Yoghurt Cheese in Olive Oil

Sheep’s milk is widely used in cheese making in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Greece where sheep’s yoghurt is hung in muslin to drain off the whey before patting into balls of soft cheese. Here it’s bottled in extra virgin olive oil with chilli and herbs making an appropriate gift for a friend who enjoys Greek cuisine.

Ingredients:

750g Greek sheep’s yoghurt

2.5ml salt

10ml chilli powder or chilli flakes

15ml chopped fresh rosemary

15ml chopped fresh thyme or oregano

About 300ml olive oil, preferably garlic flavoured

Fills 2 x 450g jars

Method:

Sterilise a 30cm square of muslin or cheesecloth by steeping it in boiling water. Drain and lay over a large plate.

Mix the yoghurt with the salt and tip on to the centre of the muslin. Bring up the sides of the muslin and tie firmly with string. Hang the bag of yoghurt over a large bowl to catch the whey and leave it in a cool place for 2-3 days, or until the whey stops dripping.

Wash thoroughly and dry two 450g glass preserving jars. Sterilise them by heating them in an oven preheated to 150˚C for 15 minutes.

Mix together the chilli and herbs. Take teaspoonfuls of the cheese and roll into balls with your hands. Lower into the jars, sprinkling each layer with the herb mixture.

Pour the olive oil over the soft cheese balls until they are completely covered. Mix gently with the handle end of a wooden spoon in order to blend the flavourings through the olive oil, making sure that you do not break up the cheese balls. Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

To serve the cheese, spoon out of the jars with a little of the flavoured olive oil and spread on lightly toasted bread or savoury biscuits.

Peperonata

This Southern Italian dish is most often served as a vegetable or as a sauce for pasta. 

It can be stored in a mason jar in the fridge for about 1 week and makes a delicious salad.

Ingredients:

4 yellow peppers, deseeded and cut into strips

4 yellow peppers, deseeded and cut into strips

2 onions, peeled and sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Olive oil

2 firm, ripe tomatoes, deseeded and cubed

1-2ml chilli powder

45ml wine vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the peppers, onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes until tender. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the chilli powder, vinegar and seasoning. Allow to cool and serve at room temperature.

Sweet and Sour Onions

These onions can be prepared in advance, stored in a Mason Jar and kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. Although they are great served at room temperature, they are better reheated before serving. If served with a braai, they can be eaten just like pickled onions.

Ingredients:

24-30 pickling onions, washed but unpeeled

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ chicken stock cube

60ml soft brown sugar

60ml dark vinegar

45ml tomato sauce

10ml soy sauce

15ml cornflour

125ml cold water

Method:

With just enough water to cover, combine onions, garlic and chicken stock in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to the boil; cook for three minutes. Drain onions with a slotted spoon; refresh under cold water. Reserve the cooking liquid.

When cool enough to handle, remove the skins and return them to the cooking liquid, where they will add colour and flavour to the sauce. Boil and reduce the liquid to about 125ml; strain and discard the skins.

Return onions to the cooking liquid; add vinegar, sugar, tomato sauce, soy sauce and cornflour slaked with 125ml cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring gently for about 5 minutes until the sauce is smooth and thickened, and the onions are crisp-tender. Serve hot or allow to cool and store in the fridge until required.

Beetroot and Onion Salad

When selecting beetroots, don’t buy limp leaved beets; choose instead undamaged vegetables that won’t lose moisture and flavour when they are cooked. Furthermore, when cooking the beets, leave the whiskery roots and a little of the leaf stalks intact. From a cooking point of view, it’s good to have beets of an even size.

Ingredients:

5 large cooked beetroot, skinned and thinly sliced

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

60ml vinegar

Sugar

Salt and pepper

Method:

Combine the beetroot and onion in a bowl.

Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper to taste and pour over the vinegar.

Allow the salad to stand for about 30 minutes before serving or store in a large sterilised mason jar in the fridge.