Yogurt Cheese

Back in the 70's, a cocktail party wasn't a cocktail party unless you had some Boursin style cheese to go with that bottle of wine. Then there was the classic "California Onion Dip" to go with those rippled potato chips for parties. Now with football play offs as the center of social events and many of us worried about our jeans getting tighter as the weather gets colder, I have a tasty solution for you: plain yogurt.

Yep, I said it, plain yogurt my friends.

I discovered how to make cheese from yogurt in the late 80's/early 90's when I went to work and weight began to creep on. I was still young and social but wanted to keep an eye on the amount of fat I was consuming. So I learned that it was simple to use plain yogurt to make a sour cream or cream cheese style base for things. Something I hadn't thought about in years until I stumbled across a note as I've been cleaning the kitchen over the past week.

So give this simple solution a try when you're thinking about your next party.



Start with a container of plain yogurt, a coffee filter, strainer and bowl. Line the strainer with the coffee filter and pour the yogurt into the filter and sit the strainer over a bowl in the fridge. If you want something the consistency of sour cream for a healthier dip, let it sit for a day, drain off the liquid in the bowl. For a cream cheese consistency, let it sit for two days. When it's at the consistency you like, discard the drained liquid and place the yogurt in a large bowl for mixing.

For a dip:

Mix the drained yogurt with either a dry mix (onion soup mix, veggie soup mix, etc.) or finely dice some onion and grab your favorite herb mix and mix them all together. Use with a veggie tray or chips.


For a Boursin cheese:

Thoroughly mix the drained and thickened yogurt with chopped garlic, chopped chives and parmesan cheese. Then add dried thyme, marjoram, sage, parsley and black pepper, mix thoroughly. Adjust the seasoning for your tastes. For example, if you're having lasagna or an Italian themed main course, you may want to use Italian seasoning rather than individual seasonings. Another option is using Herbs de Provence if you're going to a more wine and cheese party.

Make both of these things a day in advance and store them covered in the fridge for the flavors to really blend.

If the fat argument doesn't sway you, check the difference in cost for pre-made dips (and all that yummy sodium) and the cost of a container of plain yogurt (particularly that rich, fat-free Greek yogurt). and using things you probably all ready have in your pantry and kitchen. But be a little bold going into the New Year and give it a try.

Lunch Edition

I wanted something kind of fun for lunch today. Something a little different, so I decided to make myself a roast beef sushi sandwich bento. I rolled a piece of potato bread out as thin as I could, put on some mustard, dark lettuce and roast beef. I then rolled and sliced it like sushi and packed it in my new-ish bento box. I added a small mixed green salad and clementine. Yum!

Who says lunch has to be boring? Who says that it's not worth taking an extra couple of minutes to do something special for yourself?

So if you're resolved to eat better this year, then take it to the next level and eat more fun as well. After all, aren't you worth it?

Vegetarian Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Yes, the happy kitty bowl was happy again tonight. :)

I love broccoli. I think I'm the only one in the house who does. When I was a kid, I used to have fantasies of riding my pet triceratops, Spike, through the world sharing broccoli and having adventures. So when I saw a big honking bag of broccoli for a buck on the "yesterday's produce" rack, I figured it was time to try to make some soup and have another go with the immersion blender. I don't understand why people use chicken stock to broccoli soup. So, I made a vegetarian version so that I could share it with my imaginary dinosaur pal.


Ingredients:

4 cups uncooked Broccoli florets
1 cup sweet onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
½ mushrooms, sliced
2 ½ cups Veggie Broth
1 cup white wine
¼ cup milk/cream
½ cup cheddar (shredded)
2 tsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Herbs de Provence to taste

In a stock pot, sauté the veggies in olive oil until they start to soften. Add the broth and wine, season with salt, pepper and herbs and bring to a boil until the veggies are soft. Stick an immersion blender in there and blend until smooth.

(If you aren't using an immersion blender: Transfer the veggies and half of the liquid into a blender of food processor and puree until smooth. Pour in the rest of liquid, continuing to blend until smooth.)

Pour the mix through a colander and return to pot. Stir in cream and cheese until cheese melts and serve.

I used heavy cream, so this was 7 points for a 1 cup serving. If you want to reduce the points value, then substitute lower fat milk for the heavy cream.

I know my happy kitty bowl was happy tonight and I imagine Spike would have been too.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

There is a drink called an Irish Car Bomb. You drop a shot of Jameson's into a Guinness followed with a Bailey's chaser. (I've also seen it with the Jameson's chaser and dropping the Bailey's and dropping both shots.). No matter how you drink it, you will get bombed pretty quickly.

So yeah, I had to make the cupcakes.

The cake is chocolate cake made with Guinness:

Bring 1 cup of stout and 1 cup I salted butter ti a simmer. Whisk in 3/4 of a cup cocoa powder until smooth and remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking SODA and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.

In another large bowl, beat together 2 large eggs and 2/3 cup sour cream. Slowly beat in the egg mixture. (Slowly be the key word so you don't cook the egg and make it curdle.) Slowly beat in the dry mix. When fully mixed, fill cupcake liners 2/3 to 3/4 full. They don't get that huge.

Since I used my Babycakes thingie, I didn't have to set ovens. Otherwise bake at 350* F for 15-20 min.

While cooking, make the "bomb" filling:

Warm 1/3 heavy cream to simmering (NOT boiling) and pour over 8oz of chocolate. (I used semi-sweet chips). Let sit for a half minute or so before mixing until smooth. (I melted the rest of mix over a double boiler because the chocolate didn't fully melt.). Take off the heat and add 1/3 cup Baileys, 2 tbsp butter and 1 or 2 tsp of Jameson's. Mix until smooth.

When cool hollow the center and inject the filling into the center.

Then make a Bailey's buttercream frosting by beating a stick of unsalted butter together. When it's big and fluffy, and 3-4 Tablespoon of Bailey's. I also threw in a dash of vanilla to lighten the frosting.

These are yummy. Not overly sweet or overly moist it's a nice cupcake. :)

Bento for Dinner!

It's the holiday season and we all find ourselves out and running about. Tonight I was at the Natick Collection after finishing my final and wanted to celebrate. There's a new sushi bar in the mall called Wasabi and for $5 I could get a kid's bento box. It was rice, fruit, and an entree. The choices were things like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich roll, veggie sushi or teriyaki chicken. I thought I'd tried the chicken and was pleasantly surprised it was fresh roasted chicken with a light dressing, not that usual mall fare of sticky, gooey something on the grill how long ago? My dinner was fresh, light and had strawberries. :) :)

I also got a cup of Miso soup and a cup of tea with my dinner.

The adult fare was various sushi plates that would meander past on a conveyer belt so you just pick what you want and the price is the color of the plate. It was a fun concept and good food.

You know I'm going back... probably soon. If I worked in the mall, I had a feeling this would be my usual dinner stop. Either way, if you're in the DC area or Natick, check these guys out.

Veggie Soup

Something funny happened on the way to my soup, I tried using my immersion blender.

I started tonight in the veggie drawer in the fridge: onion, carrots, peppers and mushrooms. Oh wait, there's a tube of crushed garlic and crushed ginger on the door. So after I sautéed the veggies, I poured a carton of veggie broth in with some herbs de Provence, a shake of red pepper, a shake of cumin, salt and pepper. A splash of lemon juice and some white wine and let things simmer.

Then I decided to give the immersion blender a try.

Lessons learned? Immersion blenders have amazing suction and work wicked, wicked fast and sort of puréed everything.

Yummy though.

Chicken Thighs in White Wine Tomato Sauce

OK I was feeling adventurous but not crazy experimental... so what do you do with chicken thighs and tomatoes?

Well, I browned the thighs, then took them out of the pan and put them aside. In the pan I tossed in half a large sliced onion, a teaspoon of chopped garlic, a tablespoon of chopped ginger, a teaspoon of chili flakes and sauteed them together a little bit. After deglazing the pan with a half cup of white wine, I tossed in a couple of bay leaves and a couple of cinnamon sticks before pouring in a 28 oz box of crushed tomatoes. After it simmered for a few minutes to blend the flavors together, I put the chicken back in the pan and placed the lid on top to let it simmer for about a half hour or so.

When it was done, I pulled out the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks and served over some linguini fini.

I also oven roasted some sweet potatoes; however, they didn't make it to the plate because we ate them all of the cookie sheet. I sliced up 3 sweet potatoes into 1" slices and placed them in a single layer on a cookie sheet before I sprayed them with olive oil and salted them. I flipped them over and sprayed the back side and salted them and tossed them in the oven at 375* for 20 minutes before turning them and roasting them for another 20 minutes.

Soooooo yummy!

I should calculate the points plus values, but that requires a level of thought right now that I'm incapable of as I puzzle out my next short story that will post in the morning (you can see those over on the writing tab).