This is SO easy. I started it with some Greek Yogurt I had.
I wanted to do this for a while because I am sick of throwing away all those little half eaten yogurt cups. This way I can control the serving size and use a lot less packaging. Also, I just wanted to try it!
Here’s all you need to get it started:
YOU NEED:
2 quarts milk (I used whole milk but you can try 1 or 2% if that’s all you have)
1 fine mesh strainer
1 candy thermometer (oops mine isn’t in the picture – we had it from deep frying a turkey a while ago)
cheesecloth/coffee filters or thick paper towels (I had the coffee filters)
2 teaspoons of plain yogurt (this will be your starter)
This is so easy! I recommend starting this an hour or two before you go to bed. Then the yogurt can incubate while you sleep…
1. Heat 2 quarts of milk (on medium-high heat) in a pot to 180 degrees F. Stir occasionally.
2. When temperature reaches 180, remove from heat and let cool down to between 110 and 120 degrees. Stir occasionally as it’s cooling. When it’s between those two temps, add the 2 teaspoons of yogurt whisking to combine.
3. Turn oven on for about a minute – just to take the chill out.
4. Pour milk into large bowl, cover with a heavy plate or lid and place in oven. Leave for 8-12 hours.
5. When you take it out, strain it into the mesh colander lined with cheesecloth, coffee filters or THICK paper towels. Do this over a shallow pan or bowl with a lip as the whey will drain out of your yogurt. Place this draining contraption in your refrigerator for a few hours, or until it seems to have stopped dripping. Honestly, I didn’t have room in my fridge so I just strained it on the counter for an hour (I think!) and then I poured the yogurt into a large plastic container, whisked it to combine & stored it in the fridge.
OPTIONS: add a couple of teaspoons of vanilla extract and/or honey or just toss fresh fruit on top. I love it with honey!
Making your own yogurt is soooo yummy! You can use it to replace sour cream or to cut the heat on spicy dishes. Think of all the plastic yogurt containers you save AND all the chemicals & added sugar you and your kids are not getting.
Make your own yogurt with NO special equipment! Great for toppings on spicy meals, baked potatoes, in smoothies, baking & just as a snack.
Ingredients
2 quarts milk (1%, 2% or whole)
a fine mesh strainer
cheesecloth, coffee filters OR thick paper towels
candy thermometer (or any kitchen therm. that can measure liquids to 180 degrees safely)
Instructions
Heat milk to 180 degrees F over medium heat.
Take milk off heat and allow to cool.
When milk cools to between 110 and 120 degrees, whisk in 2 teaspoons of plain yogurt.
Turn oven on for about a minute just to take the chill out.
Pour milk into oven safe bowl with lid (I used a ceramic plate as a lid) and allow to “incubate” for 8-12 hours.
Line mesh strainer with the cheesecloth/coffee filters or paper towels and rest over a shallow pan. Pour yogurt into strainer and allow to drain for a few hours or until it’s done draining. The liquid that ends up in the pan is your “whey” which you can use or discard.
Pour strained yogurt into a lidded container for the refrigerator.
Notes
Yogurt will be good in refrigerator for about a week.
Add a couple of teaspoons of vanilla extract if you plan to serve it with fruit etc.
Add honey to taste or fresh fruit. YUM!
This morning Maddie was eating this dish (yes, for breakfast) and I remarked, “When I was a kid we didn’t eat pesto.”
She asked me what we ate instead.
“Oh, we ate Spaghettios, Fluff-N-Nutter sandwiches on Wonder Bread, Steak-ums, American Goulash (homemade Hamburger Helper), Campbell’s Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches (on Wonder bread with Kraft singles and margarine). I could go on.
All that sodium, those chemicals & preservatives and look how great WE turned out!
If I’d known how easy this stuff was to make I’d have made it years ago. Try it – it’s very easy and beautiful and you’ll love the results. (Note to Libby: you can get all the ingredients at Trader Joe’s.)
All you need is:
INGREDIENTS:
30 large leaves or 60 small leaves fresh basil
generous pinch of salt
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 TBSP pine nuts, toasted
4 TBSP olive oil
4 TBSP parmesan reggiano, grated
1. Add basil, salt & garlic to blender and blend into a thick paste. You might find you need to add 2 TBSP of the olive oil to get it going.
I used coarse sea salt but I prefer using fine sea salt as the coarse didn’t chop up well in my blender and I got a few bites of it when I ate. If you have a powerful blender or food processor you’ll have no problem!
2. Add pine nuts and remaining 2 TBSP olive oil & blend some more. Add cheese and blend till you have a creamy pesto sauce.
Serve on pasta, as a pizza topping, smeared on crusty bread, or tossed in a salad!
Shock of shocks – both my kids love this! Even G loves it. Holy cow.
Add last 2 TBSP olive oil & cheese and blend until smooth & creamy.
Toss with pasta, salads or smear over crusty bread. YUM!
Notes
This recipe yields 1 cup of pesto.
NOTE: If you don’t use it all at once, store covered in fridge with a light coating of olive oil to keep it from turning brown. If it DOES turn brown, you can still eat it!! It’s just not as appealing visually…
Pesto can be frozen. Simply omit the cheese and freeze. You can add the cheese later when it’s defrosted.
Freezing methods: freeze (without the cheese) in tightly wrapped ice cube trays OR as dollops on a cookie sheet. If you use the cookie sheet method, be sure to wrap the dollops as soon as they’re frozen, really well in plastic and then in a Zip-Loc freezer bag. When you defrost you can add the cheese.
Normally I spell yogurt without the “h” on account of I’m an American. But since I made it (the yog[h]urt) myself, I feel it needs an “h” to impart some sort of artisanal value to it.
This can be a pretty spicy dish but the yogurt cuts the spice beautifully! Or you can halve the chili pepper amount. YUM I love this salad! Next time, when I’ll surely have my wits about me, I plan on serving it with the pilaf Yotam recommends. But at this point in life, I’m a single course meal type of gal.
Yotam tends to use “exotic” ingredients so I’ve adjusted this recipe to what I can get without visiting 3 more shops.
Here’s what you need:
and this:
INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs carrots, sliced into 1/2″ thick coins or semi-circles
1/3 c olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 tsp sugar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium green chilies, finely chopped (I used Jalapeños)
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sweet paprika (I didn’t have this so I omitted it)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 TBSP chopped preserved lemon (I used 2 TBSP lemon juice instead)
2-1/2 c cilantro leaves, chopped Greek yogurt, chilled (I made my own yoghurt!)
1. Slice carrots into 1/2″ thick coins or semi-circles, for even cooking.
Put carrots in large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for about 10 minutes. Carrots should be tender but crunchy.
2. In a large pan, heat the oil and sautee onion for about 12 minutes on medium until onion is browned. Be sure to stir every few minutes for even cooking.
3. Add everything else EXCEPT the cilantro & yogurt.
Stir and remove from heat. Salt to taste and allow to cool.
4. Just before serving stir in cilantro.
Serve in individual bowls with a dollop of yogurt.
Spicy carrot salad served warm or cold. Adjust spices to your liking!
Ingredients
2 lbs carrots, sliced into ½” thick coins or semi-circles
⅓ c olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 tsp sugar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium green chilies, finely chopped (I used Jalapeños)
⅛ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground coriander
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sweet paprika (I didn’t have this so I omitted it)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 TBSP chopped preserved lemon (I used 2 TBSP lemon juice instead)
2-1/2 c cilantro leaves, chopped
Greek yogurt, chilled (I made my own yoghurt!)
Instructions
Slice carrots into ½” thick coins or semi-circles, for even cooking. Put carrots in large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for about 10 minutes. Carrots should be tender but crunchy.
In a large pan, heat the oil and sautee onion for about 12 minutes on medium until onion is browned. Be sure to stir every few minutes for even cooking.
Add everything else EXCEPT the cilantro & yogurt. Stir and remove from heat. Salt to taste and allow to cool.
Just before serving stir in cilantro.
Serve in individual bowls with a dollop of yogurt.
Notes
Adjust the amount of chilis (I used jalapeños) you use to achieve the spiciness you like. You can also remove the seeds from the jalapeños to cut the heat. Wear gloves while doing this so you don’t get the spice on your hands like I did.
The cat is outside fighting though. I just heard him. It’s 8:33PM.
Phew. I don’t know what to do with the PEACE. I guess I’ll just have a beer & unload the dishwasher. Which is like being at the SPA at this point!
Since we just did potato salad, I decided to post this broccoli slaw recipe I made back in December. Today I was out of the house all day and poor G is sick, sick, sick so I wasn’t able to make a new salad. But I’ve been meaning to post this one anyway since it was:
A. Easy
and
B. A success with the young-uns.
This is a great side dish. I served it with fried rice of all things (which was a weird paring but made sense since I wanted to use up my veg before leaving town). Not that you care about that…
This is really pretty, tasty & both my kids ate copious amounts of it which makes me love it.
Pardon the pictures. Not my best work. Taken at night. With my cell phone.
All ingredients are available at Trader Joe’s. Btw: this will go well with cabbage slaw too but Trader Joe’s happened to have the broccoli slaw ready to go.
Here’s all you need:
INGREDIENTS:
2 heads of broccoli OR 1 bag (undressed) broccoli slaw from Trader Joe’s
1/3 small red onion, finely chopped
Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken (as usual, I had to MAKE buttermilk!)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (or, you could just use a little extra red onion to simplify it)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Chop broccoli into small pieces (or using food processor.) Mine was pre-cut from Trader Joe’s. I prefer cutting it myself if I have time but I don’t always! Toss broccoli with red onion in a large bowl.
2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients with salt & pepper to taste.
Pour over broccoli. (If you used 2 whole heads, the dressing amount should be right. If you use a bag of pre-cut slaw from Trader Joe’s – use a little at a time. You should have some left over.)
3. Toss to coat & season with salt & pepper to taste.
Yummy additions:
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 stalks chopped celery
Kids liked it and they probably wouldn’t appreciate the “yummy” additions.
These kids eat like wild animals. Or don’t eat at all.
2 heads of broccoli OR 1 bag (undressed) broccoli slaw from Trader Joe’s
⅓ small red onion, finely chopped
BUTTERMILK DRESSING
½ cup buttermilk, well-shaken
⅓ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (or, you could just use a little extra red onion to simplify it)
Instructions
Chop broccoli into small pieces (or using food processor.) Mine was pre-cut from Trader Joe’s. I prefer cutting it myself if I have time but I don’t always! Toss broccoli with red onion in a large bowl.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients with salt & pepper to taste.
Pour over broccoli. (If you used 2 whole heads, the dressing amount should be right. If you use a bag of pre-cut slaw from Trader Joe’s – use a little at a time. You should have some left over.)
Toss to coat & season with salt & pepper to taste.
Notes
Yummy additions:
½ cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted
⅓ cup dried cranberries
2 stalks chopped celery
Normally, February is the darkest, most dread-filled, dreadful, month of the year for me. It comes after the holiday re-coup month (January) and it can feel like there’s nothing to look forward to. What am I rambling about? I’ve always despised holidays. And I absolutely HATE seeing all the Halloween merchandise at Ralph’s starting in August (that we all know was lovingly made in China and is heading straight for our landfills). But I digress, anyway, despite Bah Humbugging from October through January, I still got the post holiday blues every year. Things were different this year. January & February flew by this year. No dark depression. No sense of isolation, due to conversing mainly with very small people who sometimes remind me of a lunatic and a drunk. (No offense any lunatics or drunks reading this.) In fact, this year, we attended an impressive number of aptly named Happy Hours.
Cheers, Nana!
Besides the Happy Hours, what was the difference this year? This year G’s parents stayed on after Christmas in a cozy little apartment just off of Main Street. We were able to zip back and forth between our place and theirs and did, often. Maddie had a few sleepovers there, she had Fridays alone with Nana & Papa (which meant I had Fridays alone with mySELF!!) and we attended every Happy Hour we could find! Our favorite “kid friendly” ones were at M Street Kitchen and The Victorian. G and I got a few mountain bike rides in and even got away for one night while Jack & Patsy babysat. Amazing!
Basking in the sun outside Anthropologie. Nice!
Having family nearby for two solid months was so special in so many ways. Not only did we get a bit of time away from the kids, but the girls got special time WITH their grandparents. They got to hear “Yes” instead of “No.” and “NO. Wait, what did you ask me? Oh, NO.” And we also got to spend time with G’s parents. His sister and her new husband, Chris came out in January for a few days adding even more reason to be merry.
Sadly, February has finally come to an end despite Leap Year’s helping hand and G’s parents have returned to their home. There was a sense of emptiness coming home from LAX after we dropped them off. Still, the bad month has passed, holding the February dreads at bay for another year.
After Jack & Patsy left, I thought I ought to have a healthy goal for this month. Something to keep me occupied. Since I knew it wouldn’t involve exercise, I decided to do a salad a day for the month of March (and hopefully share the noteworthy ones on the blog.) One of my favorite Christmas gifts from my in-laws was “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi.
The gorgeous pictures and mouthwatering recipes are truly enrapturing until it comes down to trying to actually gather some of the rather exotic ingredients. Fortunately one of the simplest recipes is for “Lettuce Salad.”
You all, I know I tend to describe my recipes as “yummy” and “tasty.” But all those yummy & tasty recipes make me sick now that I’ve tasted this salad. I am NOT kidding (except about the recipes making me sick)! This salad is unlike any salad I’ve had!!
I LOVE THIS SALAD.
It’s easy to make, (especially when you fudge some of the ingredients – dear Yotam, with all due respect, I was in the Ralph’s on Lincoln in Venice this AM. It’s not the nicest Ralph’s and they did not carry sun dried tomatoes, never mind sun KISSED. So I had to use the sun dried ones I had from Trader Joe’s. I know you, dear Yotam, do not like the “harsh flavor & texture” of sun dried tomatoes but I LOVED them in this salad! My palate is obviously not refined enough to know the difference. And that’s why I shopped at Ralph’s on Lincoln. Also, because I happened to be at the hardware store across the street beforehand.
Ralph’s on Lincoln: the proletariat market!!!
Anyway, of course this salad would be best with veg from the Farmer’s Market but since I was unable to get myself there this week, I had to make do. I’m happy to report, the results were amazing.
Use this recipe when you have guests over and are serving something rich. The beauty, brightness and complex flavors are sure to impress…
Here’s what you’ll need:
INGREDIENTS:
(all lettuces need to be rinsed & dried – dried being very important so the dressing can cling)
1 head of butter lettuce, leaves separated
1 head of radicchio, leaves separated & torn
1/2 head of curly lettuce (I used green lettuce), leaves separated
3 green onions, sliced thinly on a sharp angle
20 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 c sun dried tomatoes (or slow-roasted if you can find/make them)
2 TBSP capers, whole if small or very roughly chopped
Toss all that into a large salad or mixing bowl. Now make the dressing.
DRESSING INGREDIENTS
1 garlic clove, crushed
1-1/2 TBSP lemon juice
1-1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP grape seed oil (I didn’t have any so used more olive oil)
salt & black pepper
Whisk those ingredients together & add salt & pepper to taste. Pour salad dressing over the salad and toss gently. Transfter to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle capers over the top. AMAZING!!!!
After pronouncing it “DELICIOUS!” and eating 3 bites, she left it unattended. Three year olds!
