Shavuot is a dairy holiday
This will be mentioned in the August Levitt Letter. Blessings, Sandra
Because Shavuot is a dairy holiday, I would like to share a recipe for yogurt cheese. This is delicious on tuna or tomatoes, or served with pita. Add dill, parsley, black pepper, or mint to the cheese. It’s one of my favorites, from The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking, by Phyllis Glazer and Miriyam Glazer.
Yogurt Cheese
- 1 quart plain cow’s, sheep’s, or goat’s milk yogurt
- Cheesecloth or muslin bag
Place a large wire-mesh strainer over a bowl. Cut 3 or 4 layers of muslin into squares, dip in cold water, wring out, and line the strainer. Spoon in the yogurt, bring up the edges of the muslin, squeeze the bottom a little to extract some of the moisture. Twist the corners of the cloth together and tie the two opposite edges into a knot.
Hang the package from the kitchen faucet for several hours or overnight, and let drip directly into a bowl at room temperature until the milk is the consistency of cream cheese. Squeeze the package gently from time to time to help it drain faster. Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and transfer to a closed container. Store in the refrigerator. Makes 1½ cups.
Though the recipe says to bring the cheese to room temperature and spread it on a plate, I prefer to serve it cold. Garnish with extra virgin olive oil, chopped olives, capers, and parsley. Enjoy!
Subscribe:
June 25th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Shalom from Woodstock NY,
Wonderful to see you writing about yogurt cheese. We like it so much we wrote a cookbook and guide to expand its uses. I hope you will allow us to share our enthusiasm: Yogurt cheese (or YoChee as we call it) is a wonderful versatile ingredient you can make at home to improve your own yogurt. Simply by draining it. It has substantial health, taste and cooking benefits (a creamy food which is low or no fat plus high protein and calcium). I hope you will take a look at,” Eat Well the YoChee Way” our guide and cookbook to this important food. We even paid ($1,000) to have yogurt cheese analyzed in a lab for nutritional content. The book really increases the use of yogurt cheese to main courses, soups, sauces, desserts, and much more. (Nutritional content included). Inexpensive durable drainers (starting at $9.) make it easy and clean. Our website YoChee.com contains a free yogurt cheese how – to slide show, nutrition information and free recipes. Thanks.