With yoghurt, fresh herbs, a little bit of garlic, salt and pepper, you can make the tastiest fresh Cream Cheese yourself -and best of all it is cheap and healthy.
When I had the restaurant VILLA FRIDHEM in Stockholm in the early 90’s, we served a Cream Cheese with our homemade bread instead of butter. It was a success, as back then it was common to put a small packet of foil with butter in the bread basket. I have continued to make my cream cheese and keep it at home in the fridge. Perfect on a piece of toast for breakfast, or why not as a “dip” for some vegetable sticks? So let’s get into – how to make cream cheese. If you want to bake your own SOURDOUGH BREAD, you have the link here to my classic basic recipe.
The fun thing is also that you can vary the flavors with, for example, horseradish, pepper or a few finely chopped olives. The only limit is your imagination. Try it out, and add your favorite flavors. Now I think it’s extra delicious to use fresh herbs together with a little olive oil and a couple of garlic cloves, just so it has a slight hint of garlic. So that’s the recipe I’ve made here, but the actual ‘curd’ is the same regardless of the seasoning. So get started and make your own CREAM CHEESE and enjoy… Happy Cooking – Good Cooking
RECIPE
Cream Cheese with fresh herbs
- 1 liter of yogurt with 3.5% fat content.
- A handful of fresh herbs:
- Basil, oregano, thyme and sage.
- 2 cloves of garlic.
- 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
TO DO:
Heat the yoghurt over low to medium heat, while stirring to approx. 70-80 degrees Celsius. It should not boil as the curd will become too hard and dry. After a few minutes, when the yoghurt begins to divide, remove the saucepan from the plate and let it cool for 15-20 minutes.
Then strain the curd into a sieve cloth or a large Melitta filter. Let it cool for 3-4 hours so the why (excess fluid) is drained properly. Save the cheese liquid, it is great to use when baking as a substitute for water.
While its draining, blend or finely chop and mix the herbs with the garlic in the olive oil.
When the liquid has drained, add the herb mixture to the cream cheese base and taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Voila, now you have a very good homemade cream cheese! Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
