William A. Alcott, "Ways of Living on Small Means" 1837
I was an eager observer/participant at our 1st CSA cooking class last Saturday.
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks???
Chef and CSA member Amy Sherman taught a class on cooking with greens, and it was so much fun!
She had brought a big tub of homemade Greek yogurt and shared how to re-create it.
Greek yogurt at the grocers sells for about $1.75 for a teeny 7oz container.
Dannon is around $2.50 for 32oz!!!
DO THE MATH!
1st off...you must buy plain, full fat yogurt.
It must only contain cultured milk.
Nothing else.
No gelatin.
No sugar.
Nothing but milk.
You line a colander with cheesecloth.
You place colander in bowl to catch the whey that will drip.
You put the runny yogurt into the cheesecloth.
Place all in the fridge for 24-36 hours.
The longer you leave it, the thicker it will become.
Be sure to check the whey bowl often, and pour out any that has collected.
After your 24-36 hours is up, you will have something that looks like the photo above.
Nice, creamy, but very thick yogurt.
You can then create dips and spreads, varying your ingredients depending on what you will use it for.
You could use it on baked potatoes.
You could make a salad dressing.
I made a delicious cracker spread using fresh garlic, dill, some cilantro, and salt.
This is what is left of my second batch, which we ate yesterday.
I made an onion/garlic dip we used for chips.
As the yogurt is quite tart on it's own, I added about 3 TBL of sour cream to smooth out the flavor.
It was delish.
And so very easy peasy!
