Greek Yogurt for a better world

Ok, so 'for a better world' is a slight exaggeration. Still, I deeply believe that Greek Yogurt is probably the single best thing that rocky peninsula on the Med has given us. And when one considers that a Greek island - Crete - is the basis for the Mediterranean diet, that's sayin' somethin'.

We'll get around to making Greek yogurt in a minute, but first: a little history. Back when I moved to Greece, the US had not yet embraced Greek yogurt, aside from specialty stores.

In Greece, there are several kinds of yogurt available, but the one we call 'Greek' yogurt is the traditional one - σταγγιστο. Strangisto means strained, which should give you a hint at how making Greek yogurt is done. When I mentioned my newfound love to my Mom, she told me that the States had now embraced ΦΑΓΕ, or Fage. ΦΑΓΕ (pronounced FAH geh, means 'to eat' but is an acronym for the family's company name) is a Greek brand, but while they probably make the best φετα (feta cheese), their yogurt is definitely not the best Hellas has to offer. If you're ever in Greece I cannot recommend strongly enough that you eat gobs of ΝΟΥ ΝΟΥ (pronounced noo-noo) yogurt - full fat (which is 10%). Its creamy goodness makes you believe in every impossible thing you've ever heard of.

After making Greek yogurt, there is no better way to eat it than the traditional ways: with spoon fruits or honey. Spoon fruits will be covered at later times, including the upcoming candied green walnuts and other lovely tasty preserves.

With all of that said: Recipe for making Greek yogurt at home.

'Proper', or traditional Greek yogurt is 10% fat, a feat achieved partly by adding cream to the milk and partly by straining off the non solid portions. I've tried it with the cream, but didn't find it made enough difference to worry about. I just use whole milk.

Make yogurt. Line a colander with a sterilized cheesecloth. Add yogurt. Wait until the yogurt is reduced by about 1/2. Throw away the whey, chill the yogurt. Eat.

That's the simple version. The more complex version is this:

Sterilize all equipment by boiling in water for a few minutes. Heat the milk to 185F or thereabouts, hold for 30 minutes. (this step encourages the milk proteins to align themselves correctly). Cool the milk to 110F. Add your starter (which can be a new, unflavored live active culture yogurt or a freeze dried yogurt culture). Insulate the mixture to hold it as close to 110 as possible. I usually keep it in a hot water bath, but you could also hold it in an oven with the pilot light lit or put it in a cooler with jars of boiling water. Whatever keeps it warm without getting it too hot and killing the culture.

Wait some hours. If the above part seems tedious or difficult, you could use a yogurt making machine.

Don't fuss with the yogurt. If you mix it around, the proteins won't bind and the texture will be wrong (though the taste will be just as good.) After some hours, use a spoon to see if it's ready. It's ready when it has a firm consistency which doesn't stick to the spoon. If it's slimy, it's nearly ready - check it every half hour.

When the yogurt is set or nearly set, do the cheesecloth/colander thing above. Chill. Eat. Enjoy.

While some might think of baklava as the eponymous Greek dessert, for me a Greek dessert is one of two things: fresh fruit or yogurt. Baklava is fine, it's okay, it's even good. But it's not an everyday treat. You could do worse than finishing each day with a plate of homemade Greek yogurt and honey. Much worse.

Stay tuned: I'll be candying green walnuts and if this crazy, ovenlike heat ever breaks, I'm going to make lemon hazelnut, lemon walnut, and lemon-black walnut biscotti. I will also be using my remaining raspberries in a profligate manner: to make real raspberry gelatin dessert.

Raspberry mousse of a sort

Raspberry mousse makes a great summer dessert, because it's cool, and because early summer, at least, is peak raspberry season. It's the perfect make ahead dessert, and if you decoratively administer it into lovely dishes, just stick in a cigarette shaped tuile cookie and you're finished. Way better than Jell-o! It's a little fancy, but not a bit fussy. This mousse is not actually a mousse - it's got no eggs and has gelatin, but the texture is similar.

So: Raspberry Mousse for 5-6 people in large portions, or 6-8 in smaller portions.

4 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)
3/4 cup sugar (or less if your berries are very sweet)
4 leaves gelatin (or one 1/4 oz package of powdered gelatin like Knox)
Juice of 1/2 lemon or a few tablespoons white wine (omit if using powdered gelatin)
400ml whipping cream (more or less. Use a pint if you aren't fussy or 14 fluid oz if you are).

1. Soak gelatin in cold water until soft. If using powdered gelatin, soak in 3 TB cold water.
   
2. Blend the raspberries and sugar with optional lemon juice or wine. Use a stick blender for easy, fast results.
   
3. Cook raspberry mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until it boils. Remove from heat immediately.
   
4. Squeeze water out of gelatin and add gelatin to the still very hot raspberry mixture. If using powdered gelatin, simply add it to the raspberry mix. Stir really well to ensure the gelatin melts and distributes well.
5. Let the gelatin-rasberry mixture cool to room temperature.
6. Whip the cream until very firm.
   
7. Add 1/4 of the whipped cream to the cooled raspberries. Whisk gently until thoroughly incorporated.
8. Add the raspberry mixture to the remaining whipped cream. Fold in until thoroughly incorporated - making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber scraper.
9. If the whipping cream was very cold, the mixture might be firm enough to pipe - with a large star tip into nice dishes for individual portions. Otherwise, chill for a few minutes until it reaches a piping consistency - but don't let it set entirely before piping. If you don't need to be a fancy-pants, you could just scrape it all into a nice bowl and let it set, serving individuals with a spoon.

Chill for at least 4 hours, up to a full day (and it would probably be fine for 2-3, if it lasts so long.) Eat. Enjoy.

Next up: We're making Greek Yogurt and I'll attempt to candy green walnuts. Not because I have a love of candied green walnuts, but because other people have done it, so it must have some merit (I hope!). I shall give you the thumbs up or down when the project is finished. Until next time!

Raspberry Jam in 3 ways

Starting last week, my raspberry canes are producing about 4 cups of raspberries every day. They seem to be slowing, but not by much. While I enjoy a handful of raspberries, even I cannot eat 4 cups every day. The same can not be said for the black cherries I ate last month, but there is no better way to use a really ripe black cherry than to eat it whole and fresh. I'm not ashamed.

Anyhow, I filled the tiny freezer we have with raspberries for later use, but when that was full I still have pints and pints of red raspberries needing to be used, and fast. Since we used about a pint of raspberry jam every week last year, it won't hurt to have some on hand, and I had sugar - so off we went.

The results are fantastic. The first batch, pictured above, had 4 cups of raspberries and 4 cups of sugar. Recipe found randomly online. Cooked until it jelled on a cool plate. The result, to my taste, is too sweet (though arguments can be made that such a state doesn't exist). In addition, it set well, but was a bit 'sticky'. Still, how bad can it be? We'll eat it.

Second batch was mostly like the first, except I used 6 cups of berries and 4 cups of sugar. I was tweaking the recipe, figuring if it didn't set, I'd strain the seeds and we'd have a fabulous raspberry dessert sauce. Again, I cooked until it jelled on a chilled plate. This batch turned out more to my liking. Not quite as sweet, set beautifully. The weird thing was that both of those batches, despite the significant difference in raspberry amounts, made exactly 3 jars of jam (they're about the size of a pint jar). What's up with that?

The third batch was something of a disappointment. I used to love strawberry season for many reasons, but very close to the top of the list was freezer jam. Certo makes a liquid pectin, which, when combined with lemon juice, berries, and sugar makes a wonderful, beautiful, fantastic no-cook jam. I never had a bunch of raspberries to use this with, but if I had I would have. Unfortunately, Certo products are not available in France, and I've never seen a remotely similar product until now. Daddy has introduced a product called 'Ma Nouvelle Confiture' which supposedly makes a no-cook jam. So I bought it and used 200 grams of raspberries, mixed with their sugar/powder product. It's fine, it's good, I won't spit it out. But it's not what it would have been if Certo had been involved. The biggest complaint I have is that it's really, really sour. The sourness almost overtakes every other aspect of the jam. Still, we'll eat it - probably with some Greek yogurt, because the natural creamy sweetness of Greek yogurt makes almost everything better.

That's it for now. Coming soon: Raspberry mousse (without the raw eggs, so not technically a mousse, but the intent is there) and my adventure with making Greek yogurt. I've done it before, so it won't be a disaster. Until then, may all your desserts be worth the calories.

Dessert World Introduction

Hello! Welcome to Dessert World, the result of a girl with a passion for life's sweeter things and a desire to discover the best desserts from around the world. If your heart breaks when someone eats a Twinkie or if you cringe when confronted with a cake slathered with tasteless, waxy icing, you might be in the right place.

I'm not an elitist - my favorite desserts range from fresh, ripe watermelon to the fanciest chocolate mousse. It's not about image, it's about taste. So, if you want to follow my journey of discovering or revisiting the world's best desserts, follow along.

A little about me: I'm Cynthia. I was raised by semi-hippies. I don't believe in margarine. I have to watch my blood sugar, (and my weight), so if I'm going to eat dessert, it had better be worth the calories. I've lived in a number of states and 3 countries. I have a dog and a companion who says he doesn't like sweets but always asks 'what's for dessert?' I don't have a favorite food but my most memorable dessert ever was a chocolate apricot torte at the Marriott Marquis in New York 1992. Yum! We were so broke and the cake cost so much that we split the cost 3 ways, and I've never had a dessert I loved quite so much - but a few came close.

I'm completely against fad diets, mostly against pre-packaged foods, and very much for eating foods that grow nearby. I used to run fast food restaurants until life threw me a curveball and dumped me on a Greek Island, where I ate things like bergamot (thumbs down, but try it once) and immature almonds in the pod (like a raw green bean), and picked olives with the locals. Now I'm in the South of France. The pastry is not what I was hoping for. Join me as I root out the world's best sweets and show you how to make them.