Making Yogurt and Creme Fraiche

The way we make yogurt is very simple indeed.  We use UHT milk as that means there's no need to scald the milk to rid it of any unwanted bugs that may be lurking within.

So, with our one litre of milk and a small carton of fresh, live, natural yogurt ready for action, this is what we do....

We start by adding about a dessertspoonful of the fresh yogurt to the yogurt maker's pot.  Then the milk is added and lightly stirred.

This is then put into the electric yogurt maker and left for 24 hours.  The maker we use is a bulk one from Lakeland and here is a link to their site.


After this time, the yogurt starter has worked its magic on the lactose in the milk and we have a lovely pot of home made yogurt.

To make it thicker, it can be left to strain through a sieve lined with muslin /jelly bag which makes a Greek style yogurt.

 

We also make creme fraiche in a similar, although more labour intensive, way.  We place double cream in a lidded saucepan and bring it to just boiling point (this needs watching carefully as it will boil over very quickly, usually at the moment you look away!)  It is then taken off the heat and allowed to cool to about 40C.  Then the same method as for yogurt is used... that is, we add the scalded cream to the yogurt starter, place in the yogurt maker and leave for 24 hours.  Et voila!

Doughnut Sticks

 When @CoeliacStudent Saara posted that she'd made some Gluten Free Sticky Doughnut Sticks on her blog  it was only a matter of time before Sous Chef J and I were having a go at making them!

The recipe calls for very few ingredients which is always something that catches our eye.  As a tester batch, we decided to make half the quantity the Saara used.


So, we gathered together flour (65g Plain and 65g Self Raising from Dove's Farm and, of course, in this recipe we use gluten free) and 15g caster sugar.  Weighed out 200g water (yes, really) and added a Tablespoon of oil.

The water had the oil added to it and was then put into a pan and brought to the boil.

This hot water/oil  mix was then added, gradually, to the flour/sugar bowl which had also had a pinch of salt added.

 The mixture was brought together with a fork until it formed a rough dough ball.

Next, small amounts of the dough were rolled into stick (we used a silicone sheet and a little flour for dusting).  We were as quick as possible and, whilst this was happening, we had a small frying pan heating with oil on the hob.

 Once the oil was heated to 'bubbles when you drop a bit of dough in temperature' we carefully added the dough sticks, in batches, to cook (remembering to turn them) til lightly browned.










The cooked sticks were drained on kitchen towel and cooled slightly before being rolled in granulated sugar.

Finally, the Doughnut sticks were served ... and they didn't last long!  

 Thanks again, Saara for sharing your recipe... we think we'll be making these quite often from now on.

Chilli Con Carne

 We needed an easy slow cooker meal so, having checked the ingredients available, decided on Chilli.  This is a bit of a 'make it up as you go along' recipe at the best of times.

The ingredients we used were

1 Tablespoon oil 
2 onions, chopped
1 Tablespoon tomato puree
2 tins chopped tomatoes
450g pork mince
1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into large dice
dash of tabasco
slop of red wine
tin red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

To serve -
Taco trays (we use Discovery ones)
Grated cheese (cheddar for us)
Guacamole and Sour cream dip - from a prepacked Tex Mex trio.

First of all, the oil was heated in our wok over a medium heat.  The chopped onion was added and left to soften for a few minutes.  Then the tomato puree was added, mixed through and the heat was reduced for about five minutes to allow the paste to cook through.  At this point, the slow cooker was switched on to the high setting.

Then the green pepper was added to the wok and left to cook for a minute. Next the mince was added and browned, the tinned tomatoes, wine and tabasco was stirred through.

Once the chilli was mixed, it was transferred to the slow cooker and the setting was reduced to low.  It was then left for about 5 hours.

When we were almost ready to eat our meal, the red kidney beans (which had been drained and rinsed) were added to the slow cooker mix and stirred through.

The taco trays were warmed under a low grill and the dips were placed on the table.

Finally, it was a case of 'self assembly' and eating without cutlery (always the mode of choice for Sous Chef J).

This made enough for 4 generous or 6 smaller portions.  Half of the chilli was cooled, transferred to a pyrex dish and put in the fridge for a midweek meal.  It could easily be frozen but make sure it's reheated thoroughly after defrosting and, more importantly, MARK UP what you put in the freezer! (It's my New Year's Resolution to only put things in the freezer that have been labelled... so far I am sticking to it)