Skip to main content

Garlic Labneh

Cream cheese? No - something much better.

This story starts last Christmas Eve, when my pseudo-step-brother-in-law Anthony brought some mysterious Lebanese "garlic sauce" to contribute to the fondue feast. It was the consistency of cream cheese but it had so much garlic that it kind of hurt to eat it, creating this pleasantly warm burn as it went down. I loved it. We devoured the stuff and garlic emanated from our pores for about 3 days afterwards. 

A few days ago, I got a craving for this stuff. Since it came from a Lebanese deli in Portland, I was left googling recipes. I'd had a suspicion that the "sauce" was yogurt cheese, and sure enough, I found some recipes for Garlic Labneh (yogurt cheese) that fit the description. 

There are many fancy variations on this recipe on the internet. I decided to start simple: mix lots of grated garlic and a little bit of salt into some yogurt, strain it overnight, and eat. It was so good that I don't see any need to fancy it up. 

I ate it with baby carrots and bread. It's really really good with bread, but I would eat entirely too much bread and cheese in one sitting if I didn't pace myself by interspersing carrots.

I used 5 cloves of garlic. It was good, but the stuff at Christmas was stronger. I think I'll go to 7 next time. I have some purple garlic growing in my garden; I can't wait to make this recipe again once it's ready.

Delicious package of garlicky yogurt, ready to release its liquid.

24 hours later... opening the package! Like Christmas all over again.


The Recipe: 
16 oz full-fat yogurt
5+ cloves of garlic, grated
pinch of salt
  • Mix all ingredients together.
  • Put a colander into a bowl and line the colander with a piece of cheesecloth or a clean dish towel.
  • Pour your mixture into the towel and tie it at the top (I used a rubber band).
  • Let the package sit in the colander/bowl in the refrigerator for 24 hours. You can also carefully squeeze it a few times to bring even more moisture out.
  • Open, eat, and don't breathe on anyone for a couple of days.

The Verdict: 
Overall grade: A-
Overall reason: NEEDS MOAR GARLIC.
Time to prepare: 10 minutes of work, 24 hours of waiting.
Husband quote: "I don't think you need to use any more garlic than this."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Curry Fried Rice

Excited for these leftovers. One of the things I wanted to try with my  new jar of curry powder  was fried rice. Years ago, Miles got fried rice at  Korea House  and it was the best fried rice I'd ever had. I suspected there was curry powder in it, but at that time I had never really cooked with curry powder, so I tucked that knowledge away for a later date. After reading a few recipes, I went rogue on this one. I couldn't even begin to effectively guess at what proportions I ended up with, so the recipe below is more of a rough guideline of ingredients. The "Recipe" (sorry no quantities; follow your heart): leftover jasmine rice tofu, cubed and crisped in the oven with avocado oil and salt vegetables: garlic, onion, cabbage, red bell pepper salt curry powder (I used a Vietnamese one) soy sauce sugar sesame oil future topping ideas: runny egg, sesame seeds, green onion Saute the vegetables in avocado oil until softened, and salt them to taste Add the tofu and toss to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Samosa Burritos

Imagine a pile of plain yogurt and some Indian pickle for dipping I saw a Pinterest recipe for samosa-filled quesadillas, which led me to  this recipe  from Nadia's Healthy Kitchen for baked samosas using tortillas, which led me to just use the giant tortillas I had in the fridge and make them into full-sized burritos. They were a hit! I largely followed the recipe from Nadia's Healthy Kitchen, but I added some potato, omitted the chana masala powder and just added a bunch of cumin instead, added bell pepper and fresh chilies, didn't bother with the "sealing paste," and basted them in a little bit of melted butter (omit for vegan version). Everyone except the 5-year-old liked them! The Recipe (adapted from  Nadia's Healthy Kitchen ) 2 cans (30 oz total) cooked garbanzo beans, rinsed (I eyeballed the equivalent from dry beans) 1 small onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 thai chili, minced 1 bell pepper, chopped 1 potato, baked until soft (or microwaved for...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kitchen renovation!

BEFORE: AFTER: Still to come: a beautiful new induction range and some wood shelving on the left side, above the backsplash. And maybe the shelving unit on the wall facing the cabinets should be green, but we're going to live with a while before making that decision.
2 comments
Read more