All Jazzed Up with No Place to Go

If you were someone with the happy circumstance of being financially supported by your parents and living in Duncan and having no job or school work because the class you thought you were going to take has been cancelled you would know that sometimes you have days where you feel really jazzed up and you want to do something, but you don't know what the hell to do (phew, long sentence). When I first found myself in this situation it was easy to figure out what to do, because there was lots to do:

-clean the house
-purge the closets and get rid of stuff we don't need
-catch up on correspondence with long lost friends, relatives, and business acquaintances (haha, ok, I don't have the latter, it just sounded good)
-brush the cat
-exercise
-stockpile food of various types in the freezer so that when I actually am busy we won't go hungry because neither GP nor I thought about dinner
-take various online courses that give me basic skills I'd need in service jobs, such as Serving it Right and FoodSafe

Now that I've done most of those things (or have managed to form them into a somewhat mindless habit) there is very little to do all day, which is one of the reasons I have this blog. Right now I'm sitting outside with Friskies, enjoying a cup of tea and a cool breeze (what did we do before wireless internet?!). It seems I am, for all intensive purposes (hehe, a joke) an accidental housewife. Believe me, this does not thrill me but I'm coping asbestos I can (gawd, I'm hilarious today). So what do I do when I can't think of anything to do? Well, find out how to get certified as a fitness instructor, of course! Would you attend a fitness class led by me? Here's how I think mine would go.

Here are some pictures of the delicious things I've been cooking lately:

A few nights ago I made this yummy yummy seared snapper fillet with avocado and grilled veggies. Grilled veg is becoming a staple, it seems, and I am slowly starting to tire of zucchini, scrumptious as it is cooked on the grill with garlic and finished with a little lemon juice. If only we could eat chocolate zucchini cake, but no, GP never fails to remind me that I'm not eating what's best for my body every time something starchy or sugary comes close to my quivering salivating lips. Needless to say, I tell him I'd rather have a satisfied tummy than a perfect body, but he does have a point. I can't eat cake every day and feel good about myself. Goodness knows I've tried. Sometimes I think about making a pan of Rice Crispies Squares in the morning and eating the whole thing before he comes home. Pretty sure that borders on Bulimia, but let's not go there. Onwards!

Above you will see some chicken (quickly marinated in a simple garlic-rosemary-S&P-oil mixture) kebabs atop a basic Greek salad. I bought the olives pitted because I effing hate having to fiddle around with my teeth getting the pit out. Maybe it's a bit more expensive, but it's really worth it if, like me, you love kalamata olives but not the pits. Plus, if you buy your veggies at the Farm Market for a pittance you can afford to splurge on olives and scrum-diddly-umptious Feta cheese.

By the way, did you know that, since 2002, Feta has been one of those protected designation of origin products, like Champagne? Yup, it's only allowed to be called Feta if it was produced in Greece (or Lesvos) and is made of sheep's milk or a blend of sheep and goat's milk (the amount of goat's milk cannot exceed 30%). The more you know.

Anyway, the dinner was fucking tasty. We've been using a thermometer for our meat cooking and our chicken has been consistently amazingly juicy and tender. I think GP just likes using it because it makes cooking feel like a science experiment, but the results are amazing. People overcook their chicken so much, it's no wonder everyone is so afraid of putting it on the grill.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention the tzatziki I made! It's P90X-proof, meaning it has some added protein and no fat to speak of. I used the last of my most recent batch of yogurt, which I have been meaning to talk about here. I think the secret to a firm and successful yogurt is fourfold: add skim milk powder (I think I mentioned this in my post on yogurt), use a powdered store-bought starter, incubate for more than 12 hours, and strain half of the yogurt for about half an hour to add back to the unstrained portion. The last step is especially important for a thicker, creamier yogurt. I was impressed at how deceivingly creamy our skim milk yogurt turned out when I did this. It wasn't as mouth-stickingly thick as the very first batch in my previous yogurt post, but it was the exact consistency I was going for: a bit firmer than commercial yogurt, but not as firm as sour cream. Plus, the extra hours yielded a more sour and very pleasant taste.

Anyway, I kind of got sidetracked by the yogurt. The tzatziki consisted of the leftover yogurt, some garlic, lemon juice, dill, and S&P to taste. I didn't add cucumber because GP and I aren't too keen on lumps, but if you did add cucumber you would want to strain it after you grated it for maybe half an hour and then plonk it into the sauce.

I Did It, I Did It!

I am very excited. After having tried to make yogurt on 3 different occasions and wasting countless cups of milk (sorry cows, I know it was disrespectful of me to waste something that took you considerable energy to make), I've finally made a batch that worked! I credit my spiffy new digital thermometer and a more intimate understanding of the yogurt-making process.

I think the mistake I kept making was not waiting long enough for the milk to cool down before inoculating (isn't that gross? That's the word yogurt people use) the milk with the starter yogurt. This time I knew exactly what I was doing because I had my fancy schmancy thingamabob to tell me what was going on. I just stuck it to the side of the saucepan when I poured the milk in and it worked like a hot damn!

The other key to my success (I think) was my incubation device. Before, I was putting the inoculated (ok, I actually just like saying that word and I'm pretty sure the only reason yogurt people use it is because they are pretentious pricks and they like saying it too) milk in a bowl in my little picnic cooler with hot water surrounding it. Yesterday, however, I had the bright idea of putting it in my Laken thermos! How brilliant of me!

I made my yogurt with only two cups of milk because all my previous experiences have made me a little gun-shy. Next time I'll definitely use more. Here are the steps it took me to come to my delicious conclusion:

1. Sterilize the incubation device (so scientific) by boiling enough water to fill it and pouring it into the device, letting it sit for 5 minutes or until your milk is ready. You should also sterilize a little bowl in which you'll mix the starter yogurt and milk. This is to make sure no bacteria get in the milk and compete with the yogurt bacteria for growing room. I'm not really sure if this is actually an effective sterilization method, but it worked for me!

2. Heat two cups of milk (I used 1%, but I don't think the fat content makes much difference) to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, for the same reason as step number one. Stir constantly to prevent scalding and ensure an accurate read on your thermometer.

3. Take the milk off the heat-source and cool to 112 degrees Fahrenheit. While you're waiting for it to cool, dump the water out of the small cup you set aside earlier and put 1/4 cup of starter yogurt in it. It must be plain- no flavouring. I bought a single-serving cup of organic Olympic yogurt and used around half of it.

4. When the milk has cooled to 112 degrees, mix a small amount of it in with the yogurt in the small cup, working quickly so as not to let the milk cool below 108 degrees. Pour the yogurt-milk slurry into the saucepan of milk and whisk to ensure incorporation.

5. Pour the water out of your thermos and then dump the inoculated (hehehehe) milk into it. Tightly seal the lid(s) and wrap a terry bath towel around the thermos, securing it with an elastic band or two. I'm not sure the towel part is necessary, but I did that so I'm not going to take any chances by not fully disclosing my process. Plus, extra insulation never hurt anyone.

6. Let the mixture sit overnight, or at least 8 hours, without moving the container. After 8 hours you should decant your yogurt and chill it. It will be lumpy and slightly runny. I took an extra step, however.

Extra step: 7. (This step will significantly reduce your yogurt yield but also make it significantly yummy.) Line a mesh strainer with a large coffee filter as in the photograph above. Place over a bowl and pour the yogurt into the filter. Lucky for us, it will hold exactly two cups. Cover with saran wrap (not sure this is necessary, but whatever), bung it in the fridge and wait for an hour or so while it de-moisturizes. You will be left with very thick yogurt, like Greek yogurt but not as bad for you. Gently peel the coffee filter away from the yogurt (no need to scrape with a spoon) and discard the whey that has collected in the bowl. I can't wait to eat it!

Next time I think I'll double the recipe (4 cups milk, 1/2 cup yogurt starter) and add 1/3 cup of skim milk powder. This is supposed to give a thicker consistency, which may prevent me from having to strain the yogurt at the end and thus not waste so much.
Results!