July 14th, 2013
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been crazy about yogurt, the plain kind, for its pleasant and subtle tart flavour. Back in Russia, homemade yogurt is sold in individual cups at open air markets. It is usually made of slowly baked milk and is therefore topped with the most delicious, golden crust. Although my mother made the same kind of yogurt at home, I was often forced to buy my share at the market. The yogurt was the most special treat to my father, and he was likely to devour the whole portion before I could ever get to it.
I love to make yogurt at home, whether I use coconut, oats, raw goat milk or non-homogenized cow milk. For dairy yogurt-making, you can buy yogurt grains online, but that technique will require a yogurt machine or a dehydrator. The most simple way to a homemade yogurt is to add your favorite market/store-bought yogurt to milk as a starter. Choose the best milk you can find – raw, goat’s, non-homogenized – together with a high-quality yogurt, and the results will be delicious.
For these pops, I used yogurt that I made out of raw goat milk from the Dancing Goat farm, with Seven Stars Farm yogurt as a starter. The catch here are the lemongrass infused raspberries, my long time flavour obsession. Besides being delicious, the combination seems to have an extra cooling effect.
Right as I took the pops out of their mold, Paloma ate one with an impressive speed and proceeded to ask for another, which I gave her with no hesitation, as the pops are full of organic berries, acidophilus and other beneficial yogurt cultures.
Easy Homemade Yogurt
1/2 gallon high-quality fresh milk (raw, goat’s, non-homogenized, etc.)
1 cup high-quality yogurt, preferably made of non-homogenized milk with live cultures
1. In a pot, heat the milk to 180 F and let cool to 110 F.
2. In a jar with a tight lid, mix the yogurt with about 1/2 cup of warm milk, close the lid and shake to combine thoroughly. Add the mixture to the rest of the warm milk and stir to combine.
3. Ladle the mixture into clean glass jars, cover with a towel and keep the jars warm, preferably at 110 F. If you have a dehydrator, that’s the perfect place to keep the jars with the temperature set. If not, wrap the jars with more kitchen towels to keep in the heat or place into a warmed oven that has been turned off. Check after about 4 hours. If the mixture is thickened, place it into the refrigerator. If not, leave to thicken longer.
Lemongrass Syrup
2 lemongrass stalks
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons purified water
1. Cut the lemongrass stalks in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 2-inch pieces and bruise them with the back of a knife.
2. Place the lemongrass into a small saucepan with the honey and water, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let infuse for 30 minutes. Strain and don’t wash the saucepan.
Frozen Yogurt Lemongrass Raspberry Pops
(makes 10 pops)
2 1/2 cups yogurt
1/3 cup honey
2 cups raspberries
1. Place wooden popsicle sticks in water to soak, if using. Mix your well-chilled yogurt with the honey.
2. Combine half of the raspberries with the strained lemongrass syrup in the same saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add in the rest of the berries, briefly mashing with a fork to incorporate. Let cool completely in the refrigerator.
3. Process the yogurt in your ice-cream machine according to the manufacture’s instructions, usually 20 or so minutes.
4. Briefly mix the lemongrass-raspberry mixture into the yogurt. Fill 10 popsicle molds. Cover with the lid, insert the sticks and place into the freezer until completely frozen, preferably overnight. Carefully remove from the molds and enjoy.
Tags: frozen yogurt, goat milk, lemongrass, pops, popsicles, raspberry, recipe, yogurt
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April 28th, 2013
This Sunday’s guest is Sarah, a self-taught baker from Minneapolis, who writes the beautiful Vanilla Bean Blog. If you haven’t visited yet, I suggest heading over right away for stunning food photography, great stories, amazing recipes, and the most mouthwatering cakes. Now that spring is in full swing and the sun shines brighter, cooling drinks are on everyone’s mind and we are very excited for this delicious drink recipe. Here is Sarah:
Hello! I’m so happy to be posting at Golubka; it’s such a gorgeous space and I find it so inspiring and encouraging. Here in Minnesota we’ve been struggling to get to Spring (it’s been snowing for six months straight), and I thought a fizzy summer drink would help get things started. I’ve had ‘fruity-honey-drink’ on my to-do list for two summers now, because while I must admit I love drinking iced lattes and black tea lemonade, they are always made with too much sugar and I start to regret them. I wanted to come up with something that was refreshing and delicious, but didn’t contain a lot of sugar or caffeine. Since the only two things I can grow successfully is rhubarb and raspberries, I thought they would be a perfect place to start. After some tinkering, the rhubarb-raspberry fizz was born. It is a sweet-tart drink, with a small amount of honey balancing the sharp fruit. It’s incredibly tasty, and I’m looking forward to spending the (short) summer months sipping it.
Rhubarb Raspberry Fizz
Instead of simmering the rhubarb and raspberries with honey, I’ve added the honey to the warm juice after it’s been cooked and strained. I found this gave it a more ‘clean’ honey taste. I thought 2 tablespoons was the perfect amount – it still left a little bit of tartness to the drink. Feel free to add more if you’d like it sweeter. If you want to make the juice ahead, remember that honey will firm up in the fridge, and you will have to gently reheat the mixture to loosen the honey. Sugar could be substituted, although I would include it in the simmering stage. A tablespoon or two of minced ginger would be lovely here, and strawberries or blueberries would make a nice substitution for the raspberries. A splash of bourbon is also excellent! I made this with both straight up tap water and club soda, and liked it both ways.
12 ounces rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch pieces
4 ounces raspberries
1 vanilla bean pod, seeds scraped
2 cups water
8 tablespoons good honey (more or less to taste, see note)
water, club soda, ginger ale, or any other bubbly drink you think would be a good fit
Place the rhubarb, raspberries, vanilla bean seeds and pod, and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, and then let simmer for 30 minutes until rhubarb is tender. Place the mixture in a strainer over a large bowl and press on the rhubarb and raspberries until all the juice is released (you should have about 2 cups). Discard the pulp. Divide the warm mixture equally between 4 glasses and stir 2 tablespoons honey into each glass (more or less to taste), making sure honey is dissolved. Let cool, and then add equal amounts water, club soda, or ginger ale to each glass (about 1/2 cup per glass). Top with ice, and serve.
Tags: drink, guest post, raspberry, recipe, rhubarb
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June 18th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
Hello from chilly San Francisco! We just arrived, and the weather forecast is promising sun and high 60s all week. A very welcome change from the Florida heat. We’ll keep our Instagram updated throughout the week.
We were thrilled when Maria asked us to do a guest post over at her wonderful blog, Scandi Foodie. You may remember her contribution of a delicious pudding recipe from earlier in the year.
Maria just got married (hooray!) in her native Lapland and is now on her honeymoon in France, hence the much deserved break in blogging. Here’s a bright summer tart to wish many happy and healthy years together to the newlyweds.
I am often asked about cooked alternatives for many of my raw dishes, especially those that involve a dehydrator. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with recipes, where both raw and cooked preparation is possible. As a result, I’ve been very intrigued by gluten free and vegan baking, to the point where I bake something new almost every day. It’s fascinating how easy it is to avoid products like butter, eggs, refined sugar, and wheat by thinking a bit outside the box and instead making light, nourishing, and delicious goods.
I’ve never been able to pick a favourite fruit – whatever is ripe and in season quickly becomes my one true love. There is something especially wonderful about the combination of raspberry and peach though. Their colouring and fragrance speak uniquely of summer and the two work together beautifully. In this tart, I added fresh herbs – lemon balm, verbena, basil, and thyme – to continue the summery flavour story and to accent the fruit.
Head over here for the rest of the story and recipe.
To make the raw version of the tart
I made raw tarts using 4 smaller tart pans (4 1/2″ in diameter) for easier handling, but that is optional. Substitute quinoa flakes and quinoa flour with sprouted oat flour. Substitute coconut oil with melted cocoa butter. Mix 2 tablespoons of chia seeds with 5 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of honey, leave for 15-20 minutes to form a gel. Add the chia gel to the crust dough, mix thoroughly with your hands. Leave the filling as is in the original recipe. Dehydrate the crust on its own for 6-8 hours at 115F. Remove from pan, dehydrate for another 4-5 hours. Then follow the same assembly instructions as for the baked tart. Dehydrate with filling for another 6 hours or so.
Tags: dessert, gluten free, peach, raspberry, recipe, tart, vegan
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