I Guess It's A Phase

This past weekend I decided to make yogurt. That's right... yogurt. I guess I'm going through a phase. I decided that I want to learn how to make all of these things that I take advantage of in the grocery store. SOMEONE has to make all of these things that we consume so I thought that if they could do it, there was no reason that I couldn't, right?

On to how I made homemade yogurt.

I put the following into a large saucepan:

4c. whole milk
1/2 c. dry milk

Stir to dissolve dry milk powder and slowly heat milk to 180 degrees. You do this to kill off the bacteria that prevents the milk from firming up. Turn off the heat and let milk sit at room temperature until it is between 110 and 120 degrees. Take a ladle full of milk and add it to 1/4 - 1/2 c. of plain yogurt WITH ACTIVE CULTURES. I used plain Fage greek yogurt. Whisk together and then whisk the mixture into the warm milk.

Now you put the mix into the containers that the yogurt will be processing in. I used glass mason jars. There are several ways to let the mixture process, but i used my crockpot. I poured my yogurt into my mason jars and put them into a preheated (on the "warm" setting) water bath in the crockpot and put the lid on. Every couple of hours I would turn my crockpot on and off to try and keep my crock pot at about 110 degrees. In about 6-8 hours my yogurt had firmed up and I put the jars in the fridge to chill overnight. Now I have yogurt! This morning I drizzled it with a little bit of wildflower honey and it is GOOD!


Try it, you'll like it!


Tomorrow I'll tell you how I used some of my yogurt to make yogurt cheese.

Making Butter

So... I made my own butter. Why, you ask? Because it sounded like fun! It was SO easy, and it tasted GREAT! The process really was simple, so I'll share.


I poured 4c. of cold heavy whipping cream into my stand mixer bowl and flipped it on. I kept increasing the speed until I got it up to 9. Then, I waited. The cream got super thick (whipped cream) and then, after a few minutes, it all just kind of collapsed and I had this grainy yellow stuff (butter) and liquid (buttermilk). I stopped the mixer and drained as much of the buttermilk off as I could - I saved it to use in my bread I made the other day. Then basically you just add cold water and "knead" the butter to get out more buttermilk. I did this about 3 times, until the water was pretty clear. Then I salted the butter slightly and formed it into 2 balls that were probably roughly 1c. of butter each. I wrapped each ball in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to firm up a bit.

I'm telling you, I'm never going back to store bought. If I could just get my hands on some raw milk and cream. Mmmmm.....

Plum Cobbler

So my plum tree was overflowing with ripe fruit this weekend. I ended up picking about 6 pounds of juicy plums and wondering what in the world I was going to do with all of it. After staring at the gigantic pile for a few days, I decided to make a plum cobbler last night (I've never made one before) and it turned out REALLY good, so I thought I'd share the recipe. It'll be even better with vanilla ice cream so I'm heading to the store in a bit to pick some up.

Plum Cobbler
Fruit:
3/4 cup plus
4 cups of chopped or sliced plums
2 Tbsp corn starch
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp of white sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 350°F.

2 In a large bowl, combine white sugar, plums, cornstarch and cinnamon. Place the fruit mixture in a 2-quart casserole.

3 In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and 2 Tablespoons of sugar. Cut the butter in with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and egg until just moistened.

4 Drop batter on fruit, or if desired, spread batter in stripes. Bake in a 350°F oven for 35 minutes.


Hope you like it, tell me what you think!

The Easiest Potato Soup You Will Ever Make!

My MIL gave me this recipe (which was given to her by a caterer) and it rocks! I was absolutely shocked by how simple and delicious it was. I make it when I REALLY don't want to cook but I want something satisfying - like when my husband is out of town and cooking for just me is way too much trouble.

Way-Too-Easy Potato Soup:
1 bag Potatoes O'Brien with peppers and onions, thawed
4-6 c. chicken broth (depending on how thick or thin you like your potato soup)
1 pkg. of country gravy mix

Seriously, that's all that's in this - no joke!

Bring broth to a boil, dump in potatoes. Let cook 10 minutes and then whisk in gravy mix. Let simmer another 10 minutes. Enjoy!

You have got to try this and tell me what you think. I love it!

Creamy Southwestern Chicken Soup

I made some pretty great soup last night and I thought I'd share. It was surprisingly easy and SO tasty!

Creamy Southwestern Chicken Soup

1 1/2 c. Salsa Verde
2 c. Cooked chicken - either shredded or cut into small pieces
4 c. Chicken broth
1 t. cumin
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Cannellini beans
sour cream
green onions - chopped
crushed tortilla chips
shredded cheese

Put Salsa Verde in large sauce pot and simmer for 3 minutes or so.

Add chicken, broth, beans, and soup. Simmer for 10-15 minutes so the flavors can combine.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with green onions, sour cream, chips and cheese, if desired.


This would probably be very good with some corn added in, as well. Also you could top it with diced avocado, and cilantro instead of green onions.

Enjoy!