Tag Archive for 'Yogurt'

Yuca with yogurt mojo

Published
by
marc
on May 23, 2008
in Cuban
. 5 Comments

This yuca was a spontaneous purchase I made yesterday while at Wholefoods. It’s a long thick root that looks like a giant sweet potato with a waxy scaly skin. I’ve never cooked it before and have only eaten it a handful of times and yet this staple in many parts of the world called to me as I was heading to the cashier.

Yuca also known as “cassava root” is the the tuber below a cassava plant. According to Wikipedia, “the cassava plant gives the highest yield of food energy per cultivated area per day among crop plants, except possibly for sugarcane”. Both the leaves and the roots are eaten, and the roots are turned into flour which is used to make tapioca, boba, bread, etc.

But there’s a catch: it contains a compound that turns into cyanide in the presence of an enzyme found in the plant. The leaves have a particularly high concentration of this compound but it’s also found in the roots. Luckily, cooking renders it harmless, so just make sure it’s cooked all the way and you’ll be fine.

It’s got a texture somewhere between potato and pumpkin with a slight sweetness. Doused in olive oil and dressed with a garlic yogurt mojo sauce, it makes for a great side for fish and meat dishes. The tart yogurt and lemon give it a nice light taste while the potent raw garlic adds a ton of peppery flavour.

How do you like to prepare yuca?

1 small yuca (cassava root) peeled and cut into large even sized chunks
1 garlic clove finely minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C plain yogurt
1 Tbs lemon juice
olive oil
cilantro leaves

Add the yuca to a large pot of salted water and bring to boil. Boil until you can pass a fork through a piece of yuca. You want it cooked through, but you also don’t want to over cook it as it will lose its shape.

Mash the minced garlic and salt together to form a paste then add the yogurt and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

When the yuca is cooked, drain and dump into a bowl. Add copious amounts of olive oil while gently tossing until the surface of the yucca is slightly shiny. Plate the yuca and pour the yogurt mixture on top. Scatter some cilantro leaves on top and grind a little black pepper to finish.

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Grapefruit frozen yogurt

Published
by
marc
on March 9, 2008
in Dessert
. 0 Comments

Grapefruit Frozen Yogurt

Homemade frozen yogurt is perhaps the simplest tastiest thing you can make. The only complicated part is remembering to put the ice cream freezer bowl in the freezer the night before. If you have a self cooling ice cream maker or you just leave the bowl in the freezer like I do, this takes less than 20 minutes to make and tastes better than Pinkberry.

It’s pleasantly icy, refreshing and light. Great in summer or even in the snow after a hearty winter meal. I like using yogurt that has cream on top because it adds just a touch of richness (without all the fat), but if you’re watching calories, feel free to replace with non-fat plain yogurt for an even lighter desert.

Some ideas for variations include adding vanilla, mint, basil or rosemary. Since all of these would ruin the texture, I’d suggest making a simple syrup with the sugar and steep your choice of herb for a while in the syrup.

2 C plain cream topped yogurt (I like Brown Cow)
1/2 grapefruit segmented and roughly mashed
1/2 C superfine sugar

Just combine the ingredients making sure that the sugar is completely dissolved and dump it into the ice cream maker.

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Roast lamb with yogurt mint sauce

Published
by
marc
on March 9, 2008
in Lamb
. 0 Comments

Roast Lamb & Honey Lemon Cauliflower

Lamb can have a bit of a strong flavor which puts some people off, but with the right mixture of spices it’s a delicious tender meat that’s easy to prepare and even easier to consume:-)

Being winter in New York, I was craving a nice hearty Sunday roast that was a little more sunny than something you’d have on a foggy Edinburough evening. The mediterranean spices and sauce do just the trick forming a salty savory crust around the roast while the yogurt sauce soothes and mellows the intense flavors.

Roast lamb
2 lbs top round lamb roast

4 cloves garlic crushed
2 Tbs fresh rosemary minced
1/2 Tsp ground coriander seed
1 Tsp kosher or sea salt
1/2 Tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbs good olive oil

2 Tbs flour

Yogurt mint sauce
1 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbs good olive oil
1/2 lemon juiced
2 Tbs fresh mint minced
1/4 Tsp kosher salt

Place rack in middle position and heat to 375 degrees. Combine the garlic, rosemary, coriander, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a bowl and mash together to make a paste.

Smear the paste all over the roast and tie into a uniform shape so the roast cooks evenly.

Lightly dust the roast with the flour and put it on a wire roasting rack. Stick the roast in the over and cook until an instant read thermometer reads 135 degrees (medium rare) about 50 minutes.

While the roast is in the oven, put all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce in a bowl and mix and put it in the fridge.

Take the roast out of the oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes. This allows the juices to redistribute back into the meat and is a key part of having a nice tender juicy roast.

Slice and serve with the sauce.

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