This could possibly go down as one of my favourite recipe shares ever. It involves one ingredient. It’s satisfyingly wholesome and River Cottage-y to make. It produces no wastage AND results in two invaluable edibles. And it’s super superfood-y and gut-goodish. I could go on…
I’m talking about homemade cream cheese.
The stuff from the box is terrible. It’s extracted by placing milk under high pressure, and contains very little goodness. The homemade version is essentially the by-product from extracting whey from milk or yoghurt (I do it with yoghurt), with extra gut-guarding goodness from the lactic-acid bacterial processes involved. Aaaaand, it tastes immeasurably better and creamier. Note: different yoghurt brands may produce different amounts of curd and whey. Generally, a cup of yogurt will yield approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup yogurt cheese and produce about 1/2 cup whey.
The cheese:
* spread it on biscuits and toast with a sprinkle of rock salt on top
* mix in some fresh herbs and oil, or pesto, to make a dip
* put a blob in an endive leaf and top with some smoked salmon or grilled sardines and chives
The whey:
Make sure you keep the stash of whey. Whey is great stuff and I’ll be writing about what you can do with it down the track. For now:
* store it in the freezer to use for fermenting your own saukerkraut and probiotics (as I say, more to come.)
* add a tablespoon to your smoothie in the morning. It’s full of minerals and will help digestion.