Fresh Yogurt
Yogurt is one of those things that I always feel I should eat more of than I do. I tend to go in spurts with yogurt, eating it frequently for a while, and then not at all. Alton’s yogurt episode began with homemade yogurt. I made homemade yogurt once years ago when I was in grad school, as part of my food microbiology lab course. All I really remember from that experience was that I had a lab partner from Mongolia who called himself “Woody,” I could barely understand a word he said, and our yogurt was very pink. Needless to say, I was hopeful that my Woody-less yogurt would be more successful. When making Alton’s yogurt, you can use any type of milk that you choose, but Alton opted for organic 2% milk in the episode of Good Eats. Alton did say that whole milk will result in looser yogurt, while skim milk will yield yogurt with a grainy texture. In addition to a quart of milk, you will need 1/2 C of powdered milk, 2 T honey, and 1/2 C of plain yogurt, containing live cultures.
Ingredients for homemade yogurt: plain yogurt with live cultures, dry milk, honey, and milk.
Begin by pouring your milk into a saucepan, adding the powdered milk and honey.
Meanwhile, allow your yogurt to come to room temperature.
Plain yogurt, being brought to room temperature.
Using a probe thermometer, heat the milk mixture to 120 degrees over medium heat. Remove the milk from the heat, and pour it into a clean cylindrical container, allowing it to cool to 115 degrees.
Once the milk has cooled, whisk about a cup of the warm milk into the yogurt.
About 1 C of warm milk whisked into yogurt.
Then, whisk the yogurt/milk mixture back into the cylinder of milk. Wrap the cylinder in a heating pad that will maintain the yogurt’s temperature between 100 and 120 degrees; you can test your heating pad first by filling your cylinder with water.
Yogurt added to milk and wrapped with heating pad to ferment for 6 hours.
Allow your yogurt to ferment for three to 12 hours, depending on how you like the texture of your yogurt; a shorter fermentation will yield looser yogurt, while a longer fermentation will give thicker yogurt. Alton did an even six hours in the episode.
Yogurt, after fermenting for 6 hours.
Refrigerate your yogurt overnight before using.
Alton’s homemade yogurt.
I thought this yogurt was fine, but really nothing special. If anything, I would have liked this yogurt to have had a thicker texture, so I would possibly ferment it a little longer if I were to make it again. Honestly, I wouldn’t go to the trouble of making this again when I can easily buy yogurt that I like just as much.
Thousand Island Dressing
So, really, Alton calls this dressing “Million Island Dressing” in the episode, and it is a good use for some of his homemade yogurt. To make his dressing, whisk together 1 C plain yogurt, 2 T vegetable oil, and 2 T tomato sauce.
Yogurt, tomato sauce, and vegetable oil.
Once combined, add 2 t lemon juice, 2 t dry mustard, and 2 t sugar.
Lemon juice, dry mustard, and sugar added to dressing.
Next, whisk in 1 t Kosher salt and 1/2 t pepper.
Kosher salt and pepper added to dressing.
Finally, fold in 1/2 C diced onion, 1 T relish, 1 T chopped green olives, and 1 minced jalapeno.
I enjoyed this dressing more than I thought I would. It has a really good kick from the jalapeno, tang from the yogurt and lemon, and bite from the onion. It also adds a lot of texture to a salad. We actually liked this enough that I made it a couple times in one week for us to eat on our lunch salads. This is a really good salad dressing.
Tarragon Yogurt Sauce
If you are looking for another savory application for plain yogurt, this tarragon sauce is one to try. This sauce is very versatile and could be served over many things, including fish, eggs, and vegetables; in the episode, Alton says that his favorite use of this sauce is over braised carrots, so that is how I opted to use mine. For this sauce, begin by heating a saucier over medium heat, adding 2 T olive oil, 1/2 t Kosher salt, 1/2 C finely chopped onion, and 1 1/2 t minced garlic.
Olive oil, Kosher salt, onion, and garlic in saucier.
I did not have a saucier until recently, but I inherited my parents’ copper-bottomed Calphalon saucier when my brother and I finished sorting through our parents’ belongings; thankfully, my parents are still living, but they really do not cook anymore. Yes, I have learned that a saucier is a very nice tool to have for a job such as this tarragon sauce. While your onion and garlic saute, combine 2 T cornstarch and 1 C chicken stock in a lidded container, and shake to combine. This slurry will help to thicken the sauce, and will also prevent over-coagulation of proteins, AKA curdling. Cream-based sauces have enough fat to prevent curdling, but yogurt-based sauces do not. Anyway, add the slurry to the pan, increase the heat, and add 1 1/2 T dried tarragon, whisking.
Remove the pan from the heat and temper 1 C of plain yogurt by gradually whisking in some of the sauce mixture. Finally, add the tempered yogurt to the pan, whisking.
Heat the sauce over low heat, just until warmed through. As I said before, we ate this sauce over carrots as a side dish.
The tarragon flavor in this sauce is quite strong, giving a real anise-like flavor, and you also really taste the yogurt. This is a sauce you could make with other herbs too; I think a dill version would pair terrifically with salmon. Either way, this is an easy sauce to dress up veggies or protein.
Yogurt Cheese
What is yogurt cheese? Yogurt cheese is yogurt that has been allowed to drain, removing whey. While cheese has had its whey removed, regular yogurt has not. Allowing yogurt to drain results in a thick yogurt that has a consistency similar to cream cheese. To make yogurt cheese, line a strainer with two layers of cheesecloth, setting the strainer over a bowl. Add a quart of plain yogurt to the strainer, folding the cheesecloth over the top.
A quart of plain yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined strainer.
Weigh the yogurt down with the lid of a pot and a can, refrigerating it for four hours.
Yogurt cheese can be used plain as a spread, or in Alton’s recipe for frozen yogurt, which I will write about below. I tasted the plain yogurt cheese, but opted to use it for Alton’s other recipe; it tasted like plain yogurt… just much, much thicker.
Herb Spread
This herb spread is basically the same recipe as the one for yogurt cheese above, but with added seasonings. To a quart of plain yogurt (I used homemade) add 1 1/2 t cumin, 2 T chopped parsley, 1 t Kosher salt, and 1/2 t pepper.
Cumin, parsley, Kosher salt, and pepper added to a quart of plain yogurt.
As with the yogurt cheese above, place a cheesecloth-lined strainer over a bowl and add the yogurt mixture.
Seasoned yogurt poured in cheesecloth-lined strainer to drain.
Weigh the yogurt down with a pan lid and can, allowing it to drain for four hours in the refrigerator.
The resulting spread is tangy and has a punch of cumin, and it is great with crackers or on sandwiches.
Herb spread with crackers.
Talk about an easy hors d’oeuvre, and it is even easier if you use store-purchased yogurt!
Lemon-Ginger Frozen Yogurt
This recipe is the perfect use for Alton’s yogurt cheese. Combine in a bowl 4 C plain yogurt cheese, 3/4 C sugar, 1/2 C light corn syrup, 2 t lemon zest, 1 T minced fresh ginger, and 3 T lemon juice.
Whisk the yogurt mixture until smooth and freeze in an ice cream mixture per the manufacturer’s instructions.
In the last few minutes of churning, add 1/4 C chopped crystallized ginger.
Freeze the frozen yogurt in the freezer until firm.
Alton’s lemon-ginger frozen yogurt.
This frozen yogurt is super refreshing and reminds me of warmer weather (as I type this, it is snowy outside and the Christmas tree is illuminated). The first time we ate this frozen yogurt, the crystallized ginger seemed too chewy, but after freezing the yogurt for a longer period, the chewiness went away. I definitely foresee making this again, as it is packed with ginger and lemon flavor, and is a relatively healthy treat. This is worth making.
Allison Cooks Alton's Good Eats 