Yogourt

Who doesn't know about yogourt?  That cultured milky goodness that is so versatile.  It can be eaten sweet or savoury.  Let it strain in a square of cheesecloth hanging over a bowl in the refrigerator and you get anything from a thick yogourt to something similar to a tangy ricotta cheese... And who hasn't heard of all of the health benefits of yogourt.

We enjoy yogourt as a low fat alternative to sour cream in our dips and creamy salad dressings, or simply with a little local granola, some warmed honey, and a few berries tossed in for colour.  So you can imagine my dismay when I found that there is no local yogourt!  There are local dairies, so we can have local milk, local butter and cheese, but no local yogourt.  Luckily I know how to make yogourt at home, and it's supremely easy.

Yogourt:

1 litre of milk
1/3 cup of plain yogourt

In a medium non-reactive pan, bring your milk to a simmer.  There will be bubbles just starting to appear on the edge.  Remove from heat immediately.  This is the most difficult part, because once milk simmers it'll very quickly boil over, so watch your milk.  Once the milk has cooked to body temperature (yes, you can stick your finger in it, or you can take a spoon and pour a few drops on the inside of your wrist like you would a baby bottle) pour the milk into a large jar and stir in the yogourt.  Cover loosely and let sit on your counter for 8 hours, or up to overnight.  Then keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.  If it lasts that long.  When your jar is nearly empty, it's time to boil some more milk and start the process again.

The question is, where do I get the first bit of yogourt to start off with?  Well, I admit, I had to cheat slightly.  I found the yogourt from the closest source possible which was well into Québec.  However I now have local yogourt because I make it myself with local milk and my yogourt remnants.  Admittedly, my homade yogourt is full of whey and as such doesn't have the thickness that some commercial yogourts have.  If you miss that rich thickness, you can easily get it by straining the yogourt in a cheesecloth lined fine strainer over a bowl in the refrigerator.  The liquid that strains out is whey... Yes, as in Miss Muffet's curds and whey.

My question now is what to do with the whey.  I'm told that I could actually use the whey as a yogourt starter.  I'm not sure about that.  The only thing that I know is that there is likely a lot of nutrients in that liquid and I'm not particularly willing to just discard it.  So I take my yogourt as is.  If anyone knows what I can do to use the whey, please let me know.  Thanks!