If you like eating yogurt, you should certainly try making your own. You can make delicious and varied styles of yogurt for the cost of milk, and it can be used in many meals and recipes, either as a stand-alone (as for breakfast or dessert) or as a beautiful replacement for sour cream on tacos or in scones, for instance. Yogurt-making is rewarding and not very difficult, but you need one thing that many people don't have readily available: the ability to incubate something at body temperature (99 F or 37 C) for 16 hours or so. I happen to have an oven with a pilot light in it, and it happens to stay very close to 99 F when it is turned off and I'm not using the range. Even if you have an electric oven or an electric ignition gas oven, you may be able to make it work. Some ovens have a "proof" setting but this is variable; it is generally around 100 F but can be 85-115 depending on the model. Too cold, and your yogurt culture won't thrive; too hot, and it will die. If your oven has a light, you can keep the light on and this will provide a very gentle heating. Test your oven by placing a glass of water in the oven in a particular location and let it sit overnight. Test the temperature the next morning. If it is more than 5 degrees off of 99, try something different. Place the glass closer to the light, or further away, or move the rack up or down. Once you find the perfect conditions in your oven, congratulations! You're ready.
This recipe calls for one quart of milk. You can not double the recipe unless you extend the incubation time or you have access to an automatic stirrer. This is biology at work! Yogurt develops as the culture thrives, the Lactobacillus sp. bacteria (yes they are bacteria), and the sixteen hours of incubation here is for one quart of milk. Doubling the milk will not necessarily double the incubation time, but if the culture is not continuously stirred the bacteria will not have enough time to convert all the milk to yogurt, and you will waste milk. You can tell if milk was wasted by looking at the "whey" in the bottom of the straining container. If it is relatively clear, you have strained out water and have not lost much milk protein. If it is milky, well, that's milk. By the way, you can use any milk for this, whether cow's, sheep's, or goat's, but I use cow's milk (as fresh as I can find, organic if possible) as it is the easiest to find and the least expensive. Also, this recipe calls for a 16 hour incubation and 12 hour straining time. I find that it's most convenient for me to start the whole process around 2 pm, incubating by 3 pm, straining by 7 am the next day, and finishing by 7 pm. The 12 hour straining produces yogurt that is very thick, like ice cream though it is not frozen. One of my favorite preparations is simply to drizzle a little honey on top. For something special, this can be combined with some fresh berries and freshly toasted seeds (such as sunflower, poppy, and sesame) on top. On to the recipe:
1 quart (1 L) milk
2 Tbsp yogurt culture (you can use any yogurt that you like and which contains live culture; after one batch of yogurt you can keep yours going forever. I like the culture in the Greek yogurt Fage)
Cheese cloth; at least one yard (1 m), double-thickness
Mix 2 Tbsp milk with your yogurt culture. Set aside. Place remaining milk in a saucepan and bring to boil, stirring occasionally in order to prevent burning. Once milk boils, remove from heat and allow to cool down until it reaches a temperature of 99 F (37 C). Monitor the milk temperature carefully, this is science. When the milk is at the correct temperature, make a hole in the skin that has formed on top and pour in your yogurt-milk mixture. Place the pan in the oven-incubator so that it stays at 99 F for 16 hours.
After the incubation, the milk should have a pleasant aroma, not like spoiled milk. Place a large strainer or pasta colander over a medium pot. Lay on cheesecloth until you have three layers and the colander is covered. Carefully pour in the warm milk mixture, scraping the saucepan clean. Place the colander and pot in a refrigerator; refrigerate for 12 hours for thick yogurt that is the consistency of ice cream. Strain for fewer hours for thinner yogurt.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
Tenderloin Roast with Zinfandel Sauce
I was given a Bluetooth-enabled temperature monitor called the iGrill last year, and it is fabulous. It works like a meat thermometer, but it Bluetooths the temperature out to an app on your phone, and you see a plot of the rising temperature as it cooks. You can set a goal temperature (such as 120 F) and your phone will tell you when you're done. This is invaluable if you're distracted at a dinner party. For this recipe, use the highest quality beef tenderloin you can find, and use a decent Zinfandel (red!) wine, which should have some jammy notes of blackberry. I like "7 Deadly Zins" for this sauce. Also watch the salt that can come from the stocks. It's better to use unsalted stocks and adjust the salt yourself than have too much.
4 large shallots, peeled and sliced thin
a little peanut oil
dried Chanterelle mushrooms, soaked in hot water 30 minutes
2 Tbsp raspberry wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
1 bottle good Zinfandel with black fruit notes
2 cups beef stock (low salt)
2 cups chicken stock (low salt)
Fresh thyme sprigs
Black peppercorns
Bay leaf
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 two-pound (1 kg) boneless beef tenderloin
salt and pepper
fat for searing the beef (pork fat, butter, peanut oil, etc.)
Reconstitute the dried Chanterelles with hot water, soaking for 30 minutes. Drain. Heat a large saucepan and add some oil. When the oil is hot, add the sliced shallots and the mushrooms. Cook until the shallots are tender and translucent. Add the vinegar and the sugar. Cook until the liquid disappears and the mixture is dark and fragrant. Add wine and boil until the volume is halved. Add both stocks, thyme, a dozen peppercorns, and a bay leaf. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer uncovered for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour or more. Strain sauce through a fine sieve or cheesecloth into a small saucepan. Bring back to a slow simmer. Thicken by making a beurre manie: mix together the butter and flour using a fork, and add the mixture a piece at a time to the simmering sauce, whisking well after each addition. If the sauce is too thin, make a little more manie and whisk it in. Bring back to the simmer. To keep the sauce, either pour into a Thermos until service or keep it off the heat and reheat gently for service.
To make the beef, preheat the oven to 350 F. Season the beef well with pepper and especially salt on all surfaces. Heat a large oven-proof skillet over high heat and add fat or oil. When the fat is hot, add tenderloin and sear well on all sides. As you turn the meat onto the final side, insert a meat thermometer and place in the oven. Cook to an internal temperature of 120 F for medium-rare. Remove the beef and place on a cutting board, tenting with foil, to allow to rest. Rest for about 10 minutes. Carve the beef into thick slices and serve with the warm sauce over or on the side.
4 large shallots, peeled and sliced thin
a little peanut oil
dried Chanterelle mushrooms, soaked in hot water 30 minutes
2 Tbsp raspberry wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
1 bottle good Zinfandel with black fruit notes
2 cups beef stock (low salt)
2 cups chicken stock (low salt)
Fresh thyme sprigs
Black peppercorns
Bay leaf
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 two-pound (1 kg) boneless beef tenderloin
salt and pepper
fat for searing the beef (pork fat, butter, peanut oil, etc.)
Reconstitute the dried Chanterelles with hot water, soaking for 30 minutes. Drain. Heat a large saucepan and add some oil. When the oil is hot, add the sliced shallots and the mushrooms. Cook until the shallots are tender and translucent. Add the vinegar and the sugar. Cook until the liquid disappears and the mixture is dark and fragrant. Add wine and boil until the volume is halved. Add both stocks, thyme, a dozen peppercorns, and a bay leaf. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer uncovered for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour or more. Strain sauce through a fine sieve or cheesecloth into a small saucepan. Bring back to a slow simmer. Thicken by making a beurre manie: mix together the butter and flour using a fork, and add the mixture a piece at a time to the simmering sauce, whisking well after each addition. If the sauce is too thin, make a little more manie and whisk it in. Bring back to the simmer. To keep the sauce, either pour into a Thermos until service or keep it off the heat and reheat gently for service.
To make the beef, preheat the oven to 350 F. Season the beef well with pepper and especially salt on all surfaces. Heat a large oven-proof skillet over high heat and add fat or oil. When the fat is hot, add tenderloin and sear well on all sides. As you turn the meat onto the final side, insert a meat thermometer and place in the oven. Cook to an internal temperature of 120 F for medium-rare. Remove the beef and place on a cutting board, tenting with foil, to allow to rest. Rest for about 10 minutes. Carve the beef into thick slices and serve with the warm sauce over or on the side.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Scones
We don't do a ton of baking, but we sometimes bake on the weekends or when it's especially worthwhile to get something unique and amazing. These scones are well worth the small amount of effort they take to produce, and they are so buttery that we don't put more butter on them when eating. The recipe uses ingredients that by and large most of us have on hand, but substitutions can be and often are made. We find that whole-milk real yogurt gives a wonderful taste, with the added advantage that there is a layer of cream on top of the yogurt; this is about as close to real English cream as we can get in the USA without importing things pasteurized in jars.
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold butter diced into small cubes
half a cup or so of dried fruit such as blueberries, cranberries, cherries, or currants
3/4 cup whole-milk plain yogurt
1 large fresh chicken or duck egg
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Mix together the dry ingredients. Add butter cubes and cut them in with a pastry cutter or use your fingers to mash them into the flour. Do this quickly so the butter stays cold. Add fruit and stir well. Beat the egg into the yogurt and add the liquid ingredients to the dry. Work quickly to make a loose dough incorporating all the flour. Turn out onto a pastry mat or board and, after kneading a few times, flatten the dough until the round is about a foot wide and even thickness. Shore up the edges a bit and cut like a pizza into triangles, 8 or 12. Place onto a well greased baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold butter diced into small cubes
half a cup or so of dried fruit such as blueberries, cranberries, cherries, or currants
3/4 cup whole-milk plain yogurt
1 large fresh chicken or duck egg
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Mix together the dry ingredients. Add butter cubes and cut them in with a pastry cutter or use your fingers to mash them into the flour. Do this quickly so the butter stays cold. Add fruit and stir well. Beat the egg into the yogurt and add the liquid ingredients to the dry. Work quickly to make a loose dough incorporating all the flour. Turn out onto a pastry mat or board and, after kneading a few times, flatten the dough until the round is about a foot wide and even thickness. Shore up the edges a bit and cut like a pizza into triangles, 8 or 12. Place onto a well greased baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
Monday, February 23, 2015
BBQ Sauce (ketchup-free)
I worked for a long time to develop a good barbecue sauce that did not list ketchup as one of the ingredients. Ketchup is a cop-out. It's full of high-fructose corn syrup and FD&C Red #3, and it has no place in good food. The sauce recipe here is my own, and it does contain tomatoes, and it keeps to an even ratio of sugar to vinegar. I have made this many times, and I have given the recipe away almost as many times, but feel free to experiment. The only thing I would keep constant is the sugar to vinegar ratio. Also this sauce is quite chunky with tomatoes, and usually I love it just like that, but you can puree it with a food processor or stick blender just prior to the final cook-down.
1/2 large sweet onion or red onion, small dice
1/2 stick butter or 4 T clarified
28-oz can whole peeled Roma tomatoes in juice (pomodori pelati), seeded, large dice for chunky sauce or small dice for less chunky
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/4 c dark fruit-infused vinegar, blackberry or raspberry is best; I make my own
3/4 c dark brown sugar or white sugar mixed with molasses
finely minced chipotle pepper or 2 canned chipotles en adobo--important for smoky heat
Cook the onions in the butter with periodic stirring until well caramelized; this will take some time. Add diced tomatoes and stir for a minute. Add the vinegars and sugar and stir well. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Add the chipotles. At this point you can puree the mixture until smooth and return to the saucepan. Cook down to about 1/2 volume over low heat. You can let this go for quite a while and it will get very concentrated. If too thick, dilute with a little water and bring back to the boil. Taste by dipping a freshly charred flour tortilla into the sauce; this will approximate the taste of the sauce on the meat.
1/2 large sweet onion or red onion, small dice
1/2 stick butter or 4 T clarified
28-oz can whole peeled Roma tomatoes in juice (pomodori pelati), seeded, large dice for chunky sauce or small dice for less chunky
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/4 c dark fruit-infused vinegar, blackberry or raspberry is best; I make my own
3/4 c dark brown sugar or white sugar mixed with molasses
finely minced chipotle pepper or 2 canned chipotles en adobo--important for smoky heat
Cook the onions in the butter with periodic stirring until well caramelized; this will take some time. Add diced tomatoes and stir for a minute. Add the vinegars and sugar and stir well. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Add the chipotles. At this point you can puree the mixture until smooth and return to the saucepan. Cook down to about 1/2 volume over low heat. You can let this go for quite a while and it will get very concentrated. If too thick, dilute with a little water and bring back to the boil. Taste by dipping a freshly charred flour tortilla into the sauce; this will approximate the taste of the sauce on the meat.
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