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Project Yogurt: Fun with Fermentation

10 Mar

It’s an underestimation to say that I like yogurt…

I find it hilarious to type that because it was only a few years ago that I distinctly recall wretching at the taste of the various low-sugar/low-fat yogurts I tried to choke down in a vain attempt to get some protein. To me, most of it tasted like chalky, artificially-flavored goop. I decided that yogurt just wasn’t for me and it never would be.

Then I started using it in baking. As you’ve probably noticed if you read this blog regularly, I use Greek-style plain yogurt as a replacement for oil or buttermilk in a lot of my recipes. At the outset, it was just to add some protein, but along the way I found that it brought a softness to the texture of muffins/quick breads that applesauce or other fruit puree didn’t seem to copy. It was a win-win situation in my head: the benefit of yogurt without the taste!

One day at the farmer’s market, the vendor I regularly bought ricotta cheese from was selling tubs of fresh, homemade Greek-style yogurt. “Alright,” I thought, “maybe I’ll like fresh yogurt. After all, I can flavor it myself and peaches are in season.” At worst, it would end up in my latest loaf of strawberry bread. Not a bad fate.

But that yogurt was destined for greater things. One spoonful and I was hooked. I started eating it nearly every day with a touch of raw honey and whatever fruit I could find. Peach-cinnamon, strawberry-apple, blueberry-banana…the possibilities were endless. It was so rich and creamy I found it hard to believe that it was fat free, but the vendor swore up and down that it was. Soon, every week I came home from the market with at least 2 tubs of it that might last the week (if I was lucky).

Then came winter. And we were pummeled with snow. I couldn’t get to the market as often and missed my yogurt. In vain, I searched for a store brand that didn’t taste goat-cheesy (not my thing), runny (gross), or somehow…off. (I get it, I’m picky about yogurt. Sue me.) I even tried the more expensive, organic “all-natural” flavored ones and they were tasty, but had enough sugar to make me remember why I’d scratched them off the list years ago.

I also began to consider just how much money I was spending on that particular dairy product (oh dear). The label read only: skim milk, non-fat dry milk, live active cultures. Could it really be so hard to just make it myself?

Answer: Nope.

And here’s how I did it…

Basic Yogurt


*image from treehugger.com

Ingredients and Equipment

-2 quart-sized mason jars with lids and rings. Plastic containers are also fine, but make sure you sterilize whatever you use. I do this by putting the jars in my dishwasher on a heated dry cycle. Leaving them in a pot of boiling water for 5-10 minutes works too.
-1 large saucepan.
-1 candy/fry/probe thermometer that you can leave in said saucepan.
-A warm place for incubating. I created a small incubator by placing a heating pad set to “low” on the bottom of an insulated cooler and placed the jars of yogurt on top of that. A crockpot set to “keep warm” works well, as does simply wrapping up the containers in thick bath towels and setting them in a warm place in your house.
-Half-gallon of the milk of your choice. It can be pasteurized, but avoid ultra-pasteurized varieties as it is more difficult to cultivate the necessary bacteria in these. I used skim milk, but any fat content will do.
-1/2 cup of plain yogurt containing live active cultures OR a powdered yogurt starter (which can be found on Amazon.com). I used a small container of store brand plain, non-fat yogurt.
-1/2 cup of non-fat dry milk to aid in thickening.

For thicker, Greek-style yogurt, you will also need a colander lined with several layers of coffee filters or cheesecloth set over a large bowl.

Method

-Begin by placing the half gallon of milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and putting the pan over medium heat. Clip the candy or fry thermometer to the saucepan and allow the milk to heat to 185 degrees F.
-Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees F. (You can do this quickly by gently setting your saucepan in a sink full of very cold water.)
-Once the milk cools to 110 degrees F, add the 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup dry milk and whisk until smooth. Ladle this mixture into the jars or containers and secure lids and rings.
-Incubate the yogurt in a warm place for 7-8 hours. At this point, it will have thickened and some liquid (whey) will probably have settled on the surface.

At this point, you may CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY!

You can either move the jars directly from incubation to the refrigerator. After several hours of cooling (overnight is best), you will have delicious yogurt that can then be flavored with any number of things. Fruit puree, jam, raw honey, cocoa powder/raw honey, agave, cinnamon, and even herbs are all great.

Or if you’re like me and love the thick, rich flavor of Greek-style yogurt, pour the just-incubated yogurt into a colander lined with several layers of coffee filters or cheesecloth set over a large bowl. Set that in the refrigerator and allow it to strain for several hours. You will be left with a colander full of thick, wonderful, protein-rich yogurt and a bowl full of whey (which you can discard or use in other recipes). Ladle the yogurt back into the jars and store in the refrigerator.

What does one do with nearly two quarts of yogurt? Well if you’re like me that won’t last you very long, but if you need some ideas these are my favorites:

-Mix 6oz. yogurt with 1 tbsp. all-fruit strawberry preserves and a drop of vanilla extract for strawberry creamsicle yogurt.
-Mix 6 oz. yogurt with 1/2 tbsp. raw buckwheat or apple blossom honey and a shake of cinnamon. This goes great on top of diced apples or peaches.
-Mix 2-3 tbsp. yogurt with a can of tuna, some Dijon mustard, and assorted vegetables for a high-protein tuna salad.
-Mix 4oz. yogurt with one small cucumber, pinch of thyme, and cayenne pepper and use it as a spread on sandwiches or as a vegetable dip.
-Mix 4oz. yogurt with 1 head of steamed, diced cauliflower, a dash of cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and a handful of parmesan cheese.
-Blend 4oz. yogurt with 4oz. light cream cheese, a can of drained artichoke hearts, a few tbsp. of parmesan cheese, herbs, dry mustard, and some sautéed leafy greens and garlic for a fantastic dip.
-Use in Zucchini-Apple Quick Bread (see the post before this one!)

So you see, yogurt has a multitude of sweet and savory uses. Usually, if a recipe calls for sour cream or mayonnaise, I like to see if part or all of that can be replaced with yogurt. It adds a significant amount of protein and is also a great source of calcium.

There you have it: Yogurt 101. Go to it!

Cheers,
Neen

Battle Zucchini Bread!

7 Mar

It all began with a simple craving: Zucchini Bread.

Using all of my Google-fu, I searched the vast depths of the Internet looking for a whole wheat zucchini bread recipe. I found thousands, but the vast majority had this in common:

1 cup of sugar, raw honey, brown sugar, or other sweetener
1/2 cup of oil

Not okay. I just don’t think that a full cup of sweetener is necessary for one loaf of zucchini bread. At that point, aren’t you just masking the taste of the zucchini rather than accentuating it’s natural sweetness?

The 1/2 cup of oil seemed excessive too. Some recipes replaced part of that with applesauce, but I was out.

Still, I understood the need for a good deal of moisture, especially in a whole-grain bread. I had a small, sweet honeycrisp apple in the fridge and suddenly….it all just came together. Recipe out of nowhere.


Sweet, sweet victory. Moist, fluffy, sweet (but not cloying) and perfect with a dollop of plain yogurt on top. Even if you don’t like zucchini, try this recipe. It’s one of my favorites to date.

Whole Grain Zucchini-Apple Bread

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

1 apple, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1/2 cup plain non fat greek yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1 egg

Method

-Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8×4 or 9×5 loaf pan.

-In a large bowl whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

-In a separate bowl whisk together the grated apple, grated zucchini, egg, yogurt, and honey.

-Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold until just combined.

-Spread the batter in the prepared loaf pan and bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes.

-Yield: 10 slices

Nutritional Information per slice:
112.7 calories
0.8 grams of fat
23 grams of carbohydrates
2.8 grams of fiber
3.7 grams of protein

Mangia!

Cheers,
Neen

A Holiday Wish

14 Dec

Baring my soul to the vast depths of the Internet has never been what blogging is about for me. When I began writing this blog after our move from Boston, I tried to not make any expectations or plans. It was one of the first projects I ever embarked on without a plan for how often I would work on it or update it. I didn’t really know what I would write, and so that’s why I simply titled it “Neen’s Notes.”

Over the past year and a half, I’ve shared some of my favorite recipes, reveled in the joy of local food, reminisced about life, plugged some of my favorite progressive causes, and even yakked a bit about sports.

But, dear readers, I confess to feeling guilty (again) lately. Not only because the blog has been so neglected, but because I’ve been making a lot of wonderful goodies and fun recipes for the holidays that are admittedly not “clean” foods. It occurred to me then that perhaps my focus has been too narrow. I’m still sourcing the products I do buy from local or fair-trade growers and while the recipes may not necessarily be healthy, they are important in another way. They make my heart feel good. To share them with the people I work with or my family and friends makes me feel so much happiness.

It wasn’t until I was sitting in a yoga practice a week or so ago that it occurred to me. Extremes, by their very definition are drastic and radical. Why make my life so full of that kind of tension? Why carry that with me all of the time?

Many, many times my yoga instructors have said, “Take the ego out of it. Respect what your body and mind can do today and let that be enough,” and I only just at that moment really let it sink in. A deep sense of peacefulness came over me. To capture that—if only for a few moments, was enough to make me reconsider my approach to writing this blog.

And so I have decided that my theme for this holiday season (and hopefully one that I will carry into the coming year) is flexibility. Neen’s Notes will continue to be a blog about living healthy. That means taking out the ego, accepting who I am on any given day, and striving each day to live with a sense of peace, love, and respect for those around me and for the planet that provides so many valuable resources.

If there is one wish I have for all of you this holiday season, it is that you come to find that sense of peace amid the insanity of crowded shopping malls and busy work days. Let it in and let it just be.

Cheers,
Neen

Back-(b)log!

6 Nov

Okay, so I admit it. I’ve been avoiding the blog…a little. Around mid-September life got back to being crazy with school and work. Unfortunately, I ran out of hours in the day and so blogging took a backseat for awhile.

I would be lying and doing my readers a disservice however, if I did not admit that my absence was partly due to feeling a little “off the wagon” so to speak. I struggled throughout October particularly and found myself making easy, bad food choices more than I’d like to admit. I’d been dwelling on those choices and generally lazing in a “guilt-funk” that made me feel pretty grumpy.

Finally, finally I feel like I’m out of that place of negativity and getting back to feeling like Neen. It is amazing how rejuvenating it can be to stumble, recognize your own weaknesses, accept that you have them, and then resolve to strengthen them as best you can. Because honestly, while there were some food struggles, it has ultimately been a wonderful autumn thus far…Let me share some of it with you…

In mid-September, I finally joined the Energy Club gym in Shirlington so that I could keep up running during the cold months to come. What I’ve found there so far is a great community of gym-goers and instructors. Everyone is incredibly friendly and I’m enjoying the classes (particularly Flow Yoga and Body Jam) more than I ever thought I would. My goal for next year? Run the Army 10-miler.

Yoga has been particularly good for working through negative or intrusive feelings. It’s soothing and empowering all at once—a very unique blend of emotions.

October 3, 2009

I run AIDS Walk Washington (5k) and finish in around 26.5 minutes. An exhilarating experience that raised over $800,000 for the Whitman-Walker Clinic of Washington, DC. I was nervous with it being my first race, but I kept thinking of all of the people that sponsored me. That was what ultimately gave me the boost I needed during the last stretch up Pennsylvania Ave. Hearing the announcer say my name as I crossed the finish line was pretty cool too.





October 9, 2009

Joe and I take a trip to Smith Meadows Bed and Breakfast to celebrate our five-year anniversary (awww). While staying at their lovely Summer Kitchen Cottage on a 400-acre sustainable farm, we cooked a great meal, walked the grounds, enjoyed cigars and champagne by sunset, and were treated to an amazing breakfast prepared by the B&B proprietor. It was honestly the most peaceful place I have ever been in my life.



mid-October, 2009

Mystery Food 2009 comes to an end with a final basket loaded with squash, peppers, tomatoes, apples, salad greens and fresh HONEY! I was thrilled. Thank you to Leigh at Bull Run Mountain Farm for a wonderful CSA season.

October 31, 2009

I put the final touches on our fabulous Halloween costumes. Joe and I hit the town Saturday night as Batman villains The Riddler and Poison Ivy. I took most of my Ivy inspiration from how she appeared in “The Long Halloween.” It ended up looking better with less leaf-applique than I originally did. Joe’s Riddler costume was centered mostly around the amazing lime-green polyester suit that we found for a rather inexpensive price on Amazon. (Seriously, what can’t you find on that website?) He took inspiration from several comics and I did my best to bring his vision to life with limited time. I wish I’d had more time to sew more question marks on the suit, but he says he liked it simple.

A busy month and a half, huh? Somewhere in there I juggled work and a full course load and managed to get the flu (ugh). No one can say I’m (to use an Alton Brown expression) a unitasker! I’ve been doing some cooking as well and getting back into using the crockpot more now that the autumn chill seems more permanent. I’ll post some new recipes soon—stracciatella is on its way as well as a slow cooked tomato-cubanelle sauce that I guarantee will impress even your grandmother.

Until then friends, stay healthy and get out there and VOTE tomorrow.

-Neen

Cooking from the Heart…

9 Sep

I strive to be a really positive influence on others, but we all experience times of doubt and insecurity. Sometimes, I don’t think I am as honest with my readers as I could be about the struggle that is a part of healthy eating and living. The truth is that for as often as I am happy about the progress I have made, there are days where I beat myself up. It could be that I finally broke down at the deli and bought a candy bar after months of clean eating, or simply that I woke up that morning I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. There’s a part of me during those moments that knows it’s time for a reality check, but sometimes that voice can get stifled.

Food and I have a tenuous relationship. As humans, we need sustenance to live. At a young age we come to acknowledge those who provide us with that sustenance as our caregivers. From very early on, we learn that to feed another person is to love them. When I met Joe and discovered that I liked him, one of the very first things I did for him was to make sauteed balsamic-thyme sirloin tips with mozzarella cheese. And it was not a dish I made to be particularly impressive, but because I had those ingredients in the fridge. It won him over, and the feeling of providing that kind of comfort to another person won me over. True, I’d spent the latter half of my freshman year of college cooking weekly meals with a friend for our group of friends, but that was the first time it was me alone just whipping something up on the fly for someone else. In any case, I kept cooking. I read culinary textbooks, southern cookbooks, cookbooks for every ethnic food imaginable…anything to stimulate my imagination to create new things. But at the same time, I found it difficult to avoid overeating when I was always trying out new recipes. I walk the line. I am constantly trying to balance between being passionate about the creation and sharing of food while avoiding gluttony and irresponsibly grown/created food products. It becomes overwhelming, it becomes burdensome, and worst of all…cooking becomes guilt-ridden.

And then I know it’s time to step back, take a breath, and just go home again. Time to take a day and remember why the act of sharing a meal is an act of love. Remove everything else from the equation and just create out of the desire to love another person.

And on Sunday, I did just that. Taking flour from Morris farms, eggs from Polyface farms, cheese from Blue Ridge Dairy Co., tomatoes, garlic, and basil from Bull Run Mountain Farm, and cayenne peppers from my own backyard, I brought together those who provide me with products I know are grown and raised with love and a sense of pride.

First, I made these:
I made the pasta dough from a combination of whole wheat and whole grain durum (semolina) flours, two eggs, a few tablespoons of olive oil, and a few tablespoons of water. It made a fine, elastic dough that was surprisingly light. I think that one of the keys to whole wheat pasta is to make sure that the dough gets a proper rest before it’s rolled out. The filling is comprised of part-skim ricotta, parmesan, and pecorino romano cheeses. I bound it with an egg and added a few herbs and spices to bring out the flavors of the individual cheeses.


What good are ravioli without a nice sauce? Since Leigh said that it was likely the last week for big, ripe tomatoes (damn blight) I took the bunch of gorgeous orange and yellow ones he gave me and sauteed them in a few teaspoons of bacon fat with garlic, some bell pepper, thyme, basil, and spices. I finished it with a diced cayenne pepper. I’m not really a huge spicy food fan, so I removed the seeds first. After tasting the sauce, I instantly mourned that it would be gone so quickly. Even Joe, who normally asks me to go light on the marinara sauce when I serve him pasta, asked for more of it on his plate.

And what better to serve a lovingly prepared meal on than a dish designed with the earth in mind?[FYI, that's a seven-inch triangle plate in grass green from Riverside Design Group's Sea Glass collection. How awesome is that color? If I didn't already have an "Empire Red" theme going on with my kitchen appliances, I think I'd go with that green. It's refreshing!]

After it was all said and done, I felt accomplished. Even satisfied.

But it wasn’t until Joe brought me his empty plate in search of a few more ravioli that I felt “the happiness.” There was that same look that made me feel all warm and fuzzy five years ago, and I thought “Yes. I may not always do right. I may not always make the best choices. But if I can always give this kind of comfort and love to the people around me, then I think I’ll be okay.”

-Neen

Hot Dates (with chocolate, football and mystery food)!

25 Aug

Wow–I have way too many things to update, so long post ahoy:

Numero uno, friends, is Mystery Food Week 11. It was a delicious mix of sweet corn, tomatoes (Mr. Stripey!!!), Thai basil, Italian basil, eggplant, purple potatoes, garlic, hot peppers, nectarines, peaches, and apples. So much food! And I only buy a half-share.Of course the first thing I did when I got home from picking this up was to make a big batch of tomato sauce for pasta. I love a long-cooked tomato sauce, but there’s something so sweet, simple, and wonderful about a quick summer sauce. The squash, potatoes and peppers ended up in a pot roast I made from a chuck blade roast from Polyface farms. I seasoned and seared the meat, caramelized some onions, and then threw everything into the crockpot with a splash of red wine to cook all day. When I came home, Dioji was very anxious to discover where the delicious smell that he couldn’t find was coming from (he’s not allowed in the kitchen while we’re not home–safety first!) and then whined at me when he realized it wasn’t for him. Oh sheltie.

Numero dos is that our fantasy draft for the “I Cannot Wait For Football” league was this past weekend. It went pretty well for me, although I made one really bad decision because of outdated information. Here’s the lineup for team Plaxico’s Cellmate:

QBs: Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Chad Pennington

RBs: Clinton Portis, Steve Slaton, Joseph Addai

WRs: Chad Ochocinco, T.J. Houshmanzadeh, Steve Breaston, Michael Crabtree

TEs: Dallas Clark, Owen Daniels

K: Ryan Longwell

DEF: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

A pretty solid draft if I don’t say so myself. The Michael Crabtree thing was a lapse in judgment, I swear. We have another one this weekend, but I’ll be autodrafting because it is the same day as my brother’s wedding. I’m not sure he’d be too pleased with me if I disappeared from the reception to draft a fantasy team.

And Numero Tres is that I’ve been craving filled pastry/cookies. I used to really like fig newtons heated up in the toaster oven when I was a kid. A week or so ago, I was in the market and saw some nice, soft Medjool dates. I remembered from when I was first diagnosed with anemia that dates were a good source of iron, but I’ve never cooked with them before last week. Recalling that the texture of my favorite kashi bar (the dark chocolate/coconut one) is made by creating a date paste, I decided to try a similar route. After several tries using the food processor to create said paste, I got frustrated because it never seemed to get sticky enough to hold everything together. The raw date bar recipes I searched all suggested that the approach would work, but it wasn’t the consistency I wanted. Finally, I found a good old southern recipe for date squares and modified it using a base recipe similar to my Banapple-Nut Bars.

I’m not saying I’m a genius, but this is kind of amazing…

Chocolate-Date Cookie Bars

Ingredients

For the cookie base:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup mixed nuts, ground to a coarse meal by pulsing in a food processor. (I used a mix of macadamia, cashew, almond, and brazil nuts.)
1/4 cup 10-grain hot cereal or other high-protein hot cereal, dry.
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
2 tbsp. raw honey (I really like buckwheat honey in this, but anything will work.)
1 medium egg
2 tbsp. natural peanut butter
For the filling:
1/2 cup Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 heaping tbsp. dutch process cocoa powder
10 grams 70% dark chocolate, chopped.
For the topping:
1 tbsp. shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 oz. mixed nuts, roughly chopped. (If you would like the recipe to be lower-fat, you can skip this and use some lightly toasted seeds, rolled oats, or cereal.)

Method

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, combine the dates, extracts, and water over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to create a more even consistency. Stir in the cocoa and dark chocolate and set the mixture aside to cool.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the oats, ground nuts, cereal, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Slowly drizzle in the honey while pulsing occasionally to disperse evenly.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and peanut butter, then add them to the food processor while pulsing occasionally until a sticky dough is formed.

Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and press the cookie dough into the bottom to create an even crust. Next, layer on the chocolate-date paste, and then top with the chopped nuts and shredded unsweetened coconut.

Bake for 20 minutes and cool completely before cutting into bars.

So good. Not a drop of refined sugar or flour and yet somehow full of sweet, chocolatey, nutty goodness.

Nutrition facts: Yields ten servings. Each cookie bar is approximately 138 calories, 7 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of protein, and 16 grams of carbohydrates. They are also a good source of vitamin A, vitamin B-6, folate, and iron.

I think that this recipe could be easily modified into a good energy bar recipe by adding another egg white, replacing some of the oats with some wheat bran, and maybe adding some greek yogurt into the filling or base. If you were so inclined, you could replace the 10 grain cereal with a scoop of vanilla or unflavored protein powder. I’m really trying to keep things more natural these days.

Oh, and if you want to blow your mind…mix a spoonful of the chocolate-date paste and some berries into 5 or 6 oz. of nonfat greek yogurt for a creamy treat. That’s a post-run snack I can totally get behind.

Well, I’m off to Pittsburgh tomorrow for my brother’s wedding, so I’ll be M.I.A for a little while. In advance, have a great weekend and good luck to all my fellow fantasy team owners who have upcoming drafts.

Stay local, folks!

-Neen

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