Just Add Yoghurt

This Ethiopian stew is commonly served after periods of fasting like Christmas and Easter. Its hearty nature makes it the perfect dish to break a fast and enjoy family time. Christmas according to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Ethiopian calendar is 7 January, not 25 December. Spicy, tasty and warming, this dish is far from the typical Australian BBQ but would be delicious on a cold Christmas night. Traditionally cooked with butter, I opted for oil and a little yoghurt instead – lighter yet still a little creamy with the yoghurt. Ingredients: 3 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 tablespoon of minced ginger 1 onion finely chopped 3 garlic cloves 2 tablespoons of Ethiopian spice mix (berbere) 1 tomato, chopped 8 chicken drumsticks 2 cups water 2 cups chicken stock 4 hard boiled eggs 3 tablespoon Greek yoghurt Salt and pepper Method:       Cook onion in oil until it starts to soften            Add garlic an...

After a Google search and a few interesting Christmas traditions later (for example in Japan, KFC is the traditional Christmas Eve feast - the lines go out the door!), I came across this interesting Danish Christmas tradition. Risalamande is a rice pudding with almonds and cream, served with cherry sauce. Riz a l’amande translates to rice and almonds. Having grown up on rizogalo, a Greek rice pudding with cinnamon, I was curious so had to give this one a go…with a yoghurt twist of course. Traditionally this dish is served mixed with cream however to lighten it a little I opted for ¾ cream and ¼ yoghurt. I think the result was good. Ingredients: ½ cup white rice 2.1 cups of milk ¼ cup water ½ teaspoon of vanilla essence 2 tablespoons of sugar 200g pitted cherries in syrup 2 tablespoons of the cherry syrup 2 tablespoons of icing sugar 1 tablespoon of sugar 2 tablespoons of ground almonds ¾ cup of cream ½ teaspoon vanilla ¼ cup of Greek yoghurt Meth...

When I think about Christmas growing up I think about waking up early, opening presents, rushing to church and then coming home to a stomach-stretching lunch shared with family, whereby every belt buckle and pants button would fly open as soon as that final bite was taken. That is why I wear dresses on Christmas day. Our lunch table was a mix of traditional Australian-Christmas BBQ and prawns and Greek-Christmas inspired Pastitsio (like Greek lasagne), tiropita, Greek salad and roasted vegetables. For dessert icing-sugar coated Greek almond shortbread, kourabiethes, would almost always make an appearance. You won’t find many Greek houses not serving kourabiethes at Christmas time. Truth be told, I never liked them because they are lathered in icing-sugar and could often be really dry. However when combined with a semi-sweet yoghurt and honey custard and only lightly dusted with icing-sugar, I’m all over them! Yoghurt and honey custard ingredients: Ingredients:...

As Christmas draws near I wanted to use my next few blog post recipes to explore what other culture’s Christmas table looks like. In Australia, prawns, ham, BBQ and the humble Pavlova commonly fill people’s Christmas table. However for other countries, traditions differ. The Japanese celebrate Christmas with KFC and the Dutch make a biscuit called banketletter (meaning letter cake), which is made from marzipan or pastry and made in the shape of the first letter of people’s name that attend a family’s Christmas party. I was intrigued by the Italian tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve. Drawing on the  Roman Catholic  tradition of abstinence, which in this case refers to not eating meat or milk products, the Italian-American community took this tradition one step further with the Feast of the Seven Fishes.  This feast involves families coming together and sharing seven fish and seafood based dishes. The first course is often something snack-like, sinc...

As the weather gets warmer and days longer, beef koftas with salad is one of my favourite dishes to make. With the yoghurt garlic sauce, these koftas are packed with aromatic spice and flavour. You can also cook these koftas on a stick, one of the most basic, ancient forms of cooking. It also makes it a lot of fun to eat and the kids will love it. Ingredients: 1 kg mince beef 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped finely ¼ cup bread crumbs 1 ½ tablespoon ground cumin 2 tablespoon yoghurt (heaped) Juice of ½ lemon 1 onion, minced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon salt Pepper to taste Yoghurt sauce: 4 tablespoons yoghurt 1 small cloves of garlic 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon Method: Mix all the kofta ingredients together Shape into short sausage shapes Heat a non-stick pan until hot Place the koftas on the pan and turn the heat to medium Cook until brown on all sides – approximately 3 minutes on each side Don’t overcook – cut...

This salted caramel cookie has been inspired by a Land O Lakes recipe. The cookie is short, the caramel sweet and creamy and the salt brings a nice balance. Plus Mr Bball loves salted caramel so he loved them!   Ingredients: Cookie: 2/3 cups unsalted butter ½ cup sugar 2 egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 ½ cups all purpose flour Caramel filling: 125g sweeten condensed milk 2 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt Salt to taste Method: Cookie: Mix butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla with an electric beater until creamy Add flour and mix in thoroughly Refrigerate for 1 hour Meanwhile, heat oven to 200 degrees fan forced Shape cookies into small bowls – the cookie dough is very crumbly. Don’t worry – handle with care though Once all the cookies are rolled out place your thumb (or the bottom of an egg) in the middle of each cookie to make a well – the cookie may crack. Cook for approximately 8-10 minutes or until brown Let the cookies cool. Carame...

Hypothesis: Not all yoghurts are made equal. While I didn’t fly to Europe to prove this hypothesis, I sure did use our 4.5 week European honeymoon as a chance to test it. Across 14 European cities, in nine different countries, I tasted 17 different yoghurt varieties. All varied in flavour and texture. It all started in Amsterdam, where on a rainy day I tried Zuivelhoeve Boer’N Yoghurt, while sitting on a wet bench pining for the summer I was cruelly promised but so far denied. The tart creamy yoghurt was balanced perfectly with the sweet strawberry compote and just enough granola muesli to provide a textually pleasing crunch. All in all, my first yoghurt was a winner. The second yoghurt in Amsterdam wasn’t as successful because it wasn’t a traditional yoghurt. Thick, incredibly sweet, with no tartness in site, I was somewhat confused by this Danone Danio Vanilla yoghurt. That was until a lovely Dutch Instagram follower kindly informed me that the photo I had posted...

A different kind of post because it’s not about yoghurt! Mr Bball and I recently went to Europe and I wanted to share three of my favourite meals. So let the story begin…. On 31 July 2016 my now husband and I packed our bags, ate all the food in our fridge (yes I almost ate an entire tub of yoghurt because I didn’t want to waste it) and started our honeymoon adventure. With a list of ‘things to do’ in all fourteen cities we were visiting, each list topped with what local food and drink to indulge in, we jumped on our Emirates flight with relief. The last few months had been hectic with the wedding, a quick trip to America for Mr Bball’s work 6am after the wedding and a lot of work to wrap up, so getting on that plane filled me with this calmness I hadn’t felt for a long time. A 13 hour, followed by 7 hour flight, we finally made it to our first city Amsterdam. Greeted with a free glass of bubbles to celebrate our honeymoon, we ventured out to experience the canals, the sm...

Mr Bball and recently completed an A-Z country challenge, cooking recipes from a range of countries including Zambia, Yemen, Brazil and Denmark. This Danish recipe was one of the most interesting. I enjoyed it but Mr Bball wasn’t a fan. It is a perfect winter dish – delicious moist meatballs with a curry gravy served with rice, mashed potato or crusty bread to soak up every last bit. Best consumed under a blanket on the couch watching a movie on a rainy day. The interesting thing about this recipe is that you boil the meatballs – this cooking approach kept them moist. Ingredients: Meatballs: 300g pork 250g beef ½ cup milk 1 large onion, finely diced 5 tablespoons flour ½ teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon salt 1 egg Curry sauce: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 large onion finely diced 35g butter 3 tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons curry powder 2.5 cups water from boiling the meatballs 3 tablespoons yoghurt 1 teaspoon salt Squeeze lemon ...

Beer brewing is a hobby of ours but to be honest, our beer brewing efforts are a little infrequent. Nevertheless we had my brother and sister-in-law over for a brew day and when thinking about what to serve for lunch, a Greek style open meatball sandwich instantly came to mind. What better to accompany our vigorous beer brewing efforts? This meatball recipe is moist and tasty and together with a yoghurt sauce, wholemeal roll and salad, not too bad for your waistline! I don’t fry my meatballs, I cook them on a non-stick pan with oil spray. Ingredients: 1 onion 3 cloves garlic (2 for the meatball and 1 for the sauce) 2 small chilies 5 tablespoons Greek yoghurt (2 for the meatball and 3 for the sauce) 500g mince beef 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 1 teaspoon salt Squeeze lemon 1 teaspoon chopped mint Wholemeal bread (or your choice of bread or roll) Lettuce Tomato Cucumber Chili sauce (optional). Method: Mince the onion in a food processor ...

On 11 June Mr Bball and I got married. It was an amazing day – thank you to our bridal party and family for making it happen. The sun made an appearance through the dark winter clouds, the ceremony was beautiful, Mr Bball looked amazing, the food fabulous at Sunnybrae Estate and all in all, it was a really fun day. 6am after the wedding Mr Bball and I were off to San Francisco for a mini-honeymoon and a quick work trip for my new husband. A highlight of the trip was on our second to last day, only six days after our wedding, when on my 30 th birthday Mr Bball and I went to Walmart in Napa Valley. Looking for the typical American breakfast bagels, the cream cheese aisle delivered something I’d never seen before! Greek yoghurt and cream cheese together as one – marriage made in heaven in my opinion. Made by Green Mountain Farms , this lighter cream cheese alternative has four times the protein and half the fat. The taste is creamy and the yoghurt gives a little bit of t...

I’m getting married next week! It still hasn’t sunk in. I’m constantly asking people…when does it set in? When does it feel real? The answers vary but the common theme is…. “When you get dressed” . While it doesn’t yet feel real, I am so excited to marry Mr Bball and as a bonus I had the most amazing hens day that I just had to share with you. Two very special girls organised a hens day perfect for me – one filled with good food, drinks, company and of course yoghurt. Let me set the scene – I arrive and am greeted with a glass of sparkling. This is followed by an announcement of the day’s plans (which was a surprise for me) and a lovely piece of attire I had to wear the entire day. The attire was…a crown with a yoghurt label on there saying ‘The ultimate natural yoghurt hens’. Haha is my love of yoghurt that obvious? The day then progressed to a yoghurt breakfast bar (with yoghurt provided by MOO – thank you MOO ). With a range of fruit and muesli on offer I had to hav...

I’m fussy when it comes to vegetables. I don’t eat enough of them, I don’t eat them by choice and growing up I would refuse to eat them. A small, round Greek girl running away from zucchini, eggplant and tomato – that was unheard of! As an adult I know I have to eat them so I am always looking at ways to ‘hide’ them. This vegetable slice is a perfect example. Excellent for children or children-like-adults such as me! Ingredients 1 zucchini - grated 2 small potatoes - grated 1 carrot - grated 1 onion – cut finely 100g corn 150g Ricotta 1.5 teaspoon of mixed herbs 1 garlic clove – cut finely ½ cup S/R flour 3 eggs 1/3 cup yoghurt Salt and pepper Method: Pre-heat oven at 200 degree fan-forced Grease a tray approximately 20cm x 15cm Grate zucchini, small potatoes, carrot and onion in a food processor Add corn, ricotta, herbs and garlic to the grated vegetables Sift in flour and mix well Mix eggs in a separate bowl and add to the veget...

When I think of schnitzels, I think of Verandah Bar on Martin Place, and its $10 schnitzels on Tuesday nights back when I lived in Sydney in 2009. I always looked forward to those schnitzels but now I try and find a healthier alternative to fulfill my craving. Ingredients: ½ cup yoghurt 2 chicken breast ¾ cup breadcrumbs ½ cup flour Salt and pepper Dried oregano Lemon to serve Method: Cut chicken thinly and use a mallet to ensure they are even pieces so it cooks through evenly Put flour in one bowl with salt and pepper Put yoghurt in a second bowl Put breadcrumbs with dried oregano in a third bowl Put one piece of chicken in the flour, shake to remove excess flour, place in the yoghurt, hold up to drain excess yoghurt and place in breadcrumbs until well covered. Repeat with all pieces of chicken Heat frying pan and fill with oil around 0.5cm high Once oil is hot cook the chicken until brown and crispy Put on paper towel to drain excess oil ...

Mexican is a staple in our household. It is quick, fresh and tasty. Growing up, I wasn’t a big fan of Mexican food. However after a hiatus my love of Mexican was rekindled at my favourite Mexican Restaurant in Sydney – Baja Cantina in Glebe. The spice, slow cooked, tender pork and chicken blew my mind. Ever since I’ve tried to cook Mexican at every chance I get. These yoghurt Mexican beans with minced beef is a quick, perfect after dinner dish.  Ingredients: 1 onion 2 cloves garlic 1.5 teaspoons of cumin 1 teaspoon of dried coriander 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional – can add more if you like it hot) 250 grams minced beef 1 x 400g can of kidney beans 1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes 2/3 cup of beef stock 1 carrot, finely grated 1/3 cup Greek yoghurt 1 tablespoon olive oil Salt and pepper. Method: Cut onion and garlic finely Heat oil in a pan Add onion and cook until starting to brown ...