To a Special Lady

This is over a week old but my Mother had a birthday and I love treating her on her special day because she treats everyone else every other day of the year. So I snuck over to her house at the crack of dawn and put up decorations she was awake but I had eyes on the inside keeping her clueless and I had breakfast all prepared.
Happy Birthday Mum.

Blueberries, home made yoghurt and Muesli 

Yoghurt Recipe

2 litres non-homogenized milk

3 tbsp live natural yoghurt

1 vanilla bean

½ cup sugar (optional)

Preparation

Heat treatment 

This is required to destroy any spoilage bacteria, thus allowing the desirable bacteria no competition to produce enough lactic acid to preserve the yoghurt. It also denatures the proteins a little, giving the yoghurt more viscosity.

Firstly, heat the milk, sugar and vanilla bean with seeds scraped out in a sterile pan to 92°C – you can use a double boiler or put it straight on the heat (be very careful not to burn the milk as this will taint the product – keep stirring!). You will need to use a thermometer to check this temperature and keep stirring to ensure an even temperature throughout. Once the 92°C is attained, remove the pan from the heat.

Reduce heat quickly from 92°C to 35°-40°C. Place the pan in a cold-water bath – use a double boiler system and replace the cold water, or put the pan straight into a sink if deep enough. Check the temperature frequently.

Adding the starter

Once the milk reaches 38°C, add the yoghurt and stir. Pour the milk into sterilised jars and fill right to the top, leaving no gap. 

Never add the starter if the milk is higher than 45°C.

Afterwards, your own yoghurt can be used as the “mother” to make the next batch. However, over a few batches, the nature of the bacterial content may change slightly and, with it, the texture and flavour of the yoghurt may begin to change. If this is the case, start again with commercial yoghurt.

Incubation

It is very important to get this right – if the temperature is too warm, then one bacteria will grow faster than the others and this will result in imbalanced flavour and texture. In Australia, most commercial yoghurts are incubated at 42-43°C for 4-6 hours (the longer the incubation the stronger the yoghurt), while European yoghurts are incubated for 12-16 hours at 33-35°C.

Keep the sealed jars in a warm place for 12-18 hours. An easy way of doing this is to place the jars in a small eski, with water surrounding the jars at the correct temperature. You can check every few hours and adjust the water temperature as required by replacing with warmer water. During the incubation, the bacteria will convert the lactose into lactic acid and the pH will decrease to the point where coagulation occurs.

After coagulation occurs, do not place the yoghurt in the fridge for at least 1 hour – it is this time after coagulation has occurred that will determine the flavour intensity of the yoghurt; the longer it is left, the stronger the flavour.

Keep in a tightly sealed jar and use within a week of making it. 

Fruit Loaf 

Recipe by Teresa Cutter, The Healthy Chef

200 g  (2 cups) almond meal

1 tablespoon ground linseed (flaxseed )

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon bi carb soda ( baking soda )

4 free range / organic eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract

1 large red apple, chopped with the skin into chunks

80 g dried apricots (sulphur free )

60 g dried cranberries

30 g walnuts, chopped (optional but really good )

1 tablespoon honey

Preheat your oven to 180 C. (160 C FAN FORCED)

Mix almond meal, cinnamon, bi carb and linseed (flaxseed ).

Add eggs, honey and vanilla and mix through.

Add apple, dried fruit and walnuts.

Mix well – it will be very chunky, full of fruit.

Spoon into a loaf tin that you have lightly oiled and dusted with almond meal or coconut.

Smooth out the batter with the back of a spoon, making sure it’s all even.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden and cooked through and your kitchen smells wonderful.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for about 1 hour before turning out.

Serve alone or with a little ricotta or cottage cheese  + honey.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Banana Bread

265g (1 3/4 cups) self-raising flour

40g (1/4 cup) plain flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

140g (2/3 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

125ml (1/2 cup) skim milk

2 eggs, lightly whisked

50g butter, melted, cooled

2 overripe medium bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush an 11 x 21cm (base measurement) loaf pan with melted dairy spread to lightly grease. Line the base and 2 opposite sides with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang.

Sift the combined flours and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and make a well in the centre. Place the milk, eggs, melted butter and banana in a medium bowl, and stir until well combined. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.

Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into slices to serve.