Jagic
Jagic (pronounced “JAH-jick”) is a cottage cheese spread to put on pita bread or toast, a great alternative to butter or cream cheese.
Ingredients:
- 24 oz. Small Curd Cottage Cheese (low fat if desired)
- 8 oz. Regular Cream Cheese
- 2 stalks Celery or Celery Heart
- 3 stalks Green Onion
- ½ bunch or 1 tsp. Coriander
- ½ Bunch or 1 tsp. Dill
Directions:
- Bring cream cheese to room temperature.
- In a bowl, blend cream cheese and cottage cheese together with fork.
- Chop green onion, celery, coriander and dill and mix together.
- Use on toast or pita bread. Refrigerate in cottage cheese container.
Homemade Yogurt (Mestah)
Mestah, or homemade yogurt, is a great complement to Assyrian foods, especially Dolma. It is also tasty plain, with fruit/granola or in a smoothie, and can replace sour cream or store bought yogurt in practically any recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 Gallon Whole Milk*
- 1/4 cup Plain Yogurt (store-bought or homemade) For Starter
Also Needed:
- Large Pot or Dutch Oven
- 4 Quart Size Canning Jars or Several Glass Containers with Lids (ie. Pyrex)
- Small Fine Mesh Strainer
*Note: Depending on the richness/fat content desired, you may replace one quart of the milk with half & half or use 2% milk instead. I find that skim milk tends to be a bit watery, but it can be used as well.
Directions:
- Let the plain yogurt starter warm to room temperature and set aside.
- Pour milk into large pot and slowly bring to a simmer on medium low heat. Stir continually with a large spoon and skim off any “skin” that forms.
- Let simmer for as little as 5 minutes or as long as 20 minutes (the longer, the thicker the yogurt will be). If using milk with lower fat content, a longer simmer time is recommended.
- Turn burner off and let cool to about 110 degrees (medium warm). Stir every few minutes to keep temperature consistent and to help cool it down. If it is too hot, it will kill the yogurt cultures, if it’s too cold, the cultures won’t grow to make yogurt.
- Meanwhile, warm empty oven to 150 degrees, then TURN OVEN OFF, leaving it closed.
- After the milk has cooled somewhat, test the milk with a clean finger. If you can count to 10 and not feel uncomfortable, the milk is ready. You can also use a thermometer (you’re looking for it to read about 110 degrees).
- Stir a few spoonfuls of the warm milk into the yogurt starter and add the yogurt/milk mixture to the pot.
- Stir thoroughly to incorporate the starter throughout the milk.
- Pour the mixture into glass containers through the mesh strainer and put on lids.
- Once the containers are filled, place them into warmed oven on top of cookie sheets to ensure even temperature. Cover glass containers with towels.
- Leave in oven overnight or at least 6 hours. If you have an oven light, leave it on to provide a small amount of heat. The yogurt is done when it is firm like sour cream.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before eating. The longer the yogurt sits in the refrigerator, the stronger (more sour) it becomes. I find the flavor is at its peak in about 2-3 days. The yogurt should stay fresh for about 2 weeks (even longer if in canning jars).
- Serve cold with Dolma or other Assyrian dishes!
- Save a small jar or container of the yogurt that you’ve made. Don’t mix anything like fruit in it, but keep it plain and save it for starter for the next time you’re ready to make it again. The flavor gets better each time!
Tips:
- To store the yogurt even longer, try using sanitized canning jars and equipment (as when making jam or other canned items).
- When serving yogurt out of the containers, use a clean spoon and dip in one side, making sure not to stir the rest of the yogurt. Homemade yogurt doesn’t contain stabilizers like store bought, so once you stir it around, it becomes soupy. The next time you open up the yogurt container, there will be a little pool of liquid that accumulates in the side you dipped in before and you can easily drain it off.
- Little glass jars are also great and can be used instead of the large ones.
- Homemade yogurt makes great cream cheese to be used as a base for dips and spreads — try straining it with cheesecloth or paper towel over a fine mesh strainer for a few hours until it becomes thick.
