Rib-a-licious Prime Rib

This is quite possibly, the easiest way to make an elegant beef dinner, in my opinion.  It really will be the star of your holiday or special occasion dinner party, as it was this past Easter at our table.

Truth be told, I've made this before on the Egg and that was the way we intended to cook it this year, as it is so divine. But given that our Easter Sunday this year was overcast and we were expecting severe thunderstorms, I opted for a simpler cooking method. Erring to the side of caution, we decided to do this in the oven at the last minute. Absolutely the right call, as it turned out.

So with Easter dinner saved by my last minute change in cooking plans, we ended up having a perfectly cooked prime rib that suited everyone at our table. For those that like medium cooked beef, there were the end cuts and the medium-rare to rare cuts were further in and closer to the center.

Here's how I did it this time:
10 lb prime rib roast, rib in (about 4 large ribs), unpackaged and patted dry
large roasting pan

You can have your butcher remove the ribs or do it yourself. It's pretty easy to do as you literally just cut very close to the bone, meat side, as much or as little as you want.

This makes serving easier and also, the ribs cook at a different temperature than the rib cap. You can leave them on, but it's definitely a trick to employ if you want to ensure a perfectly cooked prime rib. And, this way, the ribs will cook at the same time as the roast.

I cooked the ribs too and used them as a "rack" to roast the meat on and they were so dang good. However, if you want to save these for another meal, go ahead and rub them too and then freeze or refrigerate for later, if you prefer.

I also trim some of the fat side and remove the silver skin, because silver skin does not break down and is not good eats... The fat, however, is luscious so leave enough to aid in the basting of the meat as it will melt and break down and add such wonderful flavor to the meat. No need to remove it all.

Rub:

• 6 large cloves of grated or finely minced garlic
• zest of 2 large washed lemons
• 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary leaves, finely diced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp sea salt
• 1-2 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper

Prep:
Now, it's pretty easy if you have a small food processor. Just put all of your ingredients in and pulse until combined.  But it doesn't take that much time to do it by hand either. I use a fine lemon zester to zest the entire lemon and then grate the garlic on the same microplane grater. If you have a garlic crusher, that will work and so will mincing it finely with a knife.

Use the above recommendations but it essentially works out to be equal parts of all ingredients above, except for the salt and pepper. The mixture will be more like a loose paste, which is great for coating the meat.

Rub the entire surface of the meat, including the ribs, with the rub and place the whole thing in the roasting pan. I place the roast on top of the removed ribs to lift the roast off the bottom of the pan and it turned out nicely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Roasting:
On roasting day, remove from the fridge a couple of hours before you cook to let the meat come to room temperature. It makes for a more even, predictable baking time.

Preheat the oven to 250 F degrees.

For medium rare, you want the internal temperature to be around 130 degrees so have a meat thermometer handy. Cooking time is roughly 15-20 minutes per pound. I cooked ours, which was 10 lb, for 2.5 hours on 250 and the last 10 minutes or so, I turned on the broiler to get a good color.

Again, keep an eye on the internal temp. Once it starts to get around 120, it will go very fast and if you want a perfect medium rare, take it out at about 125 as it will continue to cook and warm up to 135.  Ours got to 140 even out of the oven and it was still perfectly rare at the very center but I wouldn't let it stay in the oven unless you enjoy medium well prime rib. I mean, what's the point of that? Prime rib should be served medium rare to rare as it is such a beautiful and tender cut of meat, getting no exercise, it will never be tough.

Serving:
The pan juices are lovely to make a gravy or serve as is. Loaded with flavor, it won't require much even if you do want to make a sauce so it is highly unlikely that you will need to further season the sauce.

We removed the roast and ribs to rest before serving and we added sautéed baby portabella mushrooms, which we did ahead of time, back to the roasting pan.

You can add a bit of heavy cream if you like a creamier style of mushroom gravy but we just added a couple of pats of butter and served it like that. It was so delicious!

I guess we did something right because everyone devoured the meal with not a single bite of rib or roast left behind... Too bad, because I sure had my heart set on prime rib subs. Alas, I will have to buy a bigger roast next time!

All Rise! - Perfect Italian Bread Every Time

I know I have written quite a few posts about bread in general, but lately, we've been on an Italian bread kick here in my house. Why? Well because the boys love my Italian bread. We have it on Italian "Extravaganza" night and because I always make 2 giant loaves at a time, we usually have it for subs, as well. 

When we have the kids, everything is an "extravaganza"! That is because we usually do a whole theme and Italian night is no different. We don't just have lasagna, for instance. We will also have Italian salad or baked ziti or stuffed shells or giant meatballs, you name it.

Italian bread, I find, is the key when you have American kids who have grown up with soft white American bread. It's soft enough for their palate but with a nice chew and texture that can satisfy most adult palates at the same time. Probably why it never lasts long in the house and when we have guests over, as we did for Easter Sunday, everyone wants to take home some bread with their leftovers. 

Can't say as I blame them. 

So for all the Sunday dinners, holiday dinners and bread lovers out there, I've written a special post about Italian bread just for you. 

One of the secrets to my version and for the techno-geeks like myself who need to know the "why" of things, the key is the fat that gets added to the dough. If you prefer a more crispy, crunchy crust as in the French baguette style of bread, then omit the fat altogether. However, this is what will give your bread a couple more days of staying power, without going completely brick hard and stale within 24 hours.

No matter how many hungry critters you have in your house, a few extra storage days can make the difference and that's why we prefer the Italian version if we know we won't eat both loaves in one sitting.

My recipe below calls for 3 tbsp of fat and over the last several months I have used whatever fat I happen to have on hand. We go through copious amounts of bacon around here and I always save the drippings, as I do the chicken fat from making chicken soup, which adds such a lovely texture and flavor, that it has become my fat of choice over butter. If I don't have either or want a straight forward flavor, I will also use coconut oil, which again, is a staple in our house. Experiment. Either way, it makes for a lovely baguette.

Oh, and one other tip: I use a two-loaf baguette pan with a silpat. It isn't entirely necessary, but I don't like the bumps on the bread when the dough rests on the holed baguette pan. The bread won't stick, but I prefer the texture of "unholy" bread. lol!

The silpat fits perfectly on top of the baguette pan, draping over each channel nicely and ensures a no-stick situation. Just easy cleanup, too and it makes for a nice tender bottom crust too.

Italian Bread:

• 6 1/2 c flour
• 3 cups warm water, 1 1/2 tbsp of yeast
• 1 1/2 tbsp salt
• 3 tbsp of garlic butter, margarine, lard or bacon grease
• 3 tbsp sugar

1. In a stand mixer, put flour and salt into the bowl. Using the dough hook attachment, mix the two for a minute or so on the lowest speed.
2. Add your fat to the flour mixture and mix on lowest speed for another minute or two. Room temperature or cold, no matter. I've used both and if you bloom the yeast in warm water, it doesn't change the speed of the initial rise.
3. In a bowl or large 4 cup measuring cup, I bloom the yeast with the water and sugar. All that means is add the yeast to the warm water and it begins to activate the yeast immediately. It will start to dissolve and feed on the sugar and begin to bubble a little bit. A good sign your yeast is healthy and your bread will rise perfectly. 
4. While the mixer is still on the lowest speed, slowly pour in your yeast mixture until all of the water is incorporated. Don't worry about kneading for too long. You really just need to get everything incorporated and the dough will begin to clean the sides of the bowl as well as cling to the hook. This is perfect. 
5. Turn off the mixer and put the dough into a large 6 qt rising container or cover with a heavy dish towel and check on it after about a half hour to an hour. In a warmer kitchen this goes fast! That's why I use a proofing or rising container because I can easily see when the dough has risen and doubled in size. That's what you want.

**What I have found over the years, is that if you have cold ingredients or room temperature water, it takes longer for the yeast to activate. What does that mean for you? Well, it means it could take an hour for your first rise or it could take 3 hours, depending on the ambient temperature of your kitchen. Why fuss with that? Instead, if you start with warm water (not hot or boiling!) and add your sugar and yeast to the water, you can almost always have a very quick, very predictable rise. And as we all know, when entertaining guests or feeding hungry kids, timing is everything!

Shape and Rise again:

1. Divide the dough in half. I actually weigh it but you can eyeball it. Doesn't have to be perfect. At this point your dough will be so relaxed, it will be fairly easy to shape, if not a bit unwieldy. Don't fret, just hold one end and stretch it so it looks like a roll of sorts. You can stretch it and tuck it once on the baguette pan, if you have one. If not, just put it on a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat, no worries.
2. Once you've shaped two loaves (or one giant loaf), let it rest and rise again. This time, definitely keep any eye on it because the yeast is active and it will likely rise quickly unless your kitchen is on the cool side.
3. Optionally, cut slits either down the middle of each loaf for vents or diagonally across the loaf. I don't find this to be entirely necessary but it does give a nice place to put butter or garlic butter once it comes out of the oven. Again, optional. Do whatever appeals to you.

Bake:

Preheat your oven to 425 F during the second rise if your rise is moving along nicely. 

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, checking it just to make sure it doesn't get too brown. If it seems to be browning too quickly, lay a piece of tin foil or parchment over the top of the pan at about the 15 minute mark if you don't want your bread too brown.

Notes for friends and family (yes, that's you, too!): ***Oh my gosh, for me, this is one of the best behaving doughs. First of all I used the organic flour I mill myself so its fresh. But I also have on hand organic white flour from Hodgson Mill in 2 lb bags that I get delivered from Amazon, just in case I'm short on time. Fresh flour always makes a difference.

It takes one unopened 2 lb bag plus 1 c from a new bag to make this dough. This little tidbit is more for myself and Tsunami as we refer back to this blog all the time for our favorite recipes. :)

I also bloom the yeast in warm water, as I mentioned. This has made such a difference in a predictable rise time. Won’t do it differently from now on. 

My notes from the first time I made it and I apologize for the enthusiastic language, in advance...

"Holy shit. Don't change a thing! Perfect italian bread!!!!"

And that's because it was so fabulous, the boys ate the whole thing in one sitting and I noticed that someone had taken a few slices before it even made it to the table!

Hope you like it as much as we do!

You're The One That I Want - John and Olivia's Baked Chile Rellenos

Crazy freaking couple of years...  I'm starting to believe that my life is more of a Modern Love Food Diary, but maybe it has always been that way.

I've been married an awfully long time and this new chapter of being un-married again is fraught with exciting and terrifying twists and turns. Sometimes I cry for sentimental reasons. I have, at times, missed our early life together, memories stuffed into the nooks and crannies of this blog. Reminders of the past; nostalgia.

Sometimes, I can't remember what he looks like, what his voice sounds like. Even the good memories, slowly fading...

Other times I have to giggle outright because what may seem like the worst thing in the world that could ever happen to you, turns out to be a beautiful, amazing blessing in disguise. As in save your life kind of blessing in disguise... I mean what the Hello Kitty happened? Could it be any more intriguing, confusing, mystifying, utterly terrifying, butterflies-in-your-tummy kind of ride? Don't really think so.

Between going through a divorce I thought, at first, I never wanted and navigating life as a single woman in unchartered waters, on my own, far from anything or anyone familiar... it has been quite a wild roller coaster ride. Just me, myself and everyone, everything, new.  Totally scary, but kinda exhilarating once the sheer terror wears off, which admittedly has taken quite a bit of time for me.

But it's true what they say... When one door closes, another door opens wide.

And then suddenly, when you least expect it and when the timing seems insane but yet, wildly appropriate, you randomly meet someone kind, genuine... a Tsunami of Goodness, he would later call himself boastfully. I still smile when he says it because it couldn't be more true.

Sharing this rollercoaster ride with a man I am now certain is Richard Pryor and Joan River's lovechild, the past year and a half has been anything but boring. And my new friendship has been anything but typical. It's been so fun, it's stupid. And being that we've both been displaced from everything we have known and loved before... it has been like learning to walk all over again. Oddly comforting when nothing feels familiar or comfortable. A feeling of safety and security that is more real than anything I've had in a good long while. And that thing... I never thought I'd ever feel again...

Laughter. Nothing cures a broken heart like laughter. And a lot of time. And a good looking hunk of a Green Beret that cooks like an Iron Chef!

Let's face it, a man that cooks for you, makes you laugh till you pee your pants and treats you like his dreams have also been answered, will almost certainly seal the deal. Hard to cry when you are trying not to pee yourself laughing...

I've been trying to write down all of the madness because it is so comical. I keep a journal of all the hilarious things he says because he really is a riot and the first time he opened his mouth, I was hooked; trying not to laugh but not able to contain myself.  Something you might see in a movie.

He gets out the scrabble board while I finish making dinner and randomly tells me I'm his Olivia Newton John. I secretly gush with pride and smile to myself... I mean, who doesn't want to be John Travolta's Olivia Newton John??!

So Modern Love is covered, let's get on with the Food Diary part..

After a super mellow night (for us) at the Tacos al Carbon food trucks, we decide to make chile rellenos because the back food truck is the only one that makes the rellenos. As usual, we are too late. Once they are done, they are done; we missed the boat that night. Unthwarted, I head over to the Mexican grocery store across the street and pick up everything I need to make it for dinner the next night.

Prepping the Chiles:
4-5 poblano peppers, roasted and skinned, seeds removed.

I roast the peppers for 10 minutes on a nonstick cookie sheet with a silpat. After 10 minutes under my broiler, I flip the peppers over and roast on the other side for another 10 minutes. The idea is to literally blister and blacken the skin of the poblano peppers. Don't fret, you won't burn them and this is part of the process of a good chile relleno.

The poblano skins are tough and don't digest well so you blister the peppers in an effort to easily remove the skins much like you would to blanch tomatoes or peaches when trying to remove the skins of fruits and vegetables. You probably could poach them in water, but traditionally, they are roasted which imparts a nicer flavor.

Once the peppers have blacked on each side, I remove them from the oven and place the peppers in a paper bag, closing the bag to let the peppers cool and steam a bit. This makes the blistered skin just slide off once they are cool enough to touch. Once the peppers cool, gently run your fingers along the skins and they should easily slip off. Just be gentle with them because the rellenos will hold stuffing so you want them to remain as intact as possible.

Once the skins have been removed, I tug at the stem to remove the stems and this will create an opening in which I can slide my finger along the length of the pepper to remove the remaining seeds. You should have a nice pepper "sheet" at this point which will allow you to stuff the pepper with whatever stuffing you choose and roll it up to create a little chile bundle.

Stuffing:
This stuffing was pretty darn good but you can use whatever you like to stuff the chiles. Traditionally, it's cheese or meat and cheese.

I used what I had on hand, as usual but I love going to the Mexican grocery store so I picked up some Mexican cheese and other chiles to make salsa, guacamole and enchilada sauce for meals later in the week.  The Mexican grocery store where I live has exceptional produce and the best selection of chiles so I stock up while I'm at it, just for fun. It always freaks the Mexicans out to see the white girl with her haul of hot peppers. But I actually know what to do with them and I have a wild Florida boy who likes hot stuff too; maybe even more than I do.

This time, I used this for stuffing the peppers:

Roasted chicken breast shredded
~ 1 c of cotija cheese
~ 1 c of grated Monterrey Jack (or Oaxaca or Quesadilla cheese if you have it)
1 cup of salsa, tamale or enchilada sauce

I had some roasted chicken leftovers from earlier in the week, fresh cotija cheese which you can find at any Mexican grocery store and often times at your regular grocery store depending on where you live. Either way it isn't a must but since I have access to it, I usually get it. Cotija is a crumbling fresh cheese very mild in flavor but it is traditional so I get it when I can.  It is great on salads, too so I usually get enough to have on a pepita (sunflower seed) salad later on in the week.

Butter a casserole dish and ladle about a cup of salsa or enchilada sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish.  Once the peppers are seeded, gently stuff the peppers with whatever mixture you use and gently close the pepper around the stuffing. It's almost like a little burrito. Lay the stuffed pepper in your casserole dish, seam-side up and prepare the batter below in a blender to make it easy to pour over the pepper bundles.

Batter:
1/3 c flour
1/3 c milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs

I put everything for the batter into a blender and blend to incorporate all ingredients thoroughly. Pour the batter over the peppers, just to the edge of the peppers and sprinkle more grated cheese over the top.

Bake:
Bake at 425 F in a buttered baking dish or mini loaf pan if doing individuals for 25 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Take out of the oven and cool for about ten minutes before serving.

I also have a recipe for traditional, fried chile rellenos and will post that one later. I make both but baking them is so much easier to clean up than frying them, so I usually prefer that method although I do love both ways.

Serve:
I usually serve this with a little shredded lettuce, grated cheese, guacamole and sour cream on the side. Of course, we always have salsa or a sauce of some kind.

A word about salsas:
My go to salsa is super quick and easy, as is most Mexican sauces so I will make a point to post those recipes as well since I have quite a few good ones to share. But if you love ready made salsa, I ain't mad at ya, but do try your hand at making it fresh because it really is a very different flavor profile. Most all pre-made salsas, whether jar or canned varieties, are cooked. And while I am no salsa snob, I have grown more fond of fresh salsa having grown up with it made fresh as a child. It's just a personal preference.

Octopus Schmoctopus - Greek Style Grilled Octopus Salad

The idea of making octopus or calamari used to intimidate me quite a bit. But once I moved to Florida and became familiar with my local grocery stores and restaurants, I began to get very cozy with octopi of all sorts.

One of the main reasons is that I fell in love with an octopus salad served at one of my favorite Greek restaurants not too far from my house. The place is such a popular local haunt as to be somewhat legendary. Anyone who loves Greek food, knows where this place is.

Chris' Taverna is not only known for standing room only style dining, but it never ceases to amaze me just how packed this place can get in it's somewhat quirky location tucked in with an ice cream parlor, a Peruvian restaurant (which I also love!), a local sports bar, a doll shop, a sushi bar, a salon and a surf shop. And that's just to name a few of the bizarre neighbors that surrounds this icon of a restaurant.

It gets so busy that they bust out extra tables and literally line the entire sidewalk between the shops, pulling out the outdoor fans or heaters, which always cracks me up. I mean, come on people... this is FLORIDA?  Heaters defy logic, but they light em up in the evenings when the older crowd comes out to dine, I've noticed.

But I digress...

Having stopped in one day after doing a little shopping, I decided to sit and have a beer at their outside dining area and test the Greek waters, so to speak. I order the octopus salad appetizer, some dolmas and a sampling of humus and tzatziki. Jeeze Louise, I was blown away. Never have I had such a tender octopus in all my life, served so regally, so simply. And even more impressive were the near perfect gigantic beefsteak tomatoes they served with it.

Turns out Chris' mama in real life, was my server for the day and has been on a number of occasions since. She asked me how I liked the octopus, looking a little nervous because the look on my face was one of amazement. But she didn't know me quite yet and was probably worried that I didn't like it. She obviously didn't know that I was privately going nuts in my mind over what I was eating!! I tell her in no few words, how I feel about it and ask her in almost a run-on sentence, about the tomatoes as well.

She actually takes a seat next to me and tells me that this dish is one of her favorites and is quite popular. They often sell so much they will occasionally run out. Fascinated, I comment again on the tomatoes and she smiles broadly, telling me quite enthusiastically that they are quite proud and particular of their tomatoes. Turns out, this is no lie and the tomatoes are almost a local legend themselves.

I ask her where she gets them and she tells me precisely how to get there. Locally grown, they get them special from a local farmer and I almost swoon when she tells me I can get them too. Never been more serious about a mission... and I set out almost immediately after finishing my lunch to go get some. And get some I do!

That, my friends... is how it all started. The very next day, I bring Tsunami and repeat the whole ordering scenario, not telling him anything more than this: "Oh my god, I'm so excited for you to try this... you are gonna Fuh-REAK!!" And freak, he did. Freaking fell in love all over the place... It became an instant lunch date kinda spot. And we never skip the appetizers!

But being who we are, we had to try to replicate it at home, of course. As eager to try it as we were, we were still a little gunshy. Neither of us were extremely octopus savvy. I mean, we've done calamari and squid. But octopi? Whole other ball game. Or so we thought.

Standing in front of the seafood counter at my favorite grocery store, Western Beef, I am fixated and spying on an older Italian man who is buying 3 very large octopi for a dinner party. He catches me staring and said, "Go on, buy the last one... I'll tell you what to do." And he smiles at me so encouragingly, I giggled and just said, "OK! Give me the last one."

We stand there talking and sharing tips such a long time that Tsunami walks up and grinning, teases me discreetly, "Are you going home with him? What's going on over here?"

"He's teaching me how to cook octopus!" I excitedly divulge while my new octopus mentor heads off, waving and wishing me good luck. Standing there with a 4 lb octopus in hand my companion needs no further explanation. He just smiles at me and says, "Ok, girlie... Let's do this!"

And off we go.

What you need:
3-4 lb octopus
large pot of water for boiling
aromatics: bay leaf, whole crushed garlic, salt, pepper, lemon slices
Romaine lettuce
Beefsteak tomatoes
Kalamata olives
Finely sliced sweet onions
Olive oil
Fresh lemons
Red wine vinegar
salt, pepper

Prep:
I buy my octopus already cleaned, beak and eyes removed. I also saw a tv show that explained if an octopus has at least two rows of suckers on the tentacles, then it is the right size and age for eating. I don't know why that is but that's my gage when I buy octopus now unless I go for the baby octopus, which is also very good.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil then turn it down to a simmer. Add whatever aromatics you want to the poaching liquid, but just know that these are optional and not required. The point of this poaching step is to allow the octopus meat to tenderize and relax.  My Italian mentor told me that the only thing you needed to do was to boil the octopus for 30-45 minutes. No longer than an hour, max. He said after a half hour, you check it. It is done when you can pierce the underbelly and tentacles easily with a paring knife. It should not resist.

If the meat resists, cook another 15 minutes. Almost always this ends up being right about 45 minutes but the last one we just cooked needed a whole hour and it was absolutely perfect.

And don't worry if the octopus tentacles all curl up once in the boiling water. They are supposed to and it means your octopus is cooking correctly.

Remove the octopus from the water, draining it in a colander or on paper towels and allow it to rest and cool to room temperature.

Grill that bad boy:
Next, you grill the octopus! Yep, grill it! But only to get a little grill mark going and to enhance the flavor. Trust me, this part is not optional, however, you can grill over propane, coals, wood or even on a cast iron griddle in the oven. Just don't overcook it. Overcooked octopus becomes tough once again so the idea is to just get a little grill flavor to the party without drying it out again.

Let it rest and cut into chunks to your liking. Yes, the whole thing. Hood and all, just cut it up and put it in a bowl.

Dress it up:
At this point, you can serve it however you like but to replicate the Greek style we love, it requires a simple vinaigrette.

Good quality olive oil
Fresh lemon
Red wine vinegar
salt, pepper to taste
*we add a little garlic because we are garlic lovin' fools

Toss the octopus with olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Go ahead and make a vinaigrette if you feel better about that, but I just eyeball it and toss the whole bowl.

Serve:
This is typically served with romaine lettuce, finely sliced sweet onions, gorgeous beefsteak tomatoes, Kalamata olives and thinly sliced seedless cucumbers. But truth be told, from here, you can eat it just as it is with the vinaigrette or get a little creative and add it to something else you love.

**I served this last time as the protein in a Thai silver thread noodle salad and I got such huge props, Tsunami actually said I needed to blog that specific recipe. "Rockin' the Thai lately... restaurant perfect," were his exact words.

I'll work on that next because I impressed myself, it was that good. It really was a lovely combination and not at all complicated.

**OR you could serve it with pasta and marinara, couldn't you? Or on a flatbread, huh? Or as an awesome skewer of shishkabob goodness, right??  Or a po' boy? Oh yea, feeling all of that! Go for it.  And if you come up with some other crafty clever goodness, do drop me a line and let me in on that, will ya?

Cracker Time - Parmesan and Thyme Crackers

Got this recipe watching Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa episode where she makes brunch for her best friend. She served these crackers as part of a cheese and cracker platter with fruit which looked so beautiful, decorated with fresh greens and lovely bits out of her garden. Yep, right up my alley.

Since we are planning a family Easter Sunday at our house next weekend, we've been in the process of menu planning, as you might be. We had decided that we would do the same thing since we have a lovely assortment of cheeses and of course, my first charcuterie that I've been dying to introduce to the world. 

My first Lonzino, which is a cured pork tenderloin with juniper, rosemary, salt, pepper and fennel turned out so lovely that it shocked my whole household. 

Totally supportive of my kitchen experiments and food chemist wizardry, Tsunami was all too willing and anxious to try it but deep down I think he was a tad skeptical. That's ok; I love to be underestimated and truth be told, I wasn't entirely sure either. And what's better than unexpectedly impressing someone you love with something you made? Nothing, really.

But since everything seemed to go perfectly according to the recipes in my book, I felt at least confident I had a 50/50 chance of it turning out ok. I mean, peeps have been curing meats for thousands of years, how hard can it be?

Oh joy! Not only did it turn out ok, but it was truly divine and a total culinary delight! Yipppeeee!!

I asked him to check on it one night and suddenly, during my evening swim, he comes outside and says to me, "OH. MY. Gosh... Totally f-ing amazing! Here, honey, gotta try this right now." 

I swim over and he gives me the slice that he has precariously carried on his carving knife all the way outside.  "Right???" he says, clearly impressed with the results. 

Even though he was discreetly skeptical, it didn't stop him from assisting me with some mechanics during the curing process of my "experiment". He cleverly converted a small outdoor refrigerator we keep by the pool for beer and soda and turned it into the perfect meat curing humidor! Perfect temperature and humidity for the sausage making endeavor, which required a constant temperature of 55 degrees F and 65% humidity. (It also serves as a cheese curing fridge, but that's another culinary adventure waiting to begin :)

Tickled to death, we both have cheese, crackers and Lonzino as a little post-workout snack. And so, our menu planning for Easter had begun...

Now that we have the cured meat for the platter figured out and the assorted cheeses, we decided that of course, time to make our own crackers, as well! Thanks, Ina. Just love you to death and appreciate this addition to our Easter Sunday supper!

Here's what you need to get started:
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1¼ ups all-purpose flour

Prep:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter for 1 minute. With the mixer on low speed, add the Parmesan, thyme, salt, and pepper and combine. With the mixer still on low, add the flour and combine until the mixture is in large crumbles, about 1 minute. If the dough is too dry, add 1 teaspoon water.

Dump the dough onto a floured board, press it into a ball, and roll into a 9-inch log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 4 days. 

**Alternatively, I put the dough into a ziplock baggie, seal the baggie and roll the dough out flat in the bag. Refrigerate and then when ready to roll, you simply cut the ziplock bag away and cut with cookie cutters for little shapes or use a pastry cutter to make strips or squares, etc. Learned this tip from Alton Brown and it makes it pretty easy once the dough is cold and there is little to no mess to clean up!

Baking:
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the log into 3/8-inch-thick rounds with a small, sharp knife and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 22 minutes, until very lightly browned. Rotate the pan once during baking. Cool and serve at room temperature. 

Serve:

You can certainly serve these any way you like, but we'll likely follow Ina's lead and create a lovely platter with fresh, seasonal fruit like mangos, red grapes, fresh pineapple, various cheeses and of course, the secret star to my little cheese plate party: my first Lonzino! 

**Don't worry, if you are interested and want to try your hand at cured meats, I am working on a companion post for just that, so stay tuned!

Smoke-a-licious Chicken Chipotle Tamales, Oh My!

What a super fun adventure we had! Ethnic grocery store shopping… even though we didn’t really set out to do that.

Seeing an opportunity to do a little stocking up, we decide to stop off at the Bodega Mercado, a Mexican super grocery store. Taking advantage of the moment, we head in to pick up a few things for our Mexican night with the kids this weekend.

Tsunami’s mother makes wonderful homemade picadillo (ground beef) tacos so for our family Sunday dinner this weekend, she’s coming over to make tacos. Unexpectedly, we have much to celebrate this weekend as a family. 

And since we based our family night on a number of ingredients that we both had on hand, turns out that Mexican night was certainly a good choice. All we were really missing was the ground beef, which they make fresh at the Bodega and so naturally, it was worth a visit.

In order to make use of a massive amount of smoked chicken we made the weekend before, we decide to try our hand at homemade tamales just to round things off. Neither of us have ever made tamales before, but his mama has so we both felt a sense of needing to get this right. Overachievers or true enthusiasts; take your pick.  Either way, we were definitely up to the challenge.

I was hoping to get masa at the grocery store pre-made for my first attempt but since they didn’t sell it in bulk, I thought why not just make it myself? What a shocker.  

I picked up corn husks, instant masa for tamales and decided to wing the rest. After all, I'm southern and have grown up eating Christmas tamales in Texas my whole life. I love to make things I love to eat and this would be no different. I just felt like it was somehow in my blood to make this and it turns out, I wasn't exactly wrong...

For some reason unknown to me, I stood in the aisle with the lard trying to decide whether I needed some. I had no idea that tamales actually require lard, but there I stood. Tsunami asks me, “Do we need lard? Why do we need lard? You don’t use Crisco either…” and he wanders off talking towards me about some black label habanero hot sauce he discovered and pointing out they have all kinds of pickled jalapenos en escabeche, which he knows I love. Kids in a candy store... 

But there I still stood, pondering and mesmerized. He starts to unload my arms for me because I’m carrying way too much without a basket as usual and with my free hand, I grab a tub of rendered pork fat that is produced by the market’s own meat department and restaurant. No clue why or what made me do it, but that's what I grab. Pork fat.

We carry on and head out with our goodies, which included the freshly ground beef we explicitly came to get for his mama's tacos. We also take home some manzano chili peppers which we are lucky enough to find fresh here in Florida and of course, the black label habanero hot sauce he was enthusing about earlier.

Once at home, I look up a couple of recipes in some of my cookbooks, research a few cooking sites online and all of them had one thing in common which I did not get: lard! Gosh darnit, I’m thinking to myself… there was a reason I was locked in place for fifteen minutes just standing there in front of the shelves of lard! But, then I remembered my pork fat! So I quickly google whether or not you can use rendered pork fat instead of lard and the resounding answer was yes! In fact most of the authentic Mexican recipes recommend rendered pork fat, if you are fortunate enough to obtain it. Aye aye aye!

And so… we endeavoured...

It should come as no surprise, but if someone ponders lard for 15 minutes, chances are good something will go right.

Our first tamales. And they couldn't have turned out better, more delicious or more satisfying. Maybe that is because we were both so fascinated with each part of the process.

Filling:
First, we had a bulk of smoked chicken quarters that we didn't want to go to waste. Not sure why I thought of it, but I decided that smoked chicken tamales were the ticket.

Next, I made a batch of fresh salsa and after pulling all of the smoked chicken off the bones, we marinate the cooked chicken again in the salsa overnight.

Once ready to make the tamales, we strained the chicken out in a colander and reserved the salsa liquid to make the tamale sauce below.

For the filling, it really was just the smoked salsa chicken. No other seasoning was required and it was delicious.

Tamale Sauce:

• Salsa from marinating the chicken
• 1 can of chipotles
• Poached, roasted garlic
• Garlic oil
• Honey
• Roasted whole fresh red jalapenos, charred in the oven until blackened

We put all but the oil and honey into the sauce pot and simmered on low. I dumped everything from the sauce pot into a blender and slowly added in about 2 tablespoons of garlic oil which made the sauce so smooth and silky.

At the end, I added about a tablespoon of honey just to soften the flavors and it turned out to be so delicious. I mean, come on... honey smoked chipotle tamale sauce... How can you not love it?  I practically licked the whole blender clean.

Corn Husks:
We bought corn husks which we brined overnight. I mean, why not? The husks are used to steam the tamales so why not add some flavor to that part of the party as well? You must soak the husks for a few hours or overnight like we did, so we just added flavor at the same time.

Tsunami used a jar of chile pepper brine we had on hand from making hot sauce and to it he added onion salt, garlic powder and black pepper. If you don't get all OCD like we do, but want to season your husks choose flavors that make sense like garlic, onion and fresh lime, for instance. It's very close to the flavor profiles we used to marinate the husks. We just like to use whatever we have on hand and we almost always save our chili pepper brine for just such an occasion.

Masa:
On to my first batch of masa. Here's how I made my first masa, which turned out perfect on my first try. Don't be intimidated. I was a little bit unsure of myself but I'm ok with failures in the kitchen so I was more unprepared for my success than I was expecting a little bit of a first time fail. Turns out, it wasn't at all hard.

• 2 pounds (4 cups) instant masa for tamales
• 10 oz (1 1/3 c) rendered pork fat (soft but not at all runny)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• ~ 2 cups of homemade chicken stock (yes, absolutely makes a difference)
• salt to taste

To make the masa, start by combining the masa flour with the pork fat. Just like a good pastry recipe, you combine the fat with the flour and it gets crumbly.  I just mixed it with a large fork, then added in the baking powder.

Next, add about 1 cup of chicken stock and keep adding more stock slowly until your tamale dough holds enough stock to be loose like a muffin or cake batter. Thick and fluffy, but not stiff and loose enough to spread. If it holds its form on a spoon but spreads easily like a thin icing, you are in good shape.

So for your first time making tamales, I suggest doing what I did. Google making tamales and watch a mamasita make them on youtube. I had no idea how to do the masa part and I found a video  not only instructional but it boosted my confidence as we began the process. It certainly helped a lot to have a partner in the kitchen to help, so we divided the tasks between us. I spread the masa using a spoon and my fingers. Meanwhile, my better half did the filling, rolled and tied the tamales.

Process:
Remove the husks from your brine, squeezing out excess brining liquid. They will steam the tamale filling so they don't need to be dry, just not dripping wet. Take any small or torn pieces and pull the husk apart creating thin strips which will be used as ties to tie the filled husks just before steaming.

Place the tapered end towards you and leaving about an inch of space at the tapered end, spread filling with a spoon or your fingers, applying the masa all the way to each side edge.  My first ones looked like the one in the pic, but I ended up doing it edge to edge and that worked nicely.

Don't go so thin, you see husk through the masa, but don't go so thick that it oozes out of the edges too much when you roll it up. Do a few and you'll see what I mean.

Place about a spoonful of filling (can be cooked meat, cheese, jalapeños, anything) down the center of the masa and then fold one side over the masa and seal like a roll of sorts with the other masa edge. This creates the tamale and the masa encloses the filling.

You never want to put masa on the entire husk. Just about half is good, leaving enough to allow you to fold over creating a bottom seal. Once the tamale is "rolled" the free end is folded over and creates an envelope of sorts with the tapered end remaining open. Don't worry, nothing falls out.

Cooking:
I used my rice cooker! Yep, that's right. I put a plate that fit the bottom of my rice cooker inside and layered the rest of the unused husks on top of that to create a steaming platform for the tamales. I added just enough water to cover the bottom without getting the husks wet. (You definitely won't like soggy tamales. )

I layered the tamales in the rice cooker and much to my surprise, I got 30 tamales in there perfectly. My rice cooker steams rice in about 20-25 minutes and I thought this would be perfect for the tamales. It was just right. My rice cooker goes into "warm" mode automatically but we were eager to try them so maybe about 40 minutes later, I took one out to test.

Tamales will pull easily out of their husks if they are done. The first one I tried made us both swoon in total amazement at what we had just done on our first try. It isn't rocket science but oh how satisfying when you do something simple so well. We quickly piled a few on plates and gobbled them up, serving them with more of the chipotle sauce on the side. Just incredible.

Just in case you were wondering... his mama came over yesterday to watch our new puppy while we went to Spring Training for the Marlins. Left at home with a warm rice cooker full of tamales, she proudly announced that they were so good, she ate 4. She also admired our ingenious use of the rice cooker and said that was the perfect way to reheat them. Super high praise coming from our favorite family chef!

**If you don't have a rice cooker but have a large stock pot with a steamer, use that. If you have a veggie steamer, you can use that. I just happened to have my rice cooker and suspected it would be perfect for this task and it really was. But in future, when we make more tamales and we most assuredly will make bulk tamales now that we know how, I will probably use a large 20-40 quart stockpot with a steamer basket.

**You may or may not know but tamales are excellent for freezing. Just take out what you need and re-steam. Perfect for stock piling.

**Another tip: get a $7 masa spreader.  Google it. Watch the tamale lady's video and you will never spread masa by hand again. Amazon sells them and I bought one immediately. It will get so much use and makes quick work out of this traditionally time consuming part of making tamales.

***UPDATE*** So of course, we make another batch of tamales once the masa spreader arrived. An absolute must, so glad I got it. This time we made just under 5 dozen tamales in about 40 minutes. And this time, we didn't fuss with tying the tamales. Just folded them up and put them in the steamer upright on their ends. This way, we got about 4 dozen in the rice cooker and we froze the other dozen or so fresh. I mean, after all, you will steam them again to reheat so why not just steam them fresh? That's what we're gonna try next. :) So fun and so delicious. We also got a little creative and made pizza tamales for the kids which were so yummy! Pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, pepperoni. So good.

Hong Kong Ham n Cheese - (Whatever. You'll love this.)

Hong Kong Ham n Cheese you say? Well... that's what I call it, so what? Even though I am not at all sure that Hong Kongers actually eat ham and cheese... I make a mental note to check into it.

I saw this concept while watching the Travel Channel about traveling to Italy. An Italian chef was demonstrating this dish with homemade pasta sheets that he cut into squares. I was instantly reminded of ravioli and convinced that I'm about to see an interesting take on a ravioli recipe. What he proceeds to do is to layer cheese, prosciutto onto the "ravioli" square and roll up like an enchilada. He cuts the roll-up in half and stands them upright in a round buttered ramekin.

Thoroughly intrigued, I watched the rest of show, running through a list of the super simple ingredients for the "rosetti" in my head:

• Pasta sheets
• Provolone slices
• Proscuitto slices
• Heavy cream
• salt, pepper

Not only did it look astoundingly simple and super easy to make, but it looked so creamy and delicious, I was pretty sure I'd never think of pasta and cheese the same way again.

Inspired, I try to think of ways to substitute the ingredients I didn't have on hand for my impromptu cooking event. I instantly jump off the couch and rummage through the freezer briefly before unearthing a perfectly frozen block of wonton wrappers, Hong Kong style. I smile to myself. "Oh you clever girl," I say to myself in my mind, a warm knowing building in my gastro-soul. Oh yes, this was gonna work in a spectacularly good sorta way.

My substitutions start to make me giddy as I go through my ingredients and start to gather my goodies for the experiment:

• Wonton wrappers, Hong Kong style = Pasta sheets
• Serrano ham = Prosciutto

Oh Hong Kong!  Just you wait and see how I cross some culinary borders with you.

The ingredients are simple, easy to obtain and I almost always have all of it on hand any given day in my kitchen, except for the fresh pasta sheets.

Believe it or not, I almost always have prosciutto on hand as well, but too impatient to wait or cut it thinly, I grab the next closest, porky thing: my beloved Serrano ham. Serrano ham is Prosciutto's Spanish cousin and I buy it weekly, sliced very thin for the kids subs or quesadillas or salads. Very similar to prosciutto, but slightly sweeter.

Even though I don't have fresh pasta and could make it, I opt for ravioli's ethnic counter part: the humble wonton wrapper. I always have those on hand. Always. I will usually buy several packages at the Asian grocery store and keep them in the freezer until I need them. Tonight, I need them and knowing they defrost fairly quick, I take them out and self-rationalize that 20 minutes or so to wait for them to thaw was really not that long to wait for what I was convinced, would be, a culinary quick meal masterpiece.

Staples, reconfigured and reinterpreted in a comfort food-y kind of way.  My version, compared to the more elaborate Italian version, makes this a super fast throw down kinda family meal.

No matter what the heck you want to call it: Hong Kong Ham n Cheese, Minnesota Mac-n Hotdish, Italian Rosettis.... it will become a go-to. It has such a luscious, unctuous texture and flavor profile that you will seriously be able to con anyone into believing you slaved all day. Trust me.

So let's get on with it, shall we?

What you need:

• Shallow round baking dish or ramekins, buttered
• 1 package of square wonton wrappers, Hong Kong style
• Heavy cream
• salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• Sliced Serrano ham (prosciutto, honey or smoked ham, Canadian bacon)
• Provolone slices

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. From here, I did exactly what the Italian dude did, using my substitutions for pasta and ham instead.  I took out a wonton wrapper, layered a piece of sliced provolone on top, layered a piece of sliced ham on top of the provolone, then gently but firmly rolled the whole thing up. I cut each rolled wonton in half.
3. I used 3 inch buttered ramekins and stood each of the wonton halves upright on their ends, repeating the process until I had a fairly tightly packed little ramekin stuffed with stuffed rollups, standing flat on their ends. 
4. Drizzle in enough heavy cream on top of the roll ups until it just comes to the top of the roll ups.
5. Sprinkle salt and cracked black pepper on top to taste.

Bake:

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the tops are golden and bubbly. 

**To be cautious and avoid a mess, I put the ramekins on a cookie sheet just in case the bubbling cheese bubbles over in the oven.

Now, just go ahead and try your best to wait for them to cool... First of all, the smell of them baking in the oven will have you standing there waiting for them to be done. Secondly, they look absolutely gorgeous. Don't burn your mouth. No lie, you won't be able to resist. I couldn't and they are hot as hell.

But oh boy, make this and tell me how much you love me because you may just think this the coolest thing since Mac n cheese. Just all grown up and beautiful.

Alternative ideas:

The kids in my house love lasagna so as a lure, I thought I might reproduce this recipe using no-cook instant lasagne noodles. I mean, how much easier could that get? Instead of rolling them up and using the pasta sheets or wonton wrappers, go super-freak easy and use lasagna sheets to make a "white" lasagna. I'm doing it this weekend, so I'll know whether my teenage-friendly, insta-mom dinner menu is a success or fail. Either way, I know it will not go to waste. And while not any pickier than other teens, they just like what they like and so I'll make both red and white lasagna for Italian Fest night, which they love anyway. I have great success sneaking in new things when I create the "package" approach. Tutti a tavola a mangiare, as Lydia would say!! lol!

Update: turns out this is one of THE family favorites. It is a regular request, along with our Italian bread and garlic butter. This is their grown up mac n cheese comfort food favorite. 

Probiotics What?! - Sous Vide Yogurt

Super cool way to make yogurt!  If you have a sous vide device, of course... 

I mean, who needs probiotics if you actually know what they are? If you eat yogurt at all, or naturally fermented pickles or sauerkraut or any cultured foods, you are getting probiotics in a totally natural way. And yes, that includes yogurt!

I love making homemade yogurt and as you may have guessed from some of my previous posts, I am especially fond of gadgets and cooking tools.

I've used several yogurt making tools in the past but when I moved to Florida, the bottom heating element of my favorite yogurt maker got lost somehow in the move.

No big deal, I thought. As I have my YoLife non electric thermos yogurt maker, I knew I wouldn't really have to do without. My Euro Cuisine yogurt maker was great, but still... just couldn't quite find it justifiable to buy another uni-purpose kitchen tool. Getting more practical in my culinary old age and even more particular when it comes to storing bulky tools in my limited kitchen space. Let's face it, no matter how big your kitchen is, if you love to cook, your space is always limited.

When it comes to making good quality yogurt, it is as simple as this: you must start with good quality yogurt and good quality whole milk. No way around it. And therein lies it's most rewarding feature. You can use virtually ANY good quality yogurt you like as long as it has active yogurt cultures. In fact, reading a label should be quick because it should really only have one ingredient: cultured dairy. Cultured dairy is actually comprised of two ingredients. Dairy (milk or cream) and live active cultures. Often, the active cultures will be explicitly labeled as well.

When choosing yogurt as a starter, I'm a purist in this regard. Not to mention, I'm not a fan of artificial anything... not a fan of preservatives, additives to alter coloring or artificial flavorings of any kind. But that is a personal preference to be sure. I suppose it bears mentioning though, that if you want the benefits of probiotics you need to dispense with the artificial sugars, additives and preservatives, etc. Defeats the purposes of probiotics in the diet, which is to course correct the over indulgence all of us have for processed foods containing sugars and all the bad juju associated with today's modern illnesses, including obesity. Do your gut a favor and go as natural as you can, from time to time.

For the sake of this blog post, I am referring to dairy yogurts made from milk.  I have made other types of non-dairy yogurt for the paleos out there, but really, my heart always comes back to whole milk yogurts.

If your yogurt contains additives or preservatives or flavorings or gelatins or thickening agents like guar gum, etc. just leave it on the shelf... It won't produce a clone of the original product no matter what you do and you may be inclined to think it is harder than it really is or that you've done something wrong.  Trust me on this, you haven't done anything wrong. But for the sake of replicating your favorite yogurt, your yogurt choice matters. After all, who can replicate unnatural manufactured yogurt with an indefinite shelf life? Yogurt is a fresh product and the fewer, natural ingredients involved, the more likely you are to replicate it to perfection... Yogurt is alive. You know you have the right one if it contains 2-3 natural dairy ingredients and ACTIVE or LIVE cultures.

In order to replicate yogurt indefinitely, you need to think of it the same way as you think of other cultured and fermented products. Cultured products need to be fed. Like sourdough... If you've ever worked with sourdough starters, the concept is exactly the same. The culture or starter needs to be fed regularly in order to multiply and culture the newly added fresh ingredients. You add more flour and water to a sourdough starter and the starter feeds on the fresh ingredients, culturing the new ingredients to make more sourdough. If done well, the cultures can live almost indefinitely.

The way this works in yogurt is much the same way.  You take a starter yogurt, such as Dannon whole fat plain yogurt, add fresh whole milk to this and leave it for 12-24 hours to culture the new milk.  That's it.

Well, almost.  The reason there is no finite time is that everyone's environment and kitchen temperature is different. In days of old, yogurt was made by heating yogurt in a thick vessel designed to retain the heat and then left overnight or up to a day to culture.

The reason for this, and I won't go into extraordinary detail (or I guess I already have :) is because yogurt is a mesophilic culture. What does that mean??? Well, it means it cultures at a medium temperature range, which means a yogurt culture must be kept at 110 degrees during the culturing process.

That is what these high priced and lower end yogurt makers do... they maintain a constant temperature for the culturing yogurt. Nothing more or less. If you want to make a lot of yogurt, you need a big vessel or large yogurt making appliance. If you do just a pint at a time, a smaller tool will do the trick or you can do it the old fashioned way as well.

BUT... if you have a sous vide device, you can do so much more than just make yogurt!! Not only can you make incredible steaks, soups, eggs, sauces, fish, etc... but you can make as little or as much yogurt as you want!

Here's what you need:
Fresh cultured whole fat plain yogurt
Fresh whole fat milk
Sous vide device (110 degrees F, 12 hours)
Jar or glass container with a fitted lid

There is no special ratio of yogurt to milk, or maybe there is, but in my experience it is very forgiving. What is important is to have active live cultures in your yogurt and fresh whole milk. You can absolutely use percent or low fat or skim milk, but to make your new starter, I recommend whole milk. It makes a thicker, luscious product that sets up so nicely. But do what you must.... I'm never one to stick with the rules either. :)

As a guide:
1-2 tbsp yogurt to 1 cup of milk

Or for someone that doesn't mess around:
1-2 cups yogurt to 1 half gallon (64 oz) of milk

Now if those ratios don't quite equal each other, I send love and apologies as the Pioneer woman likes to say. I send love and apologies to her for stealing that line because I love it so much.

I use whatever vessel I'm going to use to store it in to finish the process. To me, that is absolutely a large 1/2 gallon mason jar from Amazon. (These work beautifully for the broccoli and cauliflower soups as well as the Oyster stew my Florida boy loves to make.) I also have a vacuum sealer with the jar attachment that I use to seal the jars prior to putting in the sous vide water bath. But hey, if you know you will be eating it right away, why bother vacuum sealing it, right? Me, I will make a couple of these at a time.

Method:
Add your yogurt culture to the jar, followed by the milk and shake with the lid on or stir very well to incorporate the yogurt with the milk. If you see yogurt settling on the bottom of the jar, keep going. You want it well distributed.

Sous-viding (yep just made that up!):
Start your large sous vide bath and set the timer for 12 hours with a temp of 110 degrees F. At a constant, precision controlled temperature, you can almost certainly reproduce consistent results in a consistent time frame if you ensure that you started with enough cultured yogurt for the amount of milk you use. In this case, overachieving is better than underachieving and by that I mean, when in doubt, use more yogurt in your ratio than using less. You won't hurt it by using too much but it may take longer to culture if you use too little. How do you know? Well, it will set up and look fairly solid, not liquid-y. And you will see it jiggle in the jar. So scientific, huh? Haha.

Yogurt styles:
Do it a few times and you will get the hang of it.  And guess what? If you like Greek yogurt, start with Greek yogurt. Just follow the guideline I provided: whole fat plain Greek yogurt, no additives or preservatives of any kind, including sugars or sweeteners. Greek yogurts are a different culture than say, American style yogurts. If you like Lebanese yogurt, use that. Indian yogurt? Use that. Use what you love as long as it fits the bill.

Yogurt Flavoring:
And if you want a Greek honey yogurt or flavoring of any kind, just wait until you make the yogurt and it is refrigerated.  This is the finished product. You can flavor the finished product with whatever in the world floats your boat. Fruit or berries, sweeteners like honey or agave or organic sugars or you can even do savory flavorings.... Can you say Tzatziki? Neither can I but I sure do love Tzatziki.

**And just in case you weren't sure, yes, you do need to refrigerate your yogurt once you are done.