Years ago, 2005, I picked up the book, "French Women Don't Get Fat" and loved it. Of course this American gal put some weight on as it was a license to eat baguette and croissants each day. I recently gave the book away while forced to purge books before moving out east. Just this February I decided I was fed up with commercial yogurt brands, and with Trader Joe's being quite a drive, I decided to Google my own yogurt recipe. One of the links was French Women Don't Get Fat. I ran over to library and devoured the book all over again. I'm a little obsessed with the French at this stage in my life. Anyway, the author has a perfect recipe for european style yogurt and different methods to incubate it to grow the bacteria. I decided on the EuroCuisine Yogurt Maker. It comes with 7 glass jars; important to me because I don't have to worry about the BPAs of plastic and also because most europeans eat their yogurt out of glass jars. Tres Chic! Another method is to leave the oven light on and incubate your yogurt 8+ hours OR visit Frugalgirl.com for yet another easy and inexpensive method.
Don't you just love the glass jar? It makes me happy.
I'm not going to lie, it has taken me several attempts to get it right. My first batch was the best and creamiest but a bit runny because I used ultra-pasteurized organic milk. It's best for yogurt making to avoid ultra-pasteurized. Here is my latest batch I made yesterday, so creamy, so yummy! And so healthy. Did you know that a daily dose of yogurt aids in weight loss? The healthy bacteria in your gut is an added bonus too, great for boosting immune systems. If anyone is interested I can post the recipe. The only ingredients needed are milk, preferably whole, about 1-2 TBSP of whole milk yogurt for the starter, and glass mason jars or a yogurt maker. Voila!
Oui Madam! Must have the recipe!
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Thanks Lynna! OK, take a quart of whole milk. You may need a candy thermometer, but bring to an almost boil, around 180-190 degrees. Add 1-2 TBSP of lowfat or whole yogurt to a small bowl and add about 1/2 a cup of hot milk to it and mix really well. Now pour that mixture back into the pan of milk and stir or whisk very well. Now bring that pan of milk back down to 115 degrees. I do this by placing the pan in a bowl of ice to bring down the temp quickly. Once 115 degrees, pour into sterilized mason jars or small glass jars. You can place cheesecloth over the openings and place in your oven with just the oven light on for 8+ hours. I use a yogurt maker, easy, takes the guess work out. If you go the oven route, Google recipes that call for that method and follow their advice. I do the French Women Don't Get Fat recipe and that author also uses a yogurt maker with small glass jars. The yogurt is so creamy and yummy and best part, it's natural, whole ingredients, no fillers. Enjoy. Let me know how it turns out. I even add some to my green smoothies occasionally.
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