Thursday 26 August 2010

Goodness gracious me!

Well Autumn has turned up with a vengence.  We had so much rain last night the paddling pool, which I emptied  yesterday of a little bit of water - was full this morning.  I am astounded at the volume.  And ole' breezy is blowing a gale too - not so good for my plans to collect elderberries.  Took the children out this morning to jump in puddles and have a run around the park.  I took the opportunity to investigate the elderberry trees and blackberry bushes and while there's a few berries that aren't properly ripe yet, the gales are stripping the trees of berries.  The blackberry bushes are beginning to produce berries, no ripe ones yet though.

Elderberries notwithstanding, my ventures into homemade yoghurt have been a complete gastronomical success.  With some tredipation I lifted the lid on the yoghurt pot and discovered, to my delight, thick, creamy yoghurt.  It doesn't have the face squelching tartness I was expecting either - it's creamy, mild and oh so delicious! 
 Naturally, breakfast was this ambrosia, married with lip smacking harmony to spiced apple muffin, and a wee drizzle of maple syrup.  Nom, Nom, Nom. 
After we arrived back home from puddle jumping,
 snacks were in order, ambrosia again.  This time, 2 ladels full were plopped into the blender, with frozen banana and a drizzle of maple syrup and whoosh, mixed up into what I've termed, "Yogoshake".  A little extra milk to thin down, and then poured into cups and eagerly slurped by 2 little bodies stood expectantly in the kitchen.  I barely had chance to pour myself some, before both cups were being waved at me with hopefuly requests of "more, please". 

Almost a litre of yoghurt made for about 80p - although that was using normal UHT milk, I would have preferred organic, alas the Co-op didn't have any.  I am stunned at the ease of this process, too.  Add 2 tsp of live yoghurt to 900ml of room temp UHT milk (I also added 2 tbsp of dried milk to make a thicker yoghurt),  gently mix, pop the jug in the warmer and leave for 8 hours or overnight.  That's it.  

Straining produces a greek set yoghurt.. and further straining (i..e for a longer period) creates a cream cheese.  Mmmm.  So, I'm presently seeking out where to buy cheese cloth :-) 
And as the weather is really very autumnal, I decided the ole' favourite of cheesy tuna and sweet corn pasta was in order for lunch - extra special; I made a roux cheese sauce mixed it with the pasta, tuna and sweetcorn and then topped with grated mozerella & parmasan cheese and baked for 15-20 mins.
Nom, nom, nom.

7 comments:

arwen_tiw said...

*sigh* Now I really *really* want some...

But to console myself for the lack of flour and therefore lack of cake I made us a yummy tea too: Chicken in a blue cheese and cream sauce (all local), pasta, broccoli and rocket. And proper chocolate mousse for pudding! :)

Your recipes and menues always inspire me to get creative and have a good play in the kitchen! Thanks for sharing. xxx

Laura Slowe said...

Which yogurt maker do you have? I have an easy yo one but i don't like spending out for the mixture. :( Looks yummy though

lilac73 said...

Looks lovely - which yoghurt maker is it?

Joxy34 said...

It this one from Lakeland: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/electric-yoghurt-maker/F/keyword/yoghurt+maker/product/3440_3441

Ohhhhh Sarah, the tea sounds lovely, yum.

Pippa said...

I just couldn't get on with that yoghurt maker from Lakeland at all! Mine came out runny and tasteless. I use Easiyo, but it's not the same as totally natural yoghurt and is still quite expensive.

The last photo is very, very mouthwatering. Anything with meringue gets my thumbs up!!

Joxy34 said...

I did leave it for longer than the recommended 8 hours because I popped it on and then went to bed... it was a lot milder than I expected... although more tart and thicker this mornign when we finished off what was left for breakfast.

I've got some more milk in the jug turning into yoghurt (hopefully).


Hehehehe.. I suppose it does look like meringue.. but it's actually cheesy tuna pasta :-)

Anonymous said...

Shhhhh, I refuse to accept that it is Autumn! =]

That yoghurt looks seriously yummy =]