Sunday, May 29, 2011

Yogurt Cheese


Pretend it is a beautiful day.  (It happens here sometimes!) You want to get together with friends, but you really have nothing to serve up as an appetizer. Yogurt Cheese to the rescue! I don't know about you, but plain nonfat or lowfat yogurt has a constant presence in our house.


Yogurt cheese is simply strained yogurt, like uber drained greek yogurt. Simply put a few scoops of yogurt into a clean cloth napkin or non-terry cloth towel. Twist and squeeze the whey out of the package, then set in a strainer. Put this in the fridge and every 20 min or so, go back and re-squeeze (or just leave it over night and let gravity do the work!). I like to save the whey for my dog, but you can just throw it out.


When you are ready to serve, plop the yogurt cheese into a bowl, sprinkle with a finely chopped garlic clove, a few twists of pepper and a bit of chunky sea salt, then drizzle with olive oil. Serve with crackers or bread. The cheese is rich and creamy, not unlike a good goat cheese.


This is also a great base for Tzatziki (a Greek cucumber yogurt dip). Grate a peeled cucumber. Squeeze as much liquid as you can from it then stir into the yogurt cheese. Perfect summer food!

6 comments:

  1. It is easier to remove the seeds from the cucumber, that's where much of the water comes from.

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  2. I like yogurt cheese drizzled with honey and sprinkled with toasted pecans. Mmmmmmm decadent.

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  3. MMM, going sweet! That sounds fabulous. I am going to try that!

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  4. Must. Try. This.

    Does any old plain yogurt work? I've tried the whole make-yogurt-from-yogurt thing and failed miserably, so....

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  5. Any plain, natural yogurt would work - but I would stay away from the ones with gelatin, etc. I don't it would have the right texture.

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