Lebanese Laban Yogurt Food

LABNEH (LEBANESE YOGURT)

Steps:

• Mix Greek yogurt, olive oil, mint, dill, and kosher salt together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate up to 12 hours.

HOMEMADE LABAN (YOGURT)

Steps:

• Heat the milk: Rinse a large heavy saucepan (3-quart or larger) with cool water. Add the milk, and if using, clip a digital thermometer in the pan. Bring to just below a boil (210 degrees) at medium low heat, about 15 minutes. Stay nearby, because the milk will froth up and as it begins to boil it will rise up swiftly in the pan. Remove from the heat immediately.
• Cool the milk and add the starter: Let the milk cool down to 110-115 degrees, stirring occasionally. If you are not using a thermometer, the equivalent is when your pinkie can just withstand being swirled in the milk for ten seconds. Arriving at this temperature can take an hour. If the milk cools below 110 degrees, gently warm it up to 110-115 degrees. If in this process of reheating, the temperature goes above 115 degrees, wait again until it comes back down to 110-115. Spoon a few tablespoons of the milk at this temperature into the yogurt (rawbi) starter, then stir that starter yogurt into the milk. You will notice a skin forms on the surface of the milk; that can be stirred right in with the starter, or spooned out.
• Rest the milk: Remove the thermometer if you've used one, and cover the pan. Set the pan aside, undisturbed, in a warm spot for anywhere from 6 to 10 hours, or overnight. An ideal incubator is the oven, turned off (the oven can be heated on the lowest setting for a minute before placing the pan in, just to encourage warmth, but be sure to turn it off immediately).
• Chill the yogurt: Remove the pot from the oven. The milk will have thickened into yogurt. Place, undisturbed as of yet, into the refrigerator for 1-3 days to further set the yogurt before eating or straining to thicken.
• Congratulations: small batch, handcrafted deliciousness is yours. Check this out for more on straining the laban, and the very many special ways to enjoy eating it.

LEBANESE LABAN (YOGURT)

Steps:

• Place a couple of tablespoons of the milk in a small container and stir in the yogurt to make it more liquid.
• Bring milk to a boil. Place aside until lukewarm.
• Stir in yogurt (don't stir too much). Cover pot with lid. Wrap pot with a wool cover. Place in a warm place for 6 hours. Be careful not to move the pot during this time.
• Cool in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

LABAN (YOGURT)

Steps:

• Heat milk on low heat until it almost comes to a boil (you don't want it to boil over or burn on the bottom of the pot).
• Immediately remove from heat and cool until lukewarm. Add 4 tbs of milk to the yogurt and stir until smooth.
• Stir the yogurt into the milk and pour milk into a plastic or glass container and wrap in a heavy blanket. Store in a warm place until it thickens (about 6 hours), then refrigerate.

LEBANESE LABAN MUTBOUKH (COOKED YOGURT)

Steps:

• Place yogurt in a heavy saucepan.
• Blend beaten egg white into the yogurt.
• Add cornstartch& salt.
• Stir in the same direction until well blended.
• Place pan over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon.
• Heat until it starts to boil, always stir in the same direction (this is important).
• Lower heat and let it simmer 3-5 minutes until thick.
• Use as required in recipes (Laba Bil Bayd-Eggs in yogurt is one recipe that calls for it- see separate posting).

KOUSA BI LABAN

Steps:

• For the stuffed zucchini: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the ground top round and ground lamb and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Lebanese seven spices, cinnamon, cardamom, 1/2 cup of the pine nuts and the parsley and stir gently. Set aside to cool.
• Cut the stem off the top of the zucchini. Using a vegetable corer or small spoon, core the zucchini by gently removing the center while leaving the sides intact. Fill the center of the zucchini with the filling, packing to make tight and leaving a 1/2-inch space between the filling and the top.
• Add the vegetable oil to a large skillet over medium heat and fry the zucchini for a few minutes, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the zucchini to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
• Arrange the stuffed zucchini side by side in a large pot of simmering water. Sprinkle with salt, reduce the heat and cover. Cook until the zucchini is tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 20 minutes. Remove the zucchini and reserve the cooking liquid.
• For the yogurt sauce: Place the yogurt in a medium high-sided skillet over medium heat. Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Add the cornstarch mixture to the yogurt and cook, stirring, until it begins to steam, about 5 minutes. Add the white pepper and sea salt. Add 3 spoonfuls of the reserved zucchini cooking liquid. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 3 minutes.
• Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and dried mint and cook while stirring until browned, about 3 minutes. While stirring, add the garlic mixture to the yogurt and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Carefully drop the partially cooked zucchini in the yogurt sauce and continue cooking until completely done, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup pine nuts on top to garnish. Serve hot with vermicelli rice.
• Heat the vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Drop the vermicelli noodles into the pan and stir every few seconds until they are browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a towel-lined plate.
• Bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the rice, noodles, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the sea salt. Stir together, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.

YOGURT CHEESE - 'LABANEE', IN ARABIC

Steps:

• Although the original recipe doesn’t call for non-fat yogurt, non-fat works fine.
• Some recipes almost demand a little fat to smooth their texture on the tongue.
• This can be provided by beating a little bit of mayonnaise or olive oil into the non-fat yogurt cheese.
• It’s still fat, but at least it’s cholesterol free fat.
• If you are skinny and don’t have to worry about dietary fat, you can use low-fat or whole-milk yogurt, and then you won’t have to worry about adding oil.
• Bring 2 quarts of yogurt to room temperature, and stir thoroughly to smooth and break up all lumps.
• Optionally, you can add ½ Tsp salt (original recipe, we usually don’t, because we use this for so many different things).
• Line a colander with a couple of dampened paper towels or a clean, dampened, loose weave cotton towel.
• Pour yogurt into the colander, cover with another paper towel or plastic wrap.
• Place in the sink, or in a bowl which is small enough to hold the colander away from its bottom.
• Let drain for about 8 hours for sour cream consistency or for 24 hours for cream cheese consistency; the longer it drains, the thicker it gets.
• If you are a real freak, you can refrigerate the yogurt while it drains, but it’s not really necessary.
• Yogurt is a living organism; it is cultured in warmth, and it thrives on it (within reason).
• Draining will normally reduce the yogurt by about half for sour cream consistency, or by about two-thirds for cream cheese consistency.
• We normally go all the way to cream cheese consistency and mix in a little low-fat milk if we need it thinner.

LEBANESE LABAN BIL BAYD (EGGS IN YOGURT GARLIC SAUCE)

Steps:

• Make the cooked yogurt and leave to simmer.
• Crush the garlic with 1/2 tsp salt and blend in the mint (crush the mint so it is a course powder).
• Heat the clarified butter in a fry pan and add the garlic mixture, stir fry for 5 minutes.
• Pour the cooked yogurt into a shallow ovenprrof dish.
• Break the eggs and place them evenly on the yogurt (careful not to break the eggs).
• Pour the garlic butter mixture over the eggs and bake for 15-20 minutes until the eggs are cooked (hard).

LABNEH (LEBANESE CREAM CHEESE)

Steps:

• Line a large colander with a cheesecloth. Stir salt into the yogurt, and pour the yogurt into the cheesecloth. Set the colander in the sink or bowl to catch the liquid that drains off. Leave to drain for 24 hours.
• After draining for the 24 hours, transfer the resulting cheese to a bowl. Stir in the olive oil. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.