Not until I met Sie and started appreciating Persian foods did I really appreciate YOGURT. At Persian meals, yogurt's presented like a condiment or side that goes with almost any dish. Whether we're having chicken or stews or kebab, there are always two sides present: salad (or sabzi in Farsi) and yogurt - sometimes plain, sometimes mixed with cucumber and mint/dill and sometimes with shallots.
I never really cared for plain yogurt (always a vanilla girl myself), but over the years have really gained a new appreciation for it. (ok, I'll be honest = I love it) I'm the girl at dinner who loads up my plate with yogurt and seriously mixes it in with everything on my plate, rice, salad (I used it like a dressing with salt & pepper), much to the delight of my father-in-law.
And even though Sie & I both love yogurt, by itself or with meals - we almost never have regular/plain yogurt in OUR home, only at Sie's parents, where they usually make the yogurt fresh themselves and we, in turn, eat it up as fast as we can get our hands on it.
So recently, on Mary's (my mother-in-law) trip to DC - she taught me how to make a batch of yogurt myself!! It turned out perfectly & was seriously delicious. Also the yogurt stays good for a LONG time so Sie & I are still working on this giant batch we made while Mary was here. So far we've eaten it plain as a snack, I've used it for dressings and last night I used it to make a delicious basil-yogurt-mayo (recipe below as well).
The recipe couldn't be more simple & there's something neat about making it homemade (yes I did squeal when we woke up the next day and unveiled a big batch of yogurt - like magic!) ;) ha!
In case you need more convincing to give it a try - yogurt has so many healthy properties, including bacteria for digestive health, calcium, protein and vitamin D among others.
here's a great article I found in fitness magazine.
Ingredients (all 2 of them)
- 1 gallon (or less if you'd like a smaller batch) of Vitamin D/whole milk
** you can most definitely use 2% as well to reduce the fat, but we were going for creamy authentic goodness on our first batch!
- 1 small container of plain yogurt (small as in the kind you'd take for a snack to work/sizes vary).
** Fat content does not matter- can use non fat/full or anywhere in between, you are just using for the active bacteria)
- also needed: large pot, large bowl & two large towels (bath towel sized)
There is not one difficult aspect of the recipe but it does require some patience! Pour the full gallon of milk into a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. This part takes the longest and requires constant stirring so that the milk does not scald or burn to the bottom of the pan so grab a magazine or something to keep you from getting bored. As soon as the milk comes to a boil, remove from heat, turn the heat off, and set aside.
For the next step, you need to wait until the milk is still warm, but comfortable to touch (as in stick your finger in without burning yourself). I would guess it takes about 10-15 minutes but this is a good time to work on something else and check every 5 minutes or so.
Once the milk feels warm but not hot to the touch, pour into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, take one spoonful of the milk and mix with the yogurt, just to get the yogurt completely dissolved, then pour back into the larger bowl of milk.
Now wrap your milk/yogurt mix tightly with saran wrap, wrap all around (in a little bundle) with the towels so that it is covered completely on all sides, and set out on your counter overnight (needs a room temperature cave-like area so the towels create that effect).
Leave alone and in the morning like magic you will have a big bowl of delicious & creamy yogurt! Refrigerate just like you would normal yogurt and enjoy. :)
One tip, once you've dug in and refridgerated, I do periodically take a spoon and kind of drain off the excess water (happens with all yogurt) mostly because I prefer the thick/mediterranean style consistency.
I promise to come back and add pics!
Last night- inspired by this amazing cucumber basil yogurt dressing they have at our favorite salad shop, I decided to attempt something similar as a spread for sandwiches.
Basil-yogurt-mayo:
- 1/2 teaspoon of chopped garlic
- handful of basil - about 5-6 good sized leaves, finely chopped
- 2-3 tablespoons of mayo
- 1 tablespoon of yogurt
- salt and pepper to taste
With the back of a spoon I smashed the garlic to bring out the flavors and make into a paste. I then added the chopped basil which I also semi-smashed as well, again just to bring out the flavor as much as i could. To that I added the yogurt & mayo, stirred and added salt and pepper to taste. It really turned out delicious!
I used it on toasted rosemary bread with turkey, provolone, arugula and tomatoes and Sie's exact words were "I'd pay for this sandwich." :) It really did make it feel "gourmet" even though it was a cinch to whip up.
Hope you enjoy!
