Labneh, Thick Creamy Yogurt Cheese

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Labneh, Thick Creamy Yogurt Cheese

Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com

Labneh is simply yogurt that has been drained over a cheesecloth draped colander. What you are left with after the whey is drained off is a dense and creamy yogurt that has a similar consistency to softened cream cheese. 

Here I serve it with just good honey and extra virgin olive oil. You don't need to dress it up too much or it will lose the lush clean flavour. I often eat it as is but you may choose to serve it as part of a meze and have freshly baked bread on hand.

Labneh can be used in either sweet or savoury dishes. It is very much like a slightly sour, lighter version of cream cheese or a cross between creme fraiche and a light sour cream.

This recipe is one in a list of recipes that falls under my series on, Meze, A Selection of Wonderful Little Bites. With the festive season approaching, I thought it would be useful to post recipes on pre-dinner bites that could be used at one of your year-end parties. 

A few easy, do ahead hors d'oeuvres is always a good thing to serve during the festive period when you usually have more elaborate menus and even more guests to cater to. Preparing some pre-dinner bites will preserve your sanity. 

And, instead of bending over the stove looking disheveled and beading with sweat, you will look positively poised and relaxed as you mingle with your guests. After all, half the work is already done. Your guests' tummies will be comfortably filled with your tasty pre-made meze. Then, at your leisure, you can saunter into the kitchen to get the rest of the meal ready. That's pretty stress free entertaining.

This is a picture taken at my recent meze party - Meze, A Selection of Wonderful Little Bites. With such an array of tasty morsels to choose from, no one cared for a main course or had room for it!

Scroll down the bottom of the page to find out the names of the meze that I had prepared. 

LABNEH, THICK CREAMY YOGURT CHEESE                     

Prep:	5 minutes
Cook:	-
Inactive:	6 hours to 24 hours
Level:	Easy
Makes:	About 3 cups
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Up to a week. Keep covered and refrigerated.

Ingredients

4 cups (1 litre) full fat Greek style yogurt

1 teaspoon salt

Method

Line a colander with cheesecloth, handkerchief or draining filters as I did. Have the colander sit over a bowl to catch the whey.

Open the carton of yogurt. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Transfer into the colander. Cover it and let it drain in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours but ideally 24 hours. I forgot about it once and let it drained for 48 hours. No problem. 

Remember to pour off the whey that has collected at the end of the day so that it does not come back into contact with the bottom of the draining yogurt. When the  yogurt has drained off, transfer it into a clean vessel, cover and refrigerate.

Don't waste the whey, use it to make bread. I have a recipe, Hamburger Buns, Savoury Buns.  Replace the milk called for in that recipe with whey. The bread will be soft and taste a little like a sour dough bread. You might want to reduce the salt called for in the bread recipe as the whey has salt in it.

See my honey bear? It comes in handy when I serve the labneh with just honey. Doesn't the labneh look wonderfully creamy?

There it is served with a sprinkling of zaatar (a spice mix that has dried thyme, sumac, sesame seeds, etc.) and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. All you need is some warm, home baked bread to go with it. I do have a recipe for a Moroccan Round Loaf. I just have to get round to posting that recipe. You can see the loaf that I baked on the meze table pictured above.

Tips 

Here are two other ways to use Labneh, one savoury and one sweet. The list will get too long if I write down more suggestions so I will save my other suggestions for a separate post.

• Roll them into ping pong size balls. (You can only roll them into balls when the whey has completed drained off - 24 hours). Pour extra virgin olive oil to cover. Add dried herbs of your choice, pepper and salt. Cover to seal. Refrigerate for a few days to let the flavours develop. Serve as part of a meze with bread, spread over bread...
• Divide the labneh into little 1/4 sized cups. Sprinkle with soft dark brown sugar to cover completely. My favourite is raw organic coconut sugar. Cover and let the sugar soak into the labneh overnight and up to three days. It turns into like a treacle soaked pudding. Yum.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                                 

Greek inspired Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta! 

After eating several clean tasting vegetables based meze, a savoury protein based dish is always welcome! I use frozen raw shrimp that have been cleaned and shelled so it saves me a lot of work! Any short cuts that won't take any flavour away from my food or add any unnecessary preservative is always welcome!

Read more in my upcoming post!

To recap, this post is part of my series on Meze, A Selection of Wonderful Little Bites. 

First row:

Zaalouk - Moroccan Roasted Eggplants and Tomatoes; Kabis - Lebanese Pickled Turnips & Beets; Moroccan inspired Radish, Bell Peppers and Mint Salad; Flash Fried Sweet Mini Bell Peppers.

Second row:

Greek inspired Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta; Hummus with Spiced Angus Beef Slices; Beef Kafta - Lebanese inspired Meatballs.

Third row:

Labneh - Lebanese Drained Yogurt Drizzled With Extra Virgin Olive Oil And Clover Honey; Moroccan inspired Roasted Green Bell Peppers and Tomatoes With Olives; Fresh Figs With Peppered Ricotta. 

Here are the recipes I have posted:

• Zaalouk, Roasted Eggplants and Peppers
• Flash Fried Sweet Mini Bell Peppers
• Labneh - Lebanese Drained Yogurt Drizzled With Extra Virgin Olive Oil And Clover Honey
• Greek inspired Shrimp With Tomatoes And Feta
• Fresh Figs With Peppered Ricotta
• Kabis - Lebanese Pickled Turnips and Beets
• Hummus with Spiced Angus Beef Slices
• Moroccan inspired Radish, Bell Peppers and Mint Salad
• Beef Kafta - Lebanese inspired Meatballs
• Moroccan inspired Roasted Green Bell Peppers With Tomatoes and Olives
• Moroccan inspired Wholemeal Round Loaf

Chocolate Eton Mess, A Strawberries And Cream Delight

Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe:

Chocolate Eton Mess, A Strawberries And Cream Delight

Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

This Chocolate Eaton Mess might not get the nod from Eaton Mess connoisseurs as it is traditionally made from conventional white coloured meringues, whipped cream and strawberries. These are made from chocolate meringue and they taste equally wonderful.

So pretty!

Yum!

I tend to make Chocolate Eton Mess only when I have baked too many meringues for Chocolate Pavlovas. 

This recipe is especially good for those of you baking meringues for the first time.  If you do ruin the meringues, there is no need to panic. I assure you these Chocolate Eton Mess are just as good as Chocolate Pavlovas. This recipe thrives on marred meringues!

Should you be wondering about the origins of this dessert, there are a few stories as to how this dessert got its name. I am going with the story that it originated in Eton, United Kingdom, where it was first concocted  and served at Eton College in the first half of the 20th century. It might have looked messy back then but it must have had received unanimous approval as it remains a most welcomed dessert.

If you love strawberries and cream, then this is a dream of a dessert.

ETON MESS, A STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM DELIGHT  

Prep:	20 minutes
Cook:	-
Inactive:	1 hour and up to overnight to macerate the strawberries in the strawberry jam.
Level:	Easy
Makes:	8 to 10 servings
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	You can prepare The Strawberry Swirl and whip the cream the night before. Keep them refrigerated.

Ingredients

Two 6" chocolate meringue

Check out my previous post, Chocolate Pavlova for the recipe. Ready made meringues can be bought from selected delicatessens and bakeshops. I don't recall them selling chocolate flavoured ones.

2 cups (16 fluid oz) (500 ml) whipping cream

Do not substitute with single/cooking/pouring cream as it does not contain enough of a fat content for it to whip up.  The cream should have at least a minimum fat content of 35%.

1.1 lbs (500 g) strawberries 

1 and 1/2 to 2 cups homemade strawberry jam (you might need more/less if you use store bought jam.

Try making my easy recipe for Home Made Strawberry Jam. You just need sugar and strawberries. Nothing beats home made strawberry jam, especially on Eton Mess.

Update: I have since posted a more detailed recipe for the homemade strawberry jam. Click here, Strawberry Jam Simplified.

Directions

The Strawberry Swirl

Place the homemade strawberry jam in a large bowl. Let it come to room temperature while you hull and cut up the strawberries. I like to slice half and cube half of the strawberries so that there is a nice textural contrast.

Add the strawberries to the strawberry jam and macerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight in the refrigerator. This softens the strawberries and encourages a nice syrupy sauce. If you are using store bought jam, you might have to add more or lessen the amount of jam to get a good syrupy sauce as store bought jam varies in viscosity.

If you can't wait the 1 hour, mash the fruit up slightly to help it along the syrupy way. Refer to the photograph below as a guide. Add more jam if you need to. Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately. The Strawberry Swirl should be cold.

The whipped cream

Before you start whipping the cream, the cream, bowl and whisk must be cold. I refrigerate my bowl and whisk 20 minutes before I need them. Keeping everything cold will help the cream to whip up. Cream that is not cold enough might not whip up at all.

Whip the cream until you have firm but still billowy looking peaks.

If you are not using the whipped cream straight away, cover and refrigerate it.

Do not over whisk or you will end up with little granules of butter. Nothing else you can do but to start again with another batch of whipping cream. 

Don't waste the over whipped cream though, use them in an omelette, to make pancakes or in my recipe for Hamburger Buns, Savoury Buns, using it to replace the milk and butter called for in that recipe.

Hamburger Buns

Savoury Buns. Clockwise front to back: Cheese
& mayo with sugar sprinkled on; Cheese & mayo
with browned onions; Cheese & mayo with
oregano; Cheese & mayo with Bacon

To serve

Only assemble when you are ready to serve.  

Choose the vessel(s) you want to serve the Eton Mess in. Either 8 to 10 serving glasses (depending on the size of your glasses), a large glass serving bowl or a trifle bowl.

Start by adding a bottom layer of Strawberry Swirl to the vessel(s). Do not use up all the Strawberry Swirl as you have to leave some to drizzle on top and the rest have to be mixed in with the whipped cream and meringue.

In a large bowl, break up the meringue. Leave most in bite size pieces and others crushed up and some crushed to a powder. 

Add the whipped cream and Strawberry Swirl into the bowl. Remember to keep some Strawberry Swirl for topping.

Fold everything in gently until it is just incorporated. This dessert looks best when you can still see bands of white cream and Strawberry Swirls. If you like it a more uniform 'pink' than go ahead and continue mixing until you get it to your liking.

Plop the cream mixture above the bottom layer of Strawberry Swirl. 

Top with the remaining Strawberry Swirl. Please view my photographs at the top of the page for reference.

Serve immediately. Yum, yum, yum.

Tips

• How to serve Eton Mess

I like to serve them in clear water glasses, wine glasses, champagne glasses, martini glasses... you get the idea. It makes a striking presentation as it shows off the dessert to great effect. It doesn't matter if you do not have 10 of the same piece of glass drinking vessel. Not many people keep that kind of inventory at home. An assortment of clear drinking glass vessel in different shapes, sizes and heights can make just as an attractive presentation. The added advantage is guests can choose the serving size for themselves.. big glass? small glass?

• Just don't have that many number of glasses?

A novel and fun idea is to have your guests bring their own glasses. It actually makes amusing dinner conversation. 

• Feeds many!

This is great party food for a crowd. It is easy to put together especially if you already have chocolate meringues leftover from making Chocolate Pavlovas. 

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                                      

How can I not possibly make Pavlova now that I have posted a recipe for Chocolate Pavlova? Eton Mess purists will probably insist that I make an Eton Mess out of 'proper meringue'. I will meet the purists half way. 

I won't be baking a 'proper meringue', as I find its usage too limiting for the amount of effort required.  Plain meringues are not an easy thing to bake especially if you live in an area with high humidity as I do. They have a tendency to collapse and worse, weep sugary syrup from the bottom.

Meringues for Pavlovas are just as tricky but if I bake them, at least I get two usages out of it, a Pavlova and more Eton Mess!

Before I post my recipe for the Pavlova above, I have to write a separate post for my Homemade Strawberry Jam. I had included it as a secondary recipe to my post, Victoria Sponge Cake With Homemade Strawberry Jam. However, I have since realised that I refer and use it so often that for your ease of reference, I must include it as a separate post. It is more or less the same recipe but with more photographs attached to help you along.

Look out for it!

Update: Here's the link to the separate post for homemade strawberry jam. It goes into a bit more detail and I have included other recipes where you can use the Homemade Strawberry Jam. Click here, Strawberry Jam Simplified.

Chocolate Pavlova, Gluten Free Dessert

 

Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe:

Chocolate Pavlova, Gluten Free Dessert

Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

A Chocolate Pavlova looks impressive and should your guests love their sweets, you will be the toast of the party.

Yes, the meringue might collapse or crack on you on an unfortunate day but that can be covered up with whipped cream and fruit. It will still have that yummy chocolaty 'fudginess' and no one will be the wiser that it was not a good bake day. This recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson - I think it's her best dessert recipe.  

Be forewarned, this is a sweet, sweet dessert.

CHOCOLATE PAVLOVA                                                              

Prep:	20 minutes
Cook:	60 to 75 minutes for four 6" (15 cm) meringues 75 to 90 minutes for one 9" (23 cm) meringue In areas of high humidity, it might take an additional 15 to 30 minutes for the meringue(s) to crisp up.
Inactive:	3 hours or until the meringue completely cools down
Level:	Moderately easy
Makes:	Four  6" (15 cm) pavlovas OR  one 9" (23 cm) pavlova
Oven Temperature:	360 F (180 C) and then reduce immediately to 300 F (150 C) once meringue is placed in oven
Can recipe be doubled?	No
Make ahead?	The meringue keeps well in an air tight container for up to 4 days without the whipped cream, fruits and any other toppings on it. The cream can be whipped, covered and kept refrigerated a few hours ahead

Ingredients

5 egg whites (3/4 cups)

There should be no trace of yolks in the egg whites. Even if there is a tiny trace, you must start over with fresh eggs as the egg whites will not whip up.

1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

This helps to stabilise and hold the structure of the whipped egg whites and prevents a pool of liquid egg white that might otherwise form at the bottom of the bowl of whipped egg whites. 

1 cup  and 2 Tablespoons (8 and 3/4 oz) (250 g) caster/super fine sugar

Do not cut down on the sugar. Do use caster or superfine sugar. Larger sugar crystals will not dissolve completely into the egg whites. If you do not want to buy caster or superfine sugar, pulverise the sugar you have into smaller crystals. 

1 teaspoon vinegar (any kind as long as it is not imitation vinegar) or lemon juice

Helps to stabilise the whipped egg whites.

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 and 1/2 oz (40 g) bittersweet chocolate

I use Valrhona -Guanaja 70% cocoa minimum. Cut into rough 1/2" (1.25 cm) chunks

2 cups whipping/thickened/double cream

Do not substitute with single/cooking/pouring cream as it does not contain enough of a fat content for it to whip up.  The cream should have at least a minimum fat content of 35%.

3 punnets of raspberries, each punnet weighs 6 oz (170 g)

Strawberry jam

Try making my easy recipe for Home Made Strawberry Jam

Update: I have since put up a separate post for this recipe, Homemade Strawberry Jam. It goes into a bit more detail, has more photographs to guide you and I have included other recipes where you can use the Homemade Strawberry Jam. Click here, Strawberry Jam Simplified.

Chocolate balls, bittersweet chocolate chips, or roughly cut bittersweet chocolate (optional)

I use Valrhona Crunchy Chocolate Pearls as I do not like cutting up chocolate and I like the crunch from Valrhona's Crunchy Chocolate Pearls.

Directions

Prepare your baking tray.  

Do take the size of your oven into account when deciding what size of a meringue to bake.

If you have a smaller sized oven, your only option might be to bake a 9" (23 cm) meringue. Whatever size you choose, you have to draw out a template for your meringue. This is simple enough.

Have a sheet of parchment paper that will fit onto your baking tray. For a 9" meringue, use a 9" dinner plate and with a pencil, trace a circle on the parchment paper. Remove the plate, turn over the parchment paper and use the unpenciled side to pile on the whipped egg whites.

Similarly, use a 6" (15 cm) plate to trace 4 circles on the parchment paper. You could also trace smaller circles but remember to leave a 1 and 1/2" to 2" (4 to 5 cm) space between circles as the egg whites will expand.

Turn the oven on to 360 F (180 C). Position the oven rack to lower middle.

Whipping the egg whites

Clean the mixing bowl and whisk with a wedge of lemon or a vinegar soaked kitchen paper towel. This removes any trace of grease that might prevent your egg whites from being whipped up properly.

Start whisking the egg whites until it is frothy.

Add the Cream of Tartar and continue whisking.

After 1 to 2  minutes, when the egg whites have reached stiff peaks and with the mixer running, gradually add 1 Tablespoon of sugar. I take 8 to 10 seconds to add every tablespoon of sugar. Let the mixer run for a full 10 seconds before adding the next tablespoon of sugar. You must add it 1 Tablespoon at a time to ensure that the egg whites can be whipped up into beautiful glossy stiff peaks. Do the same for the rest of the sugar. This process should take about 5 to 8 minutes.

As soon as the egg whites have been whipped to stiff glossy peaks, check that all the sugar has been incorporated by rubbing a little of the egg whites between two fingers. If you do not feel any grains of sugar, all is good. Refrain from over whipping as the meringue might weep or collapse in the oven from over whipping.

Fold in the vinegar and cocoa powder. Finally, quickly and gently fold in the 1 and 1/2 oz (40 g) of roughly chopped chocolates.

Bake

To prevent your parchment paper from shifting on the baking tray, dab tiny amounts of whipped egg whites on the baking tray. Stick the parchment paper on the tray.

Pile the whipped egg whites onto the pre-drawn circle(s). Remember penciled side faces down. With the help of 2 spoons, pile the sides at least 2" (5 cm) high and as straight as you can get it. Put the tray into the oven and turn down the temperature straight away to 300 F (150 C).

If you are baking a larger sized meringue, for instance, a 9" one, it needs to bake in the oven slightly longer, 75 to 90 minutes.

If you are baking smaller sized pavlovas, for instance, four of the 6" (15 cm) ones, it needs 60 to 75 minutes baking time.

If you stay in an area with high humidity, don't be surprised if it takes another 15 to 30 minutes, and sometimes even longer for the meringue to crisp up. 

Do not be tempted to open the oven door to check on the meringues before the allocated baking time (unless of course it smells like it is burning - unlikely). You risk the meringue collapsing if you open that oven door before the required baking time. Be patient. 

When the house starts to smell of slightly of chocolate meringues, you know it is about done. Open the oven door gently and even more gently prod the centre of the meringue with you finger. It should feel firm and crisp. It should have a feel of firm hollowness underneath the crisp. Turn off the oven if it has reached this stage. 

Use a wooden spoon or a rolled up tea towel to leave a 5 cm gap between the oven door and the oven. This allows the meringue to cool ever so slowly and decrease the chances of it collapsing as it cools.

If it still needs to continue baking, let it bake for another 10 minutes before checking on it. The idea is not to open the oven door more than is necessary.

What if it collapses or cracks? Don't fret. Just cover it up with whipped cream and fruit. It is going to collapse and break apart once you cut into it anyway. No use worrying over it. It will be yummy. 

If you are still nervous about serving anything less than a perfect pavlova, scroll down to 'Tips' and 'What's Coming Up Next?'. I have a dessert you can make from less than perfect chocolate meringue(s).

If you are not serving it straight away, leave it on the parchment paper and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Be careful as you transfer the meringue(s). It is fragile. 

When I bake more than one meringue, to separate them, I normally use a super sharp pen knife to cut the parchment paper between meringues before I store them in my containers. Using a pair of scissors will mostly likely wreak the meringues. 

You could choose to cut squares of parchment paper to fit the size of the meringues you will be baking.  Remember it still needs a 2"(5 cm) border. 

To serve

To remove the meringue from the parchment paper, I use a cake lifter to dislodge it. You could use a large cookie spatula or a flat utensil (long knife, bench scraper). You could also invert the meringue over your serving plate and peel off the parchment paper. That means you will be serving the meringue bottom side up. 

Whip the whipping cream until they have stiff peaks. Do not whip beyond that stage or the peaks will collapse as the cream starts turning into grainy butter. You will have to start all over again. Don't waste the over whipped cream though, use them in an omelette or in my recipe for Hamburger Buns, Savoury Buns, using it to replace the milk and butter called for in that recipe.

Lather cream onto meringue, drizzle my homemade strawberry jam, dot it with raspberries and throw over some chocolate. 

Enjoy the Chocolate Pavlova(s) immediately. They will not stay pretty looking for more than 10 minutes depending on how hot and humid a day it is!

Again, this is a really sweet dessert. Ration your sugar intake for the week!

Tips

Things to consider when deciding what size of a pavlova to make

I like to bake 4 smaller sized meringues (using the above recipe) instead of 1 larger one for the following reasons:

• From my experience, smaller sized meringues hold their shape better than larger ones. 
• Meringues are brittle and once you start cutting into it to share amongst your diners, it will start to look progressively messier. It doesn't help that the whipped cream and fruits on top of it will start to dislodge themselves as you continue to slice into it.
• Smaller sized pavlovas makes it easier for sharing. A couple could share one between themselves without the need for you to split it into two for them.
• Splitting a smaller sized pavlova is not only easier, it will look more presentable when served on a plate than the 1/6 slice cut from a 9" pavlova.
• If I am not making pavlovas for entertaining, I can choose to serve 4 smaller sized pavlovas over a few days, use the extra meringues to make another dessert called Eton Mess (think crushed meringue, whipped cream and strawberries) or I can give them away (just the meringues) to my friends.

What to do with all the egg yolks?

• Tiramisu.  I cannot bring myself to use raw eggs in my dessert as there is always the risk of salmonella poisoning. However, Tiramisu is just not Tiramisu without eggs. I came up with a recipe that is between a custard and a Sabayon so not only is the Tiramisu I serve very safe for eating, it still has a wonderful richness that can only come from eggs. Click on this link, to read more, Tiramisu With The Eggs But Without The Raw Eggs.

• Creme Anglaise, otherwise known as English Custard Sauce. This is a delicious sauce that can be used over so many desserts. It either complements the food it is served with or changes it altogether. For instance, Chocolate Cake is just chocolate cake when served as is. Serve it with this sauce and it is not just Chocolate Cake anymore. It becomes an even more decadent dessert and a very delicious one too. Creme Anglaise poured over raspberries becomes in an instant, dessert! How wonderfully easy.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                              

A chocolate meringue based Eton Mess!

If you are apprehensive about serving a less than perfect Chocolate Pavlova to your guests, then make this dessert up with broken up chocolate meringue. It is just as good if not better and my friend in the fur coat agrees!