Cream Cheese

I like recipes that are simple and rewarding. Give this one a try, you’ll be hooked.

What you need is:
- 1kg of Greek style yoghurt
- A bunch of chives, chopped up (I use scissors)
- A scant teaspoon of salt
- Freshly ground pepper, about a teaspoon
- A piece of muslin (baby wrap) or a tea towel
- Elastic band or piece of string
- A bowl

What you do is:

- Line the bowl with the piece of fabric
- Scoop in the yoghurt and add the salt, pepper and chives then give it a quick stir

- Fold the corners of the fabric towards each other
- Tie together with the elastic band/string
- Put the bowl underneath to catch the liquid
- Let it drip for min. 5 hours or overnight

If keeping the yoghurt out of the fridge for that long scares you, just put the bag on a colander on top of the bowl and do the last step in the fridge.

The longer you’ll let it sit, the more solid it becomes.
After 5 hours mine was still easily spreadable, 8 hours will make it a bit more crumbly.

The kids love these with crackers as an afternoon snack or as a dip for pieces of carrot and cucumber. Also great as a filling for jack potatoes (recipe).

Chives are easy to grow, a pot in the window sill should do the trick.

But sure experiment with other herbs, garlic, or just a little salt and keep it plain. I’ve also used cardamon pods (about six mixed in will do the trick), this will makes a prefect filling for dates or to serve with desserts.

And one I sure have to try is labneh. Roll the cream cheese into little balls then drop them into a clean jar with olive oil and herbs. Check out this link for more info.
Or even more decadent, instead of dropping them into a jar with olive oil, roll them through maple syrup and freshly roasted, chopped up nuts. Find the recipe here.