Fantastic New Recipe

  As I mentioned yesterday, I have been slowly working my way through learning to make different cheeses.  Last night I tried my hand at yogurt-making. Yogurt is something my family goes through a ton of, between eating and cooking with it. The recipe itself is fantastic and incredibly simple, and yet, I flubbed it up; really, my crockpot flubbed it up. I set my crockpot to warm and apparently it was just too warm still, because it just about cooked it. Next time I make it I will be adjusting the recipe; I have made the changes to the recipe below.  However, I still ended up with yogurt (albeit not very smooth and slightly dark in color), so I decided to bake something with it. Can I just say, "so glad I did"! I used the yogurt and my freeze-dried THRIVE Blueberries (which, by the way, are cheaper than if you buy them at the supermarket) to create the most delicious, fruity-tasting Blueberry-Yogurt Bread. So, without further ado, here are the recipes.

Homemade Yogurt

4 cups of fresh, 2% milk
1/3 cup of powdered milk
1/2 cup yogurt (this will be your starter)

  Combine milk and powdered milk in a saucepan; slowly heat the milk on the stove over low-medium heat. The most tedious thing about making yogurt is watching the milk get hot. You need it to hit 170 degrees, but not have it boil. So you want to pay attention to the pot and have a thermometer on hand. Once you've hit the target temperature, remove from heat and then wait for the milk to cool. Unless you put the pot in the refrigerator it will take some time to cool to 108-112 degrees.

  When the milk is cooled to the proper temperature, mix a small amount in with the yogurt. This will break up the yogurt and makes blending it with the rest of the milk easier. Pour yogurt-milk mixture back into the saucepan of heated and cooled milk. Pour yogurt into a mason jar or oven-safe dish, cover with a lid and place in a crockpot. Add warm water to the crockpot, coming to within 2 inches of the rim of the jar or dish. Incubate at 100-115 degrees 4-8 hours (the longer you incubate the mixture the more sour the taste becomes). DO NOT disturb the yogurt while it incubates. Once yogurt has reached desired thickness place in the refrigerator and chill before serving. Makes one quart.

Blueberry-Yogurt Bread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon (packed) finely grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 c. (FD) THRIVE Blueberries
1/2 cup vegetable oil

 

  Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Generously butter 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Combine yogurt, sugar, eggs, orange peel, and vanilla in large bowl; whisk until well blended. Gradually whisk in dry ingredients. Using rubber spatula, fold in blueberries and oil; let rest 5 minutes. Transfer batter to prepared pan (you may sprinkle turbinado/raw sugar on top if you like). Place pan on a baking sheet.

  Place bread on baking sheet in oven and bake until it begins to pull away from sides of pan and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool bread in pan on rack 5 minutes. Cut around pan sides to loosen bread. Turn out onto rack; turn bread upright on rack and cool completely.