Thursday, June 18, 2009

LIVING WITHIN OUR MEANS...HOMEMADE GREEK YOGURT

"I would encourage every family to live within their means.
If there be a way---
and such a way there certainly is---
of living as comfortably and happily, on very small means,
as we now do on much larger ones,
it is certainly desirable to know it,
especially in times like the present.
'But suppose the means are very small, what then?'
WHY, THEN, LIVE WITHIN VERY SMALL MEANS."
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!

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11 comments:

Sue said...

Hi Cyn,
I have been wanting a recipe for Greek yogurt Thanks so much.
Sue

Pam said...

Great post. Greek yogurt is so expensive. Looking forward to giving this a try.

savvycityfarmer said...

leave it to you miss cyn ... I love the creamy gourmet taste of greek yogurt ... off to the market to get what i need.

savvycityfarmer said...

I'm telling you, you need to copyright the easy peesy thing-y

Faith said...

Just be sure to use the whey you are draining off in recipes. It's pure protein!

Maria said...

OH I'm so glad you wrote this post, Cyn. I've been telling my daughter, Rachael, that I'll show her how to make her own 'Greek' yogurt, (if I can remember what I used to do ;)
Perfect timing!
Really nice yogurt is sooo expensive. I used to make it in a big mixing bowl...and we'd eat it so fast! It's great, especially this time of year with the strawberries in season! gotta go get some Dannon! ~Maria

Carmen S. said...

Hi there! Just found your lovely blog and thank you SO MUCH for sharing this!!! I've become addicted to the vanilla flavored greek yogurt by stoneybrook farms and the price is thru the roof even at walmart! I'll definatley give this a try:)

Rachel said...

I'll have to give this a try! Thanks for sharing!

Tracy Bruring said...

Very cool!!!

Farmchick said...

Looks great! Thanks for sharing. Hope you have a sweet weekend!

Katie Zeller said...

I can't believe your Greek yogurt is that expensive! The stuff I get isn't - and it's made from sheep's milk (as it should be, sniff!)