Gustatory Glee

It worked! Here is my successful first attempt at homemade greek yogurt.

It's empowering to know how to make basic foods like this. In college, I studied up on bread-making and learned all about yeasts, starters and grains while relaxing at the pool on weekends. Making yogurt gave me that same earthy, homey feeling as baking freshly-ground-whole-wheat bread with honey. I could hear Bob Dylan singing Mr. Tambourine Man in my mind as I tied the yogurt up in several layers of cheese cloth to let the whey strain out into a wooden bowl. Hippy-dippy happiness.

To enjoy the results more fully, I picked up some fresh raspberries.

Last night, I discovered that a sprinkling of brown sugar along with the raspberries hits the bullseye. I like a lightly-sweetened vanilla yogurt (nearly plain) with a swirl of honey or brown sugar—so there are bursts of sweetness to contrast with the natural flavor of the yogurt. Prepared this way, yogurt can serve as a sophisticated, healthy dessert.

Another favorite way to enjoy yogurt is with a drizzle of honey and a scoop of muesli. I swirl everything together and then wait a few minutes for the muesli to absorb a slight bit of moisture from the yogurt.

I thought about donning my Birkenstocks and loading up my VW Bus with yogurt samples to share at the next Grateful Dead concert. But then the fog cleared and I realized that I don’t have Birkenstocks, nor a VW bus, and The Grateful Dead are long-gone.

Comments

[Karla]

Will you be sharing how you did this with your crockpot? Please?

[Heather Bailey]

I would love to. I'll make another batch next week & take photos.

[Seanna Lea]

I love to eat my yogurt with a tablespoon of homemade jam or marmalade, because sometimes I just cannot eat my yogurt plain.

I'll have to make another batch, because it has been too long!

[heather from arizona]

my fav breakfast is Cascadian Farms Honey Granola with yogurt, will have to try my hand at making my OWN yogurt! Thanks for the tips and links!

p.s. I do own Birkenstocks, maybe I'll wear them while I make the yogurt! ha ha!

[Kathy]

Fantastic results! Good for you!

[Shari]

Where did you get your starter? (Maybe this will be included in a future post....) I've been wanting to make my own, but really want it to be 'greek' yogurt and it's not as easy to find!!

[Mary Ann]

Looks very yummy and it sounds like its doable without major investment...a good thing!

[Heather Bailey]

I used Fage Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt from the grocery store. You only need a couple of spoonfuls. In fact, my research indicates that using too much starter can be a bad thing for the yogurt; it won't set properly.

It worked perfectly. Then, before I sweetened my finished yogurt, I put a quarter cup of my yogurt in a tiny tupperware to save as my starter for the next batch.

I could be wrong, but from what I have read, what makes greek yogurt is the particular cultures that are grown, along with straining out more whey than you might with traditional yogurt. I'll make sure I have the facts straight when I post my process.

If you want to start with a freeze-dried greek yogurt starter, here's a link:

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/greek-yogurt-starter.html

[Cari Skuse]

Yay! Sounds awesome Heather.

[Steph VW]

I started making yogurt last weekend using Stoneyfield organic yogurt as my starter culture (I couldn't find a freeze-dried starter at my grocery store). This weekend, I made 2.5L of it! We've been eating it sweetened with frozen wild blueberries and bananas or with strawberries. It's so goooooood!

I still have my Birkenstocks. I think I might have to pull them out today. :)

[Barb]

Looks wonderful ~ Can't wait to try it. Thanks

[Donna]

I live quite near Greece and I've been there a lot of times. Let me tell you, none of the Greek yogurts looked so good like those raspberries do.

[Joseph Carr]

Oh my! These raspberries make me drool! Haha! They look tasty and healthy. My stomach jumped with joy after seeing a treat like this.

[nigel]

A couple years ago I bought a little machine that makes yoghurt and it is brilliant. I found that goats yoghurt was my favourite and loved to pour it on my breakfast cereals.