More about Yogurt Cheese

At the beginning of the summer my neighbor and good friend L dropped by one Sunday with delicious things called Bolanis and the sauces to go with them. They were from an Afghan vendor at our local Farmers' Market. The Bolanis were rather like flour tortillas and filled with spinach. The first "sauce" was yogurt cheese flavored with mint and garlic. The second was cilantro pesto. I have long felt that I did not like cilantro, but decided it would be rude to say so. I found this delicious.

The next time L went to the Farmers' Market I asked her to bring me some more of this delicious Afghan food. I have now tried the pumpkin bolani--my favorite, and the potato and onion bolani, which I think would taste better warmed. In addition to the yogurt cheese and cilantro pesto, I have also sampled the eggplant sauce. The eggplant would be delicious on pasta. I have a jar of the sweet and sour carrot on the end of my counter waiting to try. For more about Bolani and Sauce, here is the link,

http://www.bolaniandsauce.com/

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Yogurt cheese is so simple to make and so good that I will be making it regularly. Tonight I had it with shredded Parmesan added to it. (Trader Joe's shredded Parmesan, to be precise.) Tomorrow I will make a new batch.

I will probably try making some variation of cilantro pesto, too. Bolani and Sauce will most definitely still have my business, but since I cannot go to the Farmer's Market myself, and because I have a limited income, I will also experiment with making some of my own variations.

Now I am interested in Afghan food and will find someone in the neighborhood who goes to the library to check out an Afghani cookbook. The story of the family who are taking their traditional food to the Farmer's Market is an American dream story come true and I admire them.

If you are interested in making yogurt cheese, another link is to King Arthur Flour for the yogurt cheese maker. This is another family owned business, one that goes back to the American Revolutionary War as one of the oldest flour mills in America. It is one of my favorite businesses. Here is the link to the yogurt cheese maker

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?term=yogurt+cheese+maker&go=DefaultSearch&stype=product

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