Dinner Tonight: Laban

2/16/2014

Many of the fine Middle Eastern restaurants around town offer a thick, homemade yogurt called Laban. If you’ve ordered it, you know just how good it is. Remarkably, it isn’t that hard to make. Miriam Goldyn, who knows a little something about the fine Middle Eastern restaurants around town, submitted this recipe, which came from her Aunt Flo. Ms. Goldyn makes it even easier by using plain yogurt as a starter.

Laban

½ gallon milk

1 quart half and half

1 cup plain yogurt (such as Dannon)

Cook’s note: This recipe can be cut in half, doubled, tripled, or more.

Place milk and half and half in a heavy Dutch oven over high heat. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Lower heat and simmer a few minutes. Pour into a crock or glass container and alow to cool until you can hold a finger in the milk to a count of 10 (110° on a candy thermometer).

Dissolve the plain yogurt with 1 cup of this cooled milk. Add this mixture to the rest of the milk, and stir. Cover and wrap with a towel. Place in a warm place until set, 5-6 hours.

Refrigerate. Drain excess whey (it will be a thin liquid) from time to time. You can drain the whey by placing it in a muslin towel or a coffee filter set inside a colander over a bowl.

— Miriam Goldyn

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