Crockpot Yogurt

A few friends of mine had mentioned months ago that they made their own yogurt at home in their crockpots of all places! I was intrigued so went online and did a search. The recipe I am posting is a result of that search. I've been making this for months now. Yeah I know - I could just as easily buy it - but I found it's much cheaper and cost effective to make it myself. I use this in place of sour cream or buttermilk in my baking recipes.

Crockpot Yogurt
You need at least a 4 quart crockpot

1. Turn on your crockpot to low. Pour in 1/2 gallon of milk. (8 cups)
2. Keep on low for exactly 2 hours and 30 minutes.
3. When the 2 hours and 30 minutes passes - turn off the crockpot and unplug it. Let the milk cool with the lid on for 3 hours.
4. After 3 hours passes - remove 2 cups of the warmed milk and place in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of yogurt with live active cultures** and mix thoroughly.
5. Pour the yogurt-milk mixture back into the crockpot. Whisk thoroughly.
6. Place the lid back on the crockpot and wrap the entire pot in a thick bath towel.
7. Let it culture overnight.
8. In the morning - stir yogurt if desired and place in a container of your choice. This does make 1/2 gallon of yogurt so you will need a good size container.

**On the yogurt with active cultures - when I first start - I just use one of the 6 oz containers of store bought PLAIN yogurt. After the first batch of yogurt is made you can simply set aside 1/2 cup of this yogurt to make your next batch.

This is not a sweet yogurt. To sweeten - add favorite fruit and some honey. This is really good mixed in with granola. We also use it in fruit smoothies. I only add the fruit/honey to the little bit I will be using at that time - not to the whole batch.

Freezer jam would also work as a sweetener.

Parmesan Crumbed Chicken

This recipe is part of my choices for the April 2010 recipe swap on recipezaar. My team mate for the recipe is Kiwi Kathy from Whangarei, New Zealand! This is fairly quick to assemble - provided you don't have to wait for the chicken to thaw. I think next time I make this though I will add some salt and pepper to the bread crumb mixture.

Parmesan Crumbed Chicken
6 chicken breasts, trimmed and flattened
2 1/4 cups dry breadcrumbs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 TBSP dry parsley
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup vegetable or olive oil

Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and parsley. Add in some salt and pepper if desired.
Place yogurt in a medium bowl. Dip chicken in yogurt then coat in crumbs. Place on plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes. Brown chicken in oil over medium heat turning once. Transfer to a baking dish sprayed with vegetable spray. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Yogurt Berry Muffins

I made these for an afterschool snack today. They went over quite well with the family. This recipe comes from my Canadian teammate ~Leslie~ in the Aussie/NZ recipe swap for February 2010. Her recipe calls for strawberry yogurt and strawberries. I went with blueberries. Peach or raspberry would also work well I think.

Yogurt Berry Muffins
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 TBSP baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup blueberry yogurt (I did notice the yogurt at the store only comes in 6 oz now - it still works.)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3 TBSP orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins or use cupcake liners.
Combine all muffin ingredients except glaze. Pour into 18 muffin cups and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool.
For the glaze:
Combine both ingredients. This makes a runny glaze. Just so you know. Pour over muffins. Wait for a little bit and the glaze will harden.

Breakfast Cranachan

Jen T from New Zealand is the chef for this tasty breakfast. She says it is a traditional Scottish recipe brought up to date - found in a "3 Ingredient Cookbook." If you like - add a bit of honey to make this a little sweeter. I liked it without the honey addition.

Breakfast Cranachan
Serves: 4
3 oz crunchy oat cereal (see above recipe)
2 1/2 cups plain vanilla yogurt
1 1/3 cups raspberries ( I used frozen) may also use any berries you like

Preheat oven broiler. Spread the cereal in a shallow pan and place under heat for 2 - 2 1/2 minutes. I found this to be a good amount of time compared to the 3-4 minutes in the recipe. I didn't want it burned.
Set aside to cool.
When cook - fold into the yogurt. Gently fold in 1 cup of berries. Careful! Don't crush the berries!
Spoon into 4 dishes. Top with remaining berries.
Enjoy right away!