spaazliciousTuesday, July 11, 2006
Yoghurt & Figs
First off, go say happy birthday to Heidi.
(when come back bring pie)
Yoghurt
I'm not sure what else to say about the yoghurt, but here are some answers to questions posed in the comments and a bit of addenda.
The first batch I made was with a quart of whole milk and a 1/3 cup of the dry nonfat milk, rounded tablespoon of plain yoghurt (starter culture) and left it in the stove overnight. (instructions straight from google) It tasted great but was a bit thinner than storebought.
The second batch I tried the quart of skim milk, the cup of dry nonfat. Thicker, better.
This batch I've added some vanilla too at the higher heat stage and doubled the amounts. Vamos a ver.
However you make it, as long as you add a rounded tablespoon of plain yoghurt to be the starter culture at the lower heat stage (around 100ºF, higher heat would kill it) you will have as much active happy healthy bacteria as storebought, sans marketing, sans aspartame.
I have read that the less fat in the milk you use, the less thick your yoghurt will be. Makes sense to me. So you might have to choose. Also, for thicker, cheese style or "greek style" yoghurt you can layer some cheese cloth in a bowl, pour the yoghurt mixture (after its 6-8 hour incubation) into the bowl, gather the ends of the cloth and suspend it over the bowl in the fridge. Leave that overnight, and keep what's in the cheesecloth, do whatever to the whey.
Figs
I love figs. Dried, but especially fresh. There's really nothing you need to do to a fig to make it better, IMO.
But when we lived in Sacramento, there was a restaurant that started up in the doomed Shakey's pizza burned out space and when we went the first day or so after they had opened we had one of the best meals ever. We came back a week later and it was awful and apparently, that's how it stayed. Anyway, this fig thing is one of the foofy things we had. Quite easy to make.
The figs I used were even, perhaps, overripe. But it turned out all yummy and smoky-sweet all the same.
Turn on the broiler of your oven, and cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil.
Anyway, with a spoon, scoop out the the pink guts of the figs. Mix with an equal amount of chevre cheese.
Spoon the guts back into the centers of the figs.
Place upon cookie sheet. Stick cookie sheet in the oven, under the broiler for about ten minutes, or until the cheese and sugar in the figs have gone all melty and carmel-rific.
Dribble a bit of balsamic vinegar over it (or not) and you're done. Carefully plate 'em up as they'll be very skooshy. And hot.
Maybe they don't look all that sexy, but they're yummy. The goaty cheese and the carmelised sugars in the fig make it smokey an sweet, and a bit of balsamic vinegar lends an acid sweetness to cut the fatness of the flavor.
Next up:
Knitting, bitches & babies.
|
(when come back bring pie)
Yoghurt
I'm not sure what else to say about the yoghurt, but here are some answers to questions posed in the comments and a bit of addenda.
The first batch I made was with a quart of whole milk and a 1/3 cup of the dry nonfat milk, rounded tablespoon of plain yoghurt (starter culture) and left it in the stove overnight. (instructions straight from google) It tasted great but was a bit thinner than storebought.
The second batch I tried the quart of skim milk, the cup of dry nonfat. Thicker, better.
This batch I've added some vanilla too at the higher heat stage and doubled the amounts. Vamos a ver.
However you make it, as long as you add a rounded tablespoon of plain yoghurt to be the starter culture at the lower heat stage (around 100ºF, higher heat would kill it) you will have as much active happy healthy bacteria as storebought, sans marketing, sans aspartame.
I have read that the less fat in the milk you use, the less thick your yoghurt will be. Makes sense to me. So you might have to choose. Also, for thicker, cheese style or "greek style" yoghurt you can layer some cheese cloth in a bowl, pour the yoghurt mixture (after its 6-8 hour incubation) into the bowl, gather the ends of the cloth and suspend it over the bowl in the fridge. Leave that overnight, and keep what's in the cheesecloth, do whatever to the whey.
Figs
I love figs. Dried, but especially fresh. There's really nothing you need to do to a fig to make it better, IMO.
But when we lived in Sacramento, there was a restaurant that started up in the doomed Shakey's pizza burned out space and when we went the first day or so after they had opened we had one of the best meals ever. We came back a week later and it was awful and apparently, that's how it stayed. Anyway, this fig thing is one of the foofy things we had. Quite easy to make.
The figs I used were even, perhaps, overripe. But it turned out all yummy and smoky-sweet all the same.
Turn on the broiler of your oven, and cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil.
Anyway, with a spoon, scoop out the the pink guts of the figs. Mix with an equal amount of chevre cheese.
Spoon the guts back into the centers of the figs.
Place upon cookie sheet. Stick cookie sheet in the oven, under the broiler for about ten minutes, or until the cheese and sugar in the figs have gone all melty and carmel-rific.
Dribble a bit of balsamic vinegar over it (or not) and you're done. Carefully plate 'em up as they'll be very skooshy. And hot.
Maybe they don't look all that sexy, but they're yummy. The goaty cheese and the carmelised sugars in the fig make it smokey an sweet, and a bit of balsamic vinegar lends an acid sweetness to cut the fatness of the flavor.
Next up:
Knitting, bitches & babies.
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