Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Cookbook Challenge, Week 5 - Hellenic Republic's Homemade Yoghurt and Berries



This weeks challenge was Greek. So, when looking to a cookbook for Greek recipes - who else do you turn to other than the one, the only, masterchef - George Calombaris?
I thought about making things like Souvlaki, Pan Fried Halloumi, Spanikopita, but I decided to go with something a little different, a little homely and something I've been wanted to attempt for years. More than anything, I just wanted to see if this would actually work!



My recipe this week is from Georgie's book - Greek Cooking from the Hellenic Heart. It's Homemade Yoghurt with Berries. Now, despite the title, this yoghurt isn't actually homemade from scratch. You actually have to purchase a tub of natural yoghurt with live cultures.
You basically mix milk with the tub of yoghurt and overnight the cultures change the milk into yoghurt.


The yoghurt doesn't set as thick as the original yoghurt, it's slightly runnier, but it really does turn into yoghurt! It tastes pretty delicious! I used organic milk to make this, which hopefully created a better final result.
I topped the yoghurt with summer fruits and berries with yoghurt and chopped pistachios. If I had my own cafe, a version of this would definately be on the summer menu!

Recipe - Serves 4
Ingredients:

800ml Full Cream Milk
1 Tablespoon Honey
Pinch Salt
1 Cup of Plain Greek style yoghurt with live cultures
Mixed Berries
Extra Honey

1. Bring Milk to the boil, simmer for 2 minutes and then leave to cool to blood temp (37c)
2. Whisk in honey, salt and yoghurt, then strain into sterilised glass jars and cover with cling film and leave to sit at room temperature for 12 hours.
3. Serve with mixed berries of your choice and drizzle with honey.



3 comments:

Rilsta @ My Food Trail said...

Have added your Greek Challenge to the list!

How does the end result taste different from the original yogurt you used?

Adski said...

Whoops! To be honest I didn't even taste the original yoghurt... but the end product did just taste like a mild greek style yoghurt. It was fun to experiment with, but not sure if I'd do it again. Maybe if I had a little yoghurt and lots of milk and needed more yoghurt!
BTW, I've added another Cookbook challenge post. Slackers like me must make your life hell!

Nicole @ Sprinkle with Salt said...

I just discovered your blog and I love it! This yogurt looks wonderful!