (about 1 teaspoon)

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Chopped sundried tomatoes (optional)

Chopped kalamata (or your choice) olives (optional)

In a large bowl, mix together yogurt, salt, pepper, herbs, and whatever optional ingredients you want. You can also do the mixing right in the yogurt container.

Prepare a large strainer over a pot to catch the water from the yogurt. Line the strainer with cheesecloth, making sure that it overlaps the strainer and can be pulled up.

Drape the excess cheese cloth over bowl.

Let sit over night in the fridge.

25 comments:

test it comm said...

That yogurt cheese looks nice and thick and creamy and good. I really like the sound of that savoury yogurt cheese.

kris said...

That looks really good. I might try it - think I have some cheesecloth sitting around - but if not, I do have coffee filters!! :)

Big Sis said...

cute. I've only made yogurt cheese once, for a cheesecake a few years ago, but I did find it fascinating, and remember thinking, "I should do this all the time". Clearly, I got sidetracked.

Kitt said...

Yum! Looks great!

I would sign up for the blogroll, but I'm not at 80 percent food. Unless you count dogs and flowers as food.

The Peanut Butter Boy said...

Poof! It looks real tasty, I love sundried tomatoes: a definite addition for me. Somehow the name "Yogurt Cheese" doesn't sound all that appetizing. Just water gets strained out?

I just joined the Foodie BlogRoll too, I just haven't put up the code yet. It looks funny on my site, I'll need to figure something out. It also takes up a lot of space and I heard it can really slow the page loading down if for whatever reason the site is slow or down.

- The Peanut Butter Boy

Peter M said...

Greeks strain yogurt like this to Tzatziki. If you have a fine, metal strainer/sieve...just throw the yogurt on that, place a pot underneath and let gravity do it's stuff for 1 day.

Voila, you have strained, thick yogurt.

Pixie said...

I did catch that recipe on Elle's blog, it looks so good. Well done on making it!

Unknown said...

Wonderful to see you writing about yogurt cheese. We like it so much we wrote a cookbook and guide for it.Yogurt cheese (or YoChee) is a wonderful versatile ingredient you can make at home to improve your own yogurt. It has substantial health and taste benefits ( a creamy food which is low or no fat plus high protein and calcium). You might want to take a look at,” Eat Well the YoChee Way” a guide and cookbook to this important food. It really expands the use of yogurt cheese to desserts, main courses and much more. Also nutritional content. and the website YoChee.com contains a free yogurt cheese how- to slide show, nutrition information and free recipes.

MissGinsu said...

Ah! A good idea! I've done strained yogurt before, but I've never flavored it. This looks like a nice thing to have around for hot summer days.
Cheers!
Miss G.

Elle said...

Oh, it looks great, Jessy! And you're right, it is like an experiment, isn't it? My kids love to check on it every couple of hours and drain the liquid from the bowl. I just bought more yogurt to make another orange cranberry batch--yum! Glad you joined the foodie blogroll, and thanks for the shout out!

giz said...

I think maybe I'll just have to smack you for calling yourself stupid for using coffee filters when you didn't have cheesecloth. I think that's rather clever and creative. The final outcome was perfect. Good job!!
Oh - one more thing - lay off the caffeine - it causes cooking experiments :)

Thistlemoon said...

Hi! I loooove yogurt cheese it is soooo yummy! :) I made some too recently and it was so delicious. Your post reminds me that I really need to make it again soon.

Again, welcome to The Foodie Blogroll! I appreciate you spreading the word.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

very very cool
that sounds wonderful
the activa line was hilarious

you go girl!

Anonymous said...

yum! love yoghurt cheese. I often make it into balls http://www.thekitchenplayground.com/2007/sheeps-yoghurt-cheese/

Anonymous said...

How did you learn to cook at such a young age? You've got talent, kid! :)

Simply...Gluten-free said...

That looks so great! I was doing all the cooking for my family after my mom passed away at 14. It is a great skill to have.

daphne said...

That's lovely! I didnt know we can make that at home!

Anonymous said...

I've never heard of it but it looks good. Good way to spend your caffeine energy.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm yogurt cheese. The basis of many a fine dip/spread. I think the majority of my home meals are comprised from dips out of the fridge Sad but true.

KayKat said...

Mmm ... love making cheese. Am glad I stumbled upon this recipe, can't wait to try it :)

Thx!

Chou said...

Brilliant use of coffee filters. Not only do they polish silverware, but now they make cheese.

Emily said...

You also cook stuff at night? Me too. Not always a good idea. I find that my judgment goes downhill, the later at night I cook.

This looks great...very interesting.

RecipeGirl said...

So do you dip veggies in it? I must have missed it on Elle's blog. Looks cool.

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

Yeah, you can dip veggies or spread it on bagels or stuff like that.

Peabody said...

Turned out great.