Ja cię kocham…

If I had known all along how easy this was to make, I would have been doing this instead of buying it!   I LOVE Greek yogurt.  I use it in dips, in desserts, and in my baking.  It’s so creamy and full that it makes other yogurt seem weak.  My only issue with Greek yogurt is its expense.  It’s $5 for a teeny container or nearly $2 for a single serving.  I can’t justify that.

Well, I have found a solution.

Are you ready for the easiest recipe of all time (aside from just buying something from the store)??

Homemade Greek Yogurt

Source: Sunny Anderson

Yields 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

4 cups plain lowfat yogurt

Directions:

Line a strainer with a paper towel and place the towel-covered strainer on top of a bowl.  You don’t want the bottom of the strainer to touch the bowl.

Pour yogurt into strainer and place in fridge for 7-8 hours or overnight.  When it’s done, the liquid will be in the bowl and you will be left with the delectable Greek yogurt in the strainer.  Please note that the amount of yogurt will reduce, but you will still have plenty to use.  Discard liquid in bowl.

Enjoy!

Tis the season for glorious tomatoes!   Driving to work I pass lovely produce stands filled with freshly picked tomatoes.  How could I not indulge?   For the fantastic price of $5.50 I got myself 11 beefsteak tomatoes just waiting to be used for a homemade sauce.

Given the fact that I am not a fan of jarred spaghetti sauce, I’ve made plenty of my own but never with fresh garden tomatoes.  I typically use canned crushed tomatoes and go from there.  It is by no means as wonderful as making a sauce from scratch, but it does save time.  This recipe is a little more time consuming that a typical Ja cie kocham post, but it is well worth the wait.

My only advice is this – if you are going to invest the time to make homemade sauce, you might as well make a lot so you have some for later.  Being a novice spaghetti sauce maker, I failed in this regard.  I made just enough sauce for one box of spaghetti.  Keep that in mind.

I have a few reasons for making this spaghetti sauce – 1.  I’ve always wanted to make it from scratch.  2.  I’ve made a pledge to Buy Fresh and Buy Local as much as I can for the months of July and August.  3.  My parents 30-year anniversary was on Monday, and as a gift I made them dinner.

This sauce was a huge hit with my parents!  I also sauteed some fresh zucchini, onion, and eggplant in olive oil and placed it on top of the sauce to give it some color.  I WISH that I took a picture of the final pasta dish that I made for my parents.  Looks like I’m going to have to make it all again just for you!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Source: Loosely Adapted from Allrecipes

Time: Prep: 45 minutes  Cook: 2hr 15min

Serves 6-8 (makes enough for one box of spaghetti)

Ingredients:

**feel free to double or triple the batch for leftovers!!**

10 beefsteak tomatoes
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. butter
1 white or sweet onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
generous handful of fresh basil, torn (or 1 tsp. dried)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs. corn starch
fresh lemon zest

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor.

In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in bouillon cubes, basil, Italian seasoning salt and pepper. Place bay leaves in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours.   Every 30 minutes, drain the excess liquid from the pot.  With a 30 minutes left or so, stir in the corn starch.  This will help the sauce thicken faster. When at desired thickness, discard bay leaf, add lemon zest and serve.