Suggestions--Need to use up yogurt

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If it is vanilla flavor you could just pour it over a chicken breast and cook it up.
 
I use it, half and half with mayo, and a package of ranch dressing mix (and/or when my herb garden is going gangbusters, fresh chopped herbs) to make the best ever ranch dressing. Hubby calls it "Claire's Super Secret Sauce" because I do so much with it. Wasabi, regular horseradish, catsup & pickles. Cole Slaw, baked potato topping. I could go on forever.
 
Oh, watch out when it comes to using it as a meat marinade. Only an hour or three, never overnight. I've had yogurt literally eat meat up and turn it to mush. Tenderizing CAN be taken to extremes. Anyone else have that experience?
 
Came home last knight and decided to use my own advice. Kids went nuts. :rolleyes: They love breakfast for diner. Made pancakes per above recipe. It was great and it took 20 minutes from start to finish.
 
Question: I put the yogurt in a strainer w/ coffee filters last night. It seems to have gotten the coffee filters damp, which tells me that it is getting out the water, but it still looks like yogurt. I thought it was supposed to be "drier"...Thoughts?? Maybe I put too much in the strainer at once? I think I opened about 4 little cups (16 oz). This morning, I put a filter on top, just in case I did put too much.

Charlie, I am making yogurt pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. :)
 
htc said:
Question: I put the yogurt in a strainer w/ coffee filters last night. It seems to have gotten the coffee filters damp, which tells me that it is getting out the water, but it still looks like yogurt. I thought it was supposed to be "drier"...Thoughts?? Maybe I put too much in the strainer at once? I think I opened about 4 little cups (16 oz). This morning, I put a filter on top, just in case I did put too much.

The objective is to drain the whey/liquid out to make it more of a cream cheese-like/thicker texture - but not dry texture. The damp/wet filters are a good sign. Did you notice any liquid in the plate/dish under the colander? This indicates it's draining out the liquids. Dump the liquid out, & replace the plate if you wish. Thinking 16 oz/1lb might be a lot to drain at one time if piled up in a clump. Not sure I understand putting a coffee filter on top? If you put too much in and can't spread it out between two colanders (since you've started), try changing/replacing the damp/wet filters with new filters. Not to worry - if it's in the fridge - it's still okay to use for a recipe. Don't wait too long.
 
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There wasn't any liquid at the bottom, which is what concerned me. I will try new filters and put less in. I put a filter on top thinking maybe it would absorb more liquid. Probably just served to make things messier for me. :LOL:

Thanks!!
 
Coffee filters are not porous enough - as you've discovered. You need something porous enough to let the whey drain out while retaining the curd. Think in terms of cheesemaking ... you need cheesecloth.

When I make yogurt cheese, I take a double or triple layer of cheesecloth, dump a 16-oz container of yogurt in the middle of it, pull the corners up and tie them with string. I then hang this from a cabinet doorknob over the sink for 8-48 hours - depending on the texture and amount of "twang" I'm after. After about 4 hours - you can gently squeeze it every couple hours if you want to squeeze out more whey and make it dryer. When ready - I dump it in a plastic container and refrigerate for up to a week. Depending on how long you drain it, and how much you squeeze it - you can get the moist consistency of cream cheese, or dry and crumbly like feta.

Yes, you can do this in the refrigerator - it just won't develop any additional flavors, except for what it might absorb from the refrigerator. Tie it up in the cheesecloth like above, then place in a mesh strainer and suspend this over a bowl that has at least 1-inch clearance for the whey to drain out. Heck, you could tie the string from the cheesecloth to a pencil and suspend it over a narrow container of some sort if you want - it really doesn't matter.

Hope this gives you some ideas and helps.
 
I use my method because I don't have doorknobs on my cabinets. :LOL::-p
 
Hi Michael, thanks for the tip. I came home this afternoon and took out some of the yogurt and put new filters down. It's been almost 8 hours and still same results as yesterday. I think I have some cheesecloth laying around somewhere I will give it another go.

Thanks!
 
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