Some yogurt troubles

            I have not written in a while, but let’s try to get back into it.

I recently made a failed yogurt. It seemed to be all right when it was done fermenting, but then it unexpectedly spoiled faster than any prior batch. I looked into potential causes of this, and I found that this can be caused by contaminated yogurt starter, improper storage of the finished yogurt, or the yogurt itself getting contaminated. It definitely was a bit discouraging, and I was disappointed to have to throw out about a third of a gallon of yogurt, but I am hoping it was a one-time fluke of the yogurt getting contaminated. Last night I made another batch, and it will be ready in a few hours. I hope I will have better yogurt this time.

I have been mostly using my yogurt in overnight oats that I eat for breakfast. I have also been using it to make a really quick homemade pizza dough that has been a favorite. I have also frozen leftover pizza dough for later use, and it froze, defrosted, and baked really well. I love decorating the pizza with all sorts of vegetables, especially onions, peppers, and mushrooms…yum…

Other exciting uses of yogurt are always fun to discover. It is such a versatile ingredient that can add protein and calcium to your diet.

How to make homemade hummus

                As you know, I am a fan of making homemade food when I can. I have wanted to make hummus for a few months already. One of the ingredients in hummus is tahini, which I had bought a few months ago already. For some reason, I never got around to it until a few weeks ago.

                The ingredients are 1 can of chickpeas, ½ Tbsp parsley, 1 large clove of garlic, ¼ tsp ground cumin, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 4 Tbsp water, 4 Tbsp tahini paste, 2 Tbsp olive oil. I blended these using an immersion blender until they were pretty smooth, but with a bit of texture remaining from the chickpeas.

                Besides for it being really yummy, it is definitely cheaper to make this at home. A can of chickpeas is 50 cents, and the container of tahini was about $4.00, and that will last a while. A small container of hummus from the store often costs around $4.00.

it's hummus!

How to choose a healthy yogurt

Regular yogurt have around 6 grams of protein per serving, but Greek yogurts can have up to 17 grams per serving. This makes it a great source of protein and it can be the protein source for your meal. Protein helps contribute to feelings of satiety after a meal, so it’s important to always have protein at a meal

Some yogurts have a lot of added sugar, often listed as various names such as sugar, cane sugar, fruit juice, juice concentrate, and honey. Plain yogurts, while they do contain the sugar naturally found in milk called lactose, they do not have any added sugars. You can add your own fresh or frozen fruit to yogurt for a sweeter treat.

Yogurts with live and active cultures contain probiotics. These are bacterial species that are good for health and can help promote adequate quantities of good bacteria so bad bacteria can’t flourish too much. Look for a package that says "live and active cultures" or lists the bacterial species in the ingredients. 

Yogurt contains calcium, which we need for our bone health. Regular yogurt actually has more calcium than Greek yogurt, because some calcium is lost when the whey is strained out to turn regular yogurt into Greek yogurt.

Spreading the (yogurt) joy

                I visited my parents for a weekend recently, and I made them a batch of yogurt. I tried out the double boiler method to prevent the the milk from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pot. They have a larger supply of pots than I do, so it was a good place to try this! I did stir the milk occasionally, but I never once began to feel burnt milk building up on the bottom. This definitely is a good idea in order to make yogurt-making a more hands-off project. I left the milk on the stove, and whenever I happened to pass through the kitchen, I stirred it. Once I inoculated it with starter yogurt, I left the milk incubating between two pots of boiling water covered in towels and went back home. I asked my mother to put it in the fridge the next morning. But before she did, she added it to her breakfast smoothie! After the yogurt was transferred to a container, I received a report that there was no burnt milk stuck to the bottom. 

the milk is in the top pot, and water is in the bottom pot

in a container

Salmon burger dinner....of course I got yogurt in there too.

                Usually, Sunday is when I have the most time to prepare more time-consuming dinners. Last week I made turkey burgers, so my mind was still on the burger idea, and I was thinking that I had not made salmon patties in a while. So that became the plan. Make the salmon patties and prepare homemade buns.

                Credits to my mother fot the salmon burger recipe. In a bowl, I mixed together a can of salmon with the bones removed, 2 eggs, ½ cup oats, 1 finely diced carrot, 1 finely diced celery, 2 cloves of fresh garlic, seasoned salt, onion powder, and pepper. I left that in the fridge overnight and then rolled and flattened them into 8 patties the next night. Instead of frying them, I baked them for a total of 30 minutes, turning them over after about 20 minutes.

               

                I wanted to make whole wheat buns, and I found this recipe that used mostly whole wheat flour. I did not fully follow the instructions. I allowed the dough to rise for 1 hour after mixing, and then again for 30 minutes after I shaped them into 12 rolls. Next time I make this recipe, I think I will try to make the rolls more flat/less round, so that they are not as tall when they are finished baking. This is the link to the recipe I used. 

                On Monday night, when the salmon burgers were baking, I decided that I should make a sauce to go on the burgers. And since I love yogurt, I decided to make a yogurt sauce. I combined about 1 cup yogurt with a few small squirts of lemon juice, about ½ tsp salt, and 2 cloves of diced garlic.

                To assemble the sandwiches, layer in this order: bottom bun, salmon burger, spoon of yogurt sauce, slice of tomato, scallions, and top bun. Yummmm….

putting on the "lid" and getting ready to eat!

Yogurt Routine

                I have gotten into a pretty good yogurt-making routine by now. The whole process takes many hours, but it is mostly hands-off. One area I’ve been having trouble with is heating the milk without burning it. If I do not stir the milk often enough while it is heating, it starts to burn to the bottom. Once, the burnt milk pieces come off the bottom of the pot while mixing the milk, and I ended up with little burnt flecks floating around the milk. To solve that problem, I strained the milk through a cloth to remove all of the burnt particles. I was glad that worked and I did not have to waste an entire gallon and a half of milk!

                I have read suggestions of methods to prevent burning the milk. They include heating the milk on a double boiler, stirring frequently, using a low flame, or heating it in a microwave. Until I invest in a very large double boiler, I will just have to be more careful about stirring the milk often, and of course not using a high flame.

                Even though I have made many batches of yogurt since I started making it a few months ago, I always am excited to see the results in the morning. For some reason, I am constantly surprised that the milk has yogurted!

looks like a science experiment...waiting for the milk to cool to 115⁰ F before adding the yogurt starter. 

the milk wrapped with a pot of boiling water on either side to keep it incubated all night 

it yogurted! you can see that it is thick because I am holding the pot tilted and the yogurt is keeping its shape

Post Passover…My Favorite Passover Foods

                One of my readers asked me to write about my favorite Passover foods. For starters, I will say that I have never gone hungry on Passover. There has always been an overabundance of food. The only thing I may have missed was pretzels. Actually, I definitely miss pretzels over Passover, but one week without them has always been more than fine. Especially when I am surrounded with such good cooks!

                I love my mother’s tongue that she serves for the Seder. This is the one time of the year that she makes this dish. Nothing says Seder meal to me more than this meat. Well, maybe the applesauce she serves for dessert can tie it as being ultimate Seder food.

                I always look forward to having matza lasagna during Passover. Instead of using lasagna noodles, square matza sheets are soaked in water and used as the pasta. This year I had matza lasagna twice! I was doubly fortunate. Maybe it makes up for the Passover a few years back when I did not have matza lasagna once.

                Because we are limited in the ingredients we can use for sides, I love that on Passover we tend to go overboard with the salads and vegetable dishes. I love having an entire course of salads at the meal before the entrée. My sisters make the most delicious and creative salads combining salad greens, fresh vegetables, sautéed vegetables, roasted vegetables, fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, dressings, and vinaigrettes. Of course we can eat salads year-round, but they are always exciting on Passover.

                What are some of your favorite Passover foods?