Obsession

I spent a few days this last week away from the farmlet while visiting AntiGene and UnklEd in the Bay of Plenty. In a beautiful collision of schedules, my stay overlapped with that of Cuzzie Ruth, and we all had a lovely catch up.

It was a delightful interlude. As always there was delicious food and lively conversation, attempts to walk off the many excess calories consumed, and a generous serving of op shopping. One night Ruth and I danced to ‘Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)’. On repeat. For about 2 hours. There may have been gin and tonic involved.

AntiGene joined the dancing for a time. UnklEd, bless him, smiled indulgently while moving around his (famous-in-our-family) music room adjusting the mixer and the many amps (all Rotel RA-610‘s) to give us awesome sound. Talk about Forbearing Rellies.

Portrait of UnklEd, by AntiGene.

But back to the subject of delicious food. After eating coconut milk yoghurt Ruth and I became completely obsessed with making it. In case you haven’t tried yogurt made from coconut milk you must run out immediately, (Yes. Really. Right now!) and obtain some. It is the most delicious thing ever, and apparently (at least at for the next five seconds until it goes out of fashion), really good for you.

Sadly it is also cripplingly expensive. This is a great shame since neither Ruth nor I, or I assume any of The Readership, are exactly loaded. Fear not though, Ruth and I have unlocked the enigma of coconut yogurt and have successfully created several batches now for next to nix. Here’s how we did it (spoiler for experienced yogurt makers: it’s just like making regular yogurt).

Ingredients. We used the last of the contents of that jar to start this batch

You will need:

• 2-4 tablespoons of coconut yoghurt for your starter. The ingredients listed on the packaging should contain acidophilus, or ‘live culture’. We used Cathedral Cove brand which has no additives and I bought it from New World ($10 for 500mls). After the first batch you can use your own home-made stuff as your starter.
• Coconut milk – we used Kara brand, which from memory was around $7 for 1 litre.
• A glass jar or heat resistant plastic container with a lid. An empty jam jar works fine.
• A way to keep your incipient yogurt warm for a few hours while it develops. A wide mouth thermos or one of those insulated ‘yoghurt makers’ will work, or you could wrap it in a tea towel and pop it in the airing cupboard. Our thermos came from the Omokoroa op-shop ($4).

What to do:

1. Sterilise your jar or container in boiling water, don’t forget the lid.
2. Heat the coconut milk in a saucepan over a low heat stirring constantly, until it is warm, but not hot. Test it with your finger, you are aiming for a temperature you would feel happy bathing a small child in (or for those of you who have avoided bathing small children, about 40C).
   

   Heating the coconut milk.

3. Transfer the warmed coconut milk to your jar and stir in your starter. You don’t have to be too exact with the amount of starter. We used the last dollop left in the jar after eating most of the contents and just poured our warmed coconut milk into it. You want to stir gently but thoroughly.
4. Seal the jar and keep your yogurt baby warm for 8-12 hours.
   

   Transfer jar of newly started yogurt to a wide mouth thermos, or wrap it up and pop in the airing cupboard.

5. Test after 6-8 hours. The coconut milk should have solidified a bit and be tasting yogurt-y. If you like a more tangy flavour leave it to develop longer, for a smoother flavour test earlier next time. The culture will stop developing when once it cools down in the fridge.
6. Try not to eat it all at once.

Ruth, all blurry with excitement as we make coconut yogurt! This was batch number two.

So, those are my stories from the last week. What have you been up to? Anyone as obsessed by a Father John Misty song, or by coconut yogurt, as these two cuzzies?

Update: I just tested our recipe with canned ‘Fair Trade’ coconut milk since I couldn’t find ‘Kara’ brand at the local New World. Although it tasted like yogurt after 10 hours ‘developing’ this version stayed very liquid and I feared it was a fail. It’s okay though, after being in the fridge for a while it has firmed up and is delicious. 🙂