Cream cheese or Yogurt cheese of Lebanon (Labneh) June 9, 2008
Posted by live2cook in Pickles and Condiments, What we call it....Tags: Labneh Labni Yogurt Cream Cheese
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Every cuisine in the world has an ingredient or Dish that acts as a digestive aid. There will be a dish that acts as a coolant that stabilizes the body temperature. Yogurt acts as both a digestive aid and a coolant. Countries with hotter climate and spicier food tend to use Yogurt more. There are lots of recipes based on yogurt which are consumed in each course of a meal.
Labneh or Labni is a cheese made with Yogurt. Since it has the consistency of cream cheese it is also referred to as Cream Cheese of Lebanon. It is similar to Chakka of Indian Cuisine. For Labneh, the yogurt is strained through a cheese cloth until all the liquid is strained off. The milk solids that remain in the cheese cloth is served with olive oil or flavoured with other ingredients like lemon and used as a spread. I used mint leaves and minced black olives to flavour Labneh.
Ingredients:
3 cups Homemade or storebought yogurt ( I used yogurt made with skim milk)
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp chopped Mint leaves
2 Tbsp Minced Black Olives
Method:
1. Mix the salt and the yogurt.
2. Line a strainer with 2 layers of cheese cloth.
3. Pour the yogurt. Refrigerate and let it drain off the liquid over night.
4. Take the strained milk solids in a medium sized mixing bowl.
5. Add the mint leaves and the olives.
6. Mix well and use as a spread or refrigerate for later use.
The taste and texture of labneh was very good. The Mint leaves gave a refreshing scent to labneh. It is a nice and simple recipe to prepare and enjoy on a hotter day like this weekend (it was more than 90F here in Boston!) Do you Want to know what I did with labneh? Stay tuned…
This is my entry for the event Frozen yogurt hosted by Siri.
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YUM YUM! I love to say “Labneh”, sounds good!:)
Thanks for dropping by and for your valuble suggestion Priya. You can check back for the reply and I would appreciate if you could also participate in the event.
Coming to this yogurt cheese, this is really good. I can imagine how good it will taste when spread on a toast or as a dip for toasted pita chips. Good entry.
Dear Priya – thanks for such a yummo entry for the Yogurt event..:D
Cheers,
Siri
Hi Priya
First time here…I absolutely love labna (although I buy mine from the middle eastern section)..my whole family does. I usually eat it the way you have described in your recipe but we also love to eat it with parathas! A delicious entry for the frozen yogurt event!
Like you said, it is so simple to make…..and Iam sure it tastes great with that minty flavour in it.
I make shrikhand from labneh. I recently blogged the recipe.
Hi Asha,Siri,Bharti,Jayashree,
Thank you.
Hi Madhuram,
Thank you. I will surely participate in your YRR Event.
Hi Jyothsna,
Thank you for letting me know about making shrikhand from labneh. I will visit your blog for the recipe
never did know how to make labneh – thanks!