Labneh

Labneh is one of my (new) favorite things to make!  It is so delicious, easy to make and eat.  It is wonderful nutrient dense "fast food" which I tend to look for when heat approaches.    It is cultured food (always a plus) and fun to take to gatherings to share.  A friend shared this with me when we gathered for Matzah and I couldn't wait to get home and make it myself!  It is a simple yogurt cheese, store in (optionally flavored) olive oil.   This is delicious spread on crackers or bread;  Served with vegies as a dip; blended into pasta or rice as a sauce; topped on a grilled meat; served on a salad; or with fresh apples or pears!  It is versital and the seasoning options are endless.

Ingrediants:
Plain Yogurt or kiefer (homemade, or store bought)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt (to taste)
Herbs of choice (optional)
Garlic (optional)

1.  Take a gerneroously sized, clean flour sack, tea towel, or several layers of cheese cloth and lay in a bowl.  Plop your yogurt in the center off the cloth and gether it up  and tie the top to make something that resembles a "hobo sack".  (In times when my cloth was too small to tie well, I used rubber bands to close it.)  Now you will hang the sack and let the yogurt drip the whey into a bowl below.  You can do this many differnt ways, depending the tools you have available in your kitchen.  I like to set my spoon accross a gallon jar and let it drip.  There have been other times where I tied the sack to a upper cupboard handle and place a bowl underneath.  You want to keep your sack from sitting in the whey that drips out, so you need it to hang a few inches above the bottom of your dip container.  Some yogurt is "wetter" than others, so the amount of whey varies.  It is finished when it stops dripping. (Usually a couple hours - but its ok to leave it over night - the cheese will get a little tangierof you leave it longer.)

2.  In the mean time, take a jar and fill it 1/3 full of olive oil.  If you want to season it - now is the time.  Suggestions for seasons are:  Garlic, onion, sundried tomato, pesto, hot pepper of choice, red pepper flakes, basil, (and green herb of blend of choice).

3.  When the cheese stops dripping, take it down and open up your cloth, you will have a nice lcheese ball.  I like to take a small melon baller, dip it in the oil (if needed) and scoop it in the cheese to make a little ball.  Then drop it in the oil.  I do this until it all distributed in balls in the jar.  The cheese is delecate and spreadable soft cheese.  If you don't have a melon baller, just use a tea spoon.   Yu want the balls to be covered in oil.  So when yua re finished, if they are not, top the cheese with oils, so that they are immersed.  The oils helps keep the balls seperate too.  So as you are filling your jar, if you run out of oil, you may choose to add a little as you go, so that you are always dropping them in oil instead of stacking them directly on each other.

4.  Store the cheese in the fridge.  The oil does harden when cold (as seen in my photo) and it nicer when served with the oil "wet".  So pull it out of the fridge about 15 minutes (give or take, depending on how warm it is in the room) before planning to offer it.

Tips:

• 1 pint of yogurt fits spaciously in a quart jar with oil and seasonings. Keep that ratio in mind, with the amounts you choose to make.
•  I like to use a long handled tea spoon for serving the balls.  Be sure serve with some oil and herbs.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil is not cheap, but it has the best flavor and the best health benefits.  So don't waste it.  Use the left over oil and make another batch of cheese.
• I have not tried this yet,but a good virgin pressed coconut oil would be fun to try.  Especially if you wanted to try a sweeter version instead of a savory to go with jam on toast or make a danish or sweat bagel shmear or something.  I think this would convert very nicely in that direction as well!

Shalom Farm's Kefir Ranch Dressing

Here is a little picture of a part of one of our fields.  I thought it looked kind of "Ranchy".  :-)

My dear friend, Kim called me all excited and wanting to share a recipe with me that she had discovered.  You see, she is a homesteader too, learning everything as she goes with NO prior experience.   They have milk cows and their small family of four has more milk then they know what to do with...so she is getting really good at doing things with it!  I was SOO tickled that she shared it with me, because I have not (YET!!) perfected my homemade mayonnaise and organic mayo is too expensive/hard to get for my family, yet my homemade ranch recipe requires it.  However, we always have kifer going on the counter 24-7 year round...(IT"S SO EASY to do!) So my ears perked and I joined her in her excitement!  I married her recipe with mine and the recipe below was born.  It is easy to make, it contains all the goodness of being raw and lacto-fermented and it is DELICIOUS!  Enjoy!

Shalom Farm's Kefir Ranch


This recipe makes about 3 1/2 C of dressing. (1/2 C shy of a Qrt)  I am sure it keeps well because of the cultured aspect of it, but we go through it to quickly to know first hand!  This recipe has some "give" so make note of the variations.

In a blender (or bowl) put:


2C homemade kefir cheese
1C fresh milk or (homemade) buttermilk
1/8C (2T) olive oil

Add 2 tsp each of the following dried herbs:
dill
parsley
sea salt
chives
garlic powder
onion powder

(Optional - add 1tsp paprika and a pinch of cayenne powder.  This adds a very nice dimension to your ranch!)

Blend (or whisk) until smooth and store in the refrigerator.  It will thicken as it gets cold.  If it is too thick for your liking,  pull out of the fridge early while preparing your meal or dilute slightly with fresh milk or buttermilk until it reaches the consistency you desire  .  If you would like it to be a little thicker for a dip, try coconut oil instead of olive oil or serve it right from the fridge.

*  This recipe assumes you are a garlic lover like me.  :-)  So some people might prefer to lesson the garlic amount to 1 1/2 tsp.  :-)



This recipe was shared on Wildcrafting Wednesdays, and the Homestead Barn Hop

Cultured Food Life

I have been getting serious about culturing again...I always get the "itch" this time of year. But this time...it's a little different. This time, I am ready to make lasting changes of long term habit in this area. In my research I am convinced that the  things we can do with cultured foods can go far beyond sauerkraut and smoothies!!! So, I have been experimenting with different combinations of my own (which I will share with you soon!) and I have been looking for "inspiration" otherwise, so that I will have the variety that this momma requires to keep it a lasting lifestyle habit!

This time of year is a WONDERFUL time to make these changes too.  Fermenting food requires no heating up the kitchen and fresh produce is plentiful.  I have 6 half gallons of carrots spears, asparagus, cauliflower and onions and bell peppers fermenting as I type and I'm just getting started! Mmmm mmmm good!!!

I had this book, Cultured Food Life on my mental wish list since it was released, and last week I splurged! The day I received it, I sat down and read it form cover to cover! What a wonderful book! I decided, I had to carry it in our little Amazon family store (and one day our "real store" too) and feature it here, in the hopes that others will get it too! The book is simple and concise. It is beautiful and informative...but NOT overwelming. She shares the basics about cultured foods so that the very beginner will be informed, but not intimidated. She also shares her own testimony about how these foods have changed her health.

 I think the author, Donna Schwenk, has done and excellent job in conveying the simplicity of cultured foods in her first book.  At the same time, she offers lots of variety in what to DO with kefir, cultured vegetables and Kombucha, so that even the experienced "culturist" will appreciate and enjoy the book too!  I think this book will make a wonderful gift to share with someone who is new to fermented foods, so much so, that I bought another one the next day and sent it to my mom!


 

Homemade Yogurt

I got this recipe from a dear girlfriend about 2 1/2 years ago. I was expressing my dissatisfaction with my own homemade yogurt method, it was not as thick as I wanted and was "lacking". She showed me hers and gave me a taster and I was sold! It is so simple to do! I use raw organic grass fed milk (because that is what we drink) and Stonyfield Farm Organic Plain Yogurt for my starter on my first batch. I have doubled her recipe, because our family is bigger. So if your crock pot is too small or you only want to make a quart, and a starter, just cut the recipe in half. The crock pot is never plugged in.

1/2 gallon milk
1/2 pint (1 Cup) of plain yogurt

• Prepare a crockpot filled about 2/3 way full of water that is a little hotter than 110F (use a candy thermometer) and cover to keep warm. (I use 6C in my 5qrt crock)


• Heat milk gently on the stove to reach 160F (use a candy thermometer).


• Let cool to 110F (any hotter and it could kill your culture)


• Add 1C yogurt and mix.


• Pour into 2 Qrt jars and 1 pint jar and put a lid on them.


• Test your water in the crock to see if it is at 110. That is the ideal temp. Add a little cool or hot to reach ideal temp quickly if needed. Put all three jars in the crock.


• Put the crock lid on and insulate the top with a heavy bath towel covering the crock completely. (I like to use two towels....just to be sure.) :-)


• Let sit (UNPLUGGED!) overnight or 12-24 hours.


• Keep the pint jar set aside in the fridge to use as your starter for the next batch of yogurt, enjoy the others!

**You can also do this method using a small insulated cooler instead of a crockpot if you would rather. :-)

Making Cottage Cheese

Here is a wonderful instructional video for making cottage cheese. It really is easy and so much tastier than the store bought stuff! She doesn't say how much milk to use here...but it is a gallon. You will yield 1 quart of cottage cheese out of a gallon of Jersey milk. You will have LOTS of whey left over. Does anyone have ides and uses for whey they would like to share in the comments section? (Beside fermenting vegies, like souerkraut and Kimchee) I would love to hear them! You can find Rennet at most major grocery stores...but you may need to ask where it is. Junkett is the most common brand name, its inexpensive and it will last you a long time. UPDATE: PLEASE SEE COMMENTS IN REGARDS TO SOURCES FOr RENNET. Junkett has not been confirmed Biblically "kosher".



My favorite is cottage cheese topped with peaches! Yum! Apple butter or apple sauce is also quite nice on cottage cheese too. :-)