Thursday 20 July 2006

spic·ed lab·neh

Since I make yoghurt, I like to use it in place of other dairy products where I can. I strain the fresh yoghurt through a coffee filter paper to drain off the whey, leaving it for varying lengths of time to produce different thicknesses. This is essentially labneh, or yoghurt cheese. Only straining the yoghurt briefly makes a thick Greek style yoghurt and leaving it for a good 24 hours gives a good thick cream cheese substitution. Somewhere in between lies what I use for sour cream.

I wanted to make a light but tasty nibble to take advantage of the baby carrots and radishes in the vegetable box. I wanted something that had some body but nothing too rich or heavy. And I wanted to use some more of the Balmain & Rozelle spice mix ; just the thing to mix with some thick strained yoghurt and serve with the vegetables.

Spiced Labneh

1/2 cup thick strained yoghurt
2 teaspoons (approximately) of your chosen spice mix. This could be garlic and fresh minced herbs, a favourite sauce, a selection of dry spices or for the easiest option a preblended spice mix.

Mix the yoghurt well with enough of your chosen flavour to suit you. Leave to rest in the fridge for an hour or so, then serve!

This could be served as a dip for crudités
, or served as composed bites as shown in the photo above.

3 comments:

Deborah Eley De Bono said...

I've not been brave enough to make my own yoghurt. My daughter introduced me to labneh from our local middle eastern market and I love it. We sprinkled a bit of oregano and smoked garlic then drizzled olive oil for a great cracker spread. I've mixed it into my potato to replace butter for mashed potatoes. So rich tasting and I think less calories.

archana said...

A super helpful post,thank you. I make yogurt at home, will try your methods for sure.
Archana

Emma said...

Bron - I totally agree, thrifty and easy!
Mooncrazy - you should try it, well worth it. What was the smoked garlic like, I have seen it but haven't tried it yet, sounds good.
Archana - good! Definately saves buying so many different types of dairy products.