Home made Yoghurt

While out in countryside this week I sampled real home made non pasteurised yoghurt. It transported me back to my miserable childhood and my mum’s home made slightly lumpy yoghurt made in a thermos flask, wrapped in a blanket and put in the airing cupboard overnight when all my friend’s mums bought them “ski” brand yoghurt that came in nifty flavours and smart little pots that you didn’t have to add home made jam to. The shame of it all.

I came home with a small pot of the real stuff

I dragged out of a cupboard and dusted down my very seventies-ish yoghurt maker. Instructions lost years ago so I kind of guessed how it worked.

I boiled a litre of full fat milk (alas no proper unpasteurised stuff but that will happen soon) and let it cool until I could hold my finger in it 10 seconds.

I whisked in 60g of the good culture and filled my pots. left them overnight with the thing switched on. And “voila”…the alchemy of food….thick fresh tasting yoghurt for breakfast. I was tempted to tart it up and make a “granola parfait” and that was good.

But best of all is adding a spoonful of home made jam and stirring it in to make patterns. Just don’t tell my mum that.

Classic Crumble Mix

Classic Crumble Mix

200g flour

100g butter 82% cold and cubed (I once made with Transylvanian “untura” but that is a different story)

100g sugar

How To

Crumble is child’s play – literally – small fingers learning to rub cold butter, flour and sugar together until an edible sand is created is one of the first lessons of cooking…well at least where I am from.

If you want to be a traditionalist or like getting your hands dirty or just don’t own a load of gizmos then gently rub the ingredients together (I sometimes use a knife to start the process and to keep things cool) until you have sandy crumbs. If you own a food mixer then do this with the “K “ beater attachment (this is how I usually make it) or (a new discovery) blend in a food processor on pulse setting taking care not to over blend and create a cookie dough. The crumble mix freezes brilliantly and its worth making extra to always have something to throw over fruit and create an instant dessert with.

Its also a fabulous cheesecake base. For a 23c, springform tin take 150-175g of mix and add one egg yolk. This sticks it together. Press into the base of your tin and bake for 8-10 minutes until just cooked. Leave to cool and it will crisp up ready to receive the cheesecake mix – either a baked/egg mixture or no bake one.

Blind Baked Pastry Cases

Just to avoid confusion this is not about the wonderful effects cooking can have on people who are visually impaired nor is it about any kind of deviant “blindfold me in the kitchen” activities just in case you were wondering (and I know that you were). Blind Baking is a pastry making term that means the pastry shell is first baked (to ensure a crisp surround and to avoid any soggy bottoms) before the filling is added. Often, as in a quiche for example, the filling and the pastry case go back in the oven to be baked again. However as you fill the case pretty much to the brim the filling protects the case and it wont burn.

How To

Roll your pastry (or press it into the tin with your fingers) until it is the thickness of a fairly chunky coin such as a 1 Euro. 2-3mm is what we want.

If rolling the pastry, leave the rolling pin in the middle of your pastry circle. Now lift the circle up from the top and fold it gently back over the rolling pin so you can now use your rolling pin as a “pastry transportation device”.

Lift the pastry up and let it touch the work surface closest to you before you un roll it across the pastry case.

Now, very gently and if you have long nails there is a little trick you can use, use up some left over dough in a little ball and use it to coax the pastry into the corner of the tin.

Now the pastry is fitting snug, roll the rolling pin over the whole thing which neatly lops off the pastry. using a fork make little holes in the pastry (important as it helps any steam vent and avoid bubbles)

Now scrunch up a piece of baking paper (the scrunching is important because it softens the paper and allows it to reach into the corner) and un scrunch it. Now use it to line the case and fill with your blind baking “beans”. These can be purpose made ceramic baking balls or rice or small real beans/lentils (which i quite like) or salt which makes for a great snug fit but if you spill it…your tart is ruined!

Now bake the case with the beans inside for 10-15 minutes – just until the pastry has “set” ie gone hard. Then remove the beans.

Paint the case on the inside with a beaten egg – this waterproofs the tart. Its not absolutely essential but will really make your tart base “crunch” and will make it easier to serve.

Bake again for 5 minutes and the tart is now ready to be used.