Homemade Yogurt - It is so EASY!!!!

Homemade yogurt is so delicious!  I am tired right now but I am making another batch because I do not want to not have any for breakfast tomorrow morning!  (Double negative correction - I want to have some for breakfast tomorrow morning).  This particular recipe is adapted from this amazing book called "The Homemade Pantry" by Alana Chernila, which is my new favourite book.  However, all of the homemade yogurt recipes I have seen look pretty much the same.  You don't need a yogurt maker, but I bought one from Amazon because I did not trust leaving yogurt out all night in just a cooler bag to keep it warm.  I also really liked the little glass jars the yogurt maker came with.

4.5 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup plain unsweetened full-fat yogurt

Put a bit of water into the bottom of the pan so that the pot does not scorch.  Add milk and cook on medium heat until milk reaches 180 degrees F.  Remove pot from heat and let milk cool to 110 degrees F.  Place yogurt into a large measuring cup and add 1 cup of the warm milk from the pot.  Whisk until smooth.  Add yogurt mixture into pot and whisk until a bit foamy.  Transfer mixture into yogurt containers and then follow instructions on your yogurt maker.  Mine says to put the yogurt jars uncovered into the yogurt maker for 8 hours, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before eating. 

Note:  If you do not have a yogurt maker, you can fill a large and small jar with the mixture and cover with lids.  Wrap jars in a towel to keep warm and place in an insulated cooler.

My favourite topping so far is maple syrup!  I have also tried strawberry jam and a homemade strawberry sauce (that was made for buttermilk pancakes).  Those were pretty good as well, but not as good as the maple syrup!  Be sure to keep one jar of yogurt (1/2 cup) plain for your next batch of yogurt.  You can only use your homemade yogurt as a yogurt starter a few times before you will have to buy store bought yogurt again.

Making Butter from Scratch!

This is the coolest thing I have made to date!  It felt more like a science experiment than cooking, and was super easy.  Make this just once for the mastery and sense of accomplishment, if for nothing else.  It is also very delicious, and as an added bonus, you get quite a lot of buttermilk as well. 

Ingredients
500mL whipping cream
Large pinch of salt (optional)

Directions
Whip cream in a Kitchenaid stand mixer until the butter and buttermilk separate (about 10 min on medium to high speed).  You will want to cover the stand with a towel because when the butter and buttermilk "splits," it gets messy!  During this process, you will first get whipped cream - keep going until it gets chunky - then keep going until it looks like butter!  Pour off buttermilk and save for making pancakes (use it soon - it will spoil in a few days).

Important:  Place butter in a bowl and knead into a ball.  Under cold running water, keep kneading the butter until the water runs clear (meaning that the buttermilk is gone).  This will prevent the butter from spoiling right away.  Please do not skip this step unless you plan to eat all the butter in one day (please don't do that!).

Note:  If you do not have a Kitchenaid stand mixer you can use a food processor instead!

Can't wait for buttermilk pancakes tomorrow morning.  :)

Easy Vegetarian Lasagna with Squash!

This particular lasagna that I made was not the prettiest - I think because the filling was a bit runny.  However, it is an extremely quick and easy way to make a delicious vegetarian lasagna with squash in it, which makes it a bit different.  This is my own recipe - I thought of it all by myself!!!

Ingredients
1 package fresh lasagna noodles (or 12 dry lasagna noodles, but be sure to cook them first)
Frozen spinach, cooked and drained well (use paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible!)
Frozen pureed squash, cooked
1 tub ricotta cheese
Lots of mozzarella cheese, grated (I barely had any - hence the lack of much of a cheese topping!)
Tomato sauce

Directions
Combine cooked spinach, squash, and ricotta cheese in a large bowl.  Season with nutmeg and black pepper.  Layer in a large pan - start with tomato sauce, then noodles, filling, repeat a few times; end with mozzarella cheese on top!  Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

This one doesn't really need too much of an explanation. 

1) Break off woody ends of asparagus & wash.
2) Wrap with 1 slice of bacon.
3) Bake until asparagus has the preferred amount of crunch!

Serve at a fancy function or everyday dinner.

Morel Mushroom Cream Sauce

This is a recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.  I still prefer tomato sauce for pastas, but this was a nice change (and a good way to use up the dried morel mushrooms we have had for a while).

Ingredients

• 1 -2 ounces dried morel mushrooms
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• Hot cooked pasta

Directions

1. Heat the 3 cups stock to simmering. Remove from heat. Add dried mushrooms; let mushrooms stand 20 minutes. Strain mixture through a 100% cotton cheesecloth-lined sieve, reserving 1 cup broth. Rinse mushrooms under warm running water; squeeze out excess moisture. Slice in half lengthwise any of the larger mushrooms; set aside.
2. For sauce: In a medium saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat. Add shallots. Cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes or until shallots are tender. Sprinkle flour over shallots; stir to combine. Slowly add reserved 1 cup broth, stirring until smooth. Reduce to low heat. Cook, uncovered, for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in the cream. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat for 7 minutes more or until the mixture thickens. Stir in reserved morels and 1/4 cup parsley. Cook and stir until heated through. Add in spinach.
3. Spoon sauce over pasta. If you like, sprinkle with additional parsley.

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

This is my favourite appetizer!!!!  All of this time, I thought this was something unique my Mom made, but after Googling it, it looks like it is extremely popular!  It is a great appetizer to make for guests because it is pretty easy, does not involve a lot of ingredients, and seems fancier than it is.  Sometimes I make it even when guests are not coming over because then I do not have to pretend to be polite and can just eat them all myself.

Ingredients
1/2 cup ketchup
5 heaping tbsp brown sugar
package of bacon
water chestnuts (whole, from a can)

Mix together ketchup and brown sugar in a small bowl.  Cut bacon into thirds.  Coat each slice of bacon in ketchup mixture and wrap it around a water chestnut.  Secure with toothpick.  Bake for 15 min at 375 degrees.

Coconut Squash Pie

Although this recipe sounds very exotic, it actually just tastes like delicious pumpkin pie.  One day, I was sitting on the couch, and had the amazing idea of using coconut milk in the pumpkin pie recipe instead of whipping cream (sometimes I just use regular milk).  We also happened to have a squash lying around the house and so I used baked squash, instead of the usual canned pumpkin.  The homemade crust and pumpkin pie recipe have been posted in previous blog posts - but below is what I did to make this particular pie.  The filling is actually enough to make 2 pies, so I ended up stretching the single pie crust recipe to form 2 crusts and made 2 pies (and ate them both!!!).

Homemade Pie Crust (adapted from Wanda's Pie in the Sky cookbook):


1.5 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup cold water

In large bowl, combine flour, salt, and butter.  Cut with pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together.  Sprinkle with the cold water, let rest for 30 seconds, then cut with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter.  Form dough into a disk and wrap in plastic (but save a small ball of dough for the topping).  Chill for 20 minutes.  Roll out disk on a lightly floured surface, and transfer dough to pie plate.



Coconut Squash Pie (adapted from an old Toronto Star article):


398mL pureed squash, baked
2/3 C brown sugar
1/3 C white sugar
1 T flour
1 1/2 t cinnamon (more!)
1/2 t each of salt, nutmeg, ground ginger (more!)
1/4 t each of allspice, black pepper (more!)
1 C coconut milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 C orange juice (I didn't have any and just substituted extra coconut milk)
3 T orange liqueur
1 1/2 t vanilla

Prick pie dough and bake at 400 degrees, 5 min until dry (but not brown).  Cool.
Reset oven to 375 degrees.
In large bowl, mix pumpkin, sugars, flour, spices.  Add cream, eggs, orange juice, liqueur, vanilla; whisk together.
Pour into shell and bake 45 to 60 min until slightly wobbly.