Yogurt Cheese and Mrs. B

"You have to taste this! Oh and this! And wait, let me give you a bite of this to try! There's so much here I want you to taste. Now that you are my Chef, I want you to know all my favorite foods. Put this in your mouth, isn't it good?"
I've never had a Client, before or since Mrs. B, so enthusiastically pull me around her kitchen shoving bits of random peices of food into my mouth for me to try. She was adorable, Mrs. B. One of those 100 lbs soaking wet, really tan, over caffeinated retirees in her 60's with a yoga instructors physique and a zest for life that should be bottled and sold. I was exhausted just looking at her run around her home with such vigor. Her home was stunning. Up on a hill off Coleman Valley Road, shaded by the Redwoods with pockets of sunshine that would filter in on all the right places. She was a retired dance instructor and artist - typical West County. She still had an art studio on the property that she still actively worked in, and when she showed it to me, her art took my breath away. It was whimsical, inspiring and tragic all at the same time. But we weren't in the art studio for very long, she was too eager to feed me.

We started in her pantry, which seemed more to resemble a coat closet in the hallway that she had converted it into a dry goods storage area. She started to rummage through all her packages and boxes with pride and excitement, like a squirrel that had been hoarding food all winter and was really excited to show off all the different nuts and berries she had collected. "Have you tried these crackers? They are made from rice flour, no gluten! They are sooo good. Here..." No gluten cracker - down the hatch. "Ifs wilwy gooo" I mumbled with a dry mouth full of cracker. "Oh oh, and see these cookies? No eggs! I can't have those either, do you want to try one or two?" I hold up one finger, with caution. No egg cookie - down the hatch. Not so good. "Okay, before I show you my herb garden, you have to try this stuff my friend taught me to make." I raise my eyebrows and show my teeth with one of those overly exaggerated, phony smiles, trying to act as excited as possible; I didn't know how much more I could stomach. "Okay try this and tell me what you think, it's yogurt cheese." Uh Oh. Yogurt cheese - down the hatch......YUM. "Whoa, this stuff is really, really good" I say, much to my own astonishment, actually surprised and impressed by my new Client that she indeed did have good taste, so to speak. Now Mrs. B was REALLY excited. "I know! It's the best, right?" Her eyes were beaming. I was glad to finally share in her excitement. Yes, the yogurt cheese was phenomenal, and to this date, the most unanticipated, delicious piece of food given to me by Mrs. B. Thank you Mrs. B, this one is for you.

YOGURT CHEESE

Yogurt cheese is very basic and very easy, and there is really only one ingredient you will need- you guessed it - Yogurt! I like to use Greek Yogurt instead of regular yogurt as a standard in my kitchen, as it's loaded with protein, plus it's always thicker and creamier than normal yogurt, so it makes for an even more luxurious and rich yogurt cheese. I like to use the yogurt cheese in place of cream cheese on bagels, as a spread on crackers, or if I'm serving it to guests, I'll add in things like lemon zest, chopped basil, garlic, salt and pepper or sundried tomatoes, basically to make it a healthier version of those less healthy herb cheese spreads you buy in the store. The variations are endless, and you can treat it the same way you would treat a cream cheese or goat cheese. It's really good as a sweet treat too. Top it with berries, or mix it with some vanilla extract, sugar and orange zest to eat with a slice of angel food cake. Yogurt cheese is healthy, easy and most importantly, it's delicious. Down the hatch!

What you'll need:

A medium size bowl

2 chopsticks

Cheese cloth

1 1/2 Cups Plain, 0% (non-fat) Greek Yogurt

Spread the cheese cloth out onto a work surface, making sure it has about 3-4 layers folded over onto itself.

Spoon the yogurt into the center of the cheese cloth.

Twist the cheese cloth around the yogurt to make a parcel.


Skewer the chopsticks in an X through the cheese cloth (it helps if your chopsticks have a pointed end like the ones I used do, that way they poke more easily through the cheese cloth. If yours aren't pointy, use a sharp knife to help poke a hole through the cheese cloth first.

Place the package over the bowl like so and place in the fridge overnight.........and that's it! Your yogurt will immediatly, albeit slowly, start to drain to make your wonderful yogurt cheese.

You can see it start to drain as the moisture from the yogurt starts to seep out of the cheese cloth.

And after either 8 hours or overnight in the fridge, it's ready. As you can see, about 3/4 cup of water will come out of the yogurt. Now just unwrap the yogurt cheese, put onto a plate and finally enjoy it.

You can see how thick the texture is, almost identical to a soft goat cheese, but much milder in flavor.







Spread onto a cracker with kosher salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.....

I just had to take a bite :)

Elegant enough to serve to guests.......and they won't even know it's good for them!

A sweet variation with some fresh, organic strawberry jam......

YUM :)