Once Upon a Plate: Probiotic recipes

Tuesday

Herbed Yogurt Cheese

Today I'm joining Wardeh at Gnowfglins.com for Tuesday Twister.

Wardeh is a wonderfully gifted and knowledgeable teacher (and more!) Visit her lovely blog to find out more about this delightful woman, her beautiful family, and to find out the meaning of Gnowfglins.

Currently I'm taking one of Gnowfglins e-courses--"Fundamentals" to help us on our path to getting back to healthy, whole traditional foods. If you're interested in improving the way you and your family eat but don't know where to begin (or like me, need a serious brush-up course) I suggest you check Gnowfglins' e-courses out. The content is comprehensive, very well organized, easy to follow and you can work at your own pace. Wardeh provides downloadable & printable sections for each lesson, as well as excellent video tutorials which accompany each lesson. You can find out all about the courses at Gnowgflins (link is above.)

I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

~ Now on to Tuesday Twister ~

Please click the logo to see all of this weeks "Tuesday Twister" participants.

In keeping with loading our diet with the good-for-your-gut probiotics I made some yogurt this weekend and used a portion of it to make this delicious Herbed Yogurt Cheese. It's wonderful on bread, bagels, crackers, and you can also thin it out to make a fabulous salad dressing.

Very similar to cream cheese in texture, you can make the fresh cheese with non-fat, low-fat, or whole-milk yogurt (store-bought, or home made.) Non or low-fat yogurt will produce a more tart end-product, whole milk makes a creamier, more full bodied spread.

If you buy the yogurt rather than making it, you want to find a high quality plain, natural yogurt with live cultures and no gelatin or thickeners. If I don't make my own I usually buy "Nancy's" brand (once produced only regionally fairly near to where I live) I understand it is available nationally now ~ but use any good unadulterated yogurt for the best results.

The process is so simple, it is merely a matter of allowing the yogurt to drain away some of the whey (liquid). When I'm only making a small amount this is the set-up I use ~ a piece of doubled cheese-cloth (or butter muslin), a disposable paper coffee filter, or even a sturdy plain sheet of paper towel will work:

I just set mine on the countertop for a couple of hours or overnight, until the 'cheese' is the consistency I want. And when the draining is finished, don't throw that whey away! It is teaming with active good-for-you cultures. It can be used in a number of ways, as a healthful beverage, or added to hasten the fermentation process for vegetables such as sauerkraut, pickles, kim chi/kim chee, etc. You can substitute it for the liquid in recipes, and so forth. If I'm not using it right away, I just store it in a covered glass jar in the refrigerator for future use.

When the yogurt is finished draining, place it in a bowl and season as desired. You can use fruit (chopped fresh and/or dried, and some honey or jam to sweeten) for a lovely "smear" for toast, pancakes, waffles or bagels--nearly any way you would use cream cheese.

This time I wanted something savory as a spread for crackers so I stirred in a little sea salt, a half a clove of minced garlic (more if you like), and some fresh, finely minced herbs (chives and thyme) from the garden.

The combination of herbs and other additions you can add are seemingly endless:

Finely chopped sun dried tomatoes
A dab of pesto
Smoked salmon
Chopped olives
Chopped roasted red peppers
A spoonful or two of chutney (along with favorite curry powder if desired)
Salsa or hot sauce
Marinated artichoke hearts and lemon zest
Whip in some crumbled gorgonzola . . .

You can serve it right away or allow the herbs to mellow a bit in the refrigerator and enjoy within about a week.

Thank you for stopping by and for any comments you would like to share!

A huge thanks to Wardeh for hosting Tuesday Twister, and for your incredible contributions.

Friday

Vinegar-Free Cucumber Pickles (Fresh and Easy!)

Late July and early August are when the pickling cucumbers are in season in my area, so it's pickle making time. And the good news is, there is no standing near a hot canner in a steamy kitchen for these beauties ~ there is no cooking involved.

Because I've been attempting to incorporate more healthful probiotics (the good-for-your-gut bacterias/cultures) into our diet these lacto-fermented pickles are yet another way to do so. These delicious pickles taste more like kosher-style dills than average heavily vinegared dill pickles. To me they are a bit more sophisticated on the palate, and won't over-power whatever you are serving them with. I adore them.

We didn't grow cucumbers in our veggie garden this year so I picked up these organic ones at the Farmers Market. When I grow them myself I prefer to harvest them when they are a bit smaller than these, but I went with what was available. The first step is to wash the cucumbers thoroughly.

Then the cute cukes take a nice leisurely ice water bath (from 1 to 6 hours) until they are thoroughly chilled and hydrated, to assure maximum crispness.

This time I decided to use elements from Sandor Katz's recipe in his book

Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods

and one of Sally Fallon's recipes from her fabulous book

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
.

These cucumber pickles aren't canned, but are allowed to develop at room temperature for a few days, then transferred to the refrigerator to be enjoyed anytime during the next several months.

You can adjust the herbs and spices to suit your own tastes. I used fresh dill ~ and although I grow it in my herb garden, I bought these monster organic stalks for $1. per bundle at the Farmer's Market. Here you see them standing in s bucket of water--and nearly as tall as me-- in a corner of my kitchen.

What I don't use immediately, I'll dry most and package for use throughout the year, I'll make a couple of bottles of Fennel & Dill vinegar as well. Dill is also wonderful used to season sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, dips and spreads. Some use dill as a salt substitute, it compliments fish, meats, eggs and potato salad, too. Dill tea can be used to settle stomachs as well. I just love the smell (and taste) of dill.

The other herbs and spices you may be able to see are Bay leaves (from the garden), garlic cloves, mustard seeds, fennel and coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, whole allspice, whole cloves and a few whole black peppercorns. I used Celtic sea salt and also tucked some sweet red bell pepper slices into the jar ~ they are marvelous when pickled. Ditto the garlic!

TIP: An ancient secret for CRUNCHY pickles ~

Add a leaf or four of one of the following to your jar:

Oak, Sour Cherry, Horseradish, or Grape leaves.

(Pick them the day you will be making your pickles.)

I plucked some grape leaves from the garden this time and at day 5 the pickles have still retained their crispy crunch which makes me very happy!

To help promote the fermentation process you can add some whey (the liquid from cheese making, the whey which separates from plain, natural yogurt), or kombucha (fermented tea ~homemade, or store bought.) These are optional, and if you don't have them, just add an additional tablespoon of salt.

The sea salt is dissolved in filtered water, and kombucha or whey, (if you are using) is stirred in. This solution is poured into the sterilized jar/s to cover the cucumbers completely.

Some recipes instruct to leave the lids off of the jar, but I screw them down and leave the jars on the counter for 3 days to allow the fermentation process to begin. Before refrigerating you can take a taste of one of the pickles to make sure they are developed to your liking, if not leave out an additional day or two. This time mine were ready for the refrigerator after 3 days at room temperature.

Note: Don't be alarmed if the brine/liquid turns cloudy after a few days, that is simply the fermentation process doing it's work, and is to be expected.

Incidentally, if you prefer pickle spears, or slices, simply cut them the way you like after washing, then put them in the ice water bath and proceed with the directions from there.

Yum! I love an excellent pickle ~ very well flavored, nicely sour and extra crispy-crunchy!