Whenever I visit a farm, I almost never walk away without a gift. Whether its garlic or a sack of potatoes - farmers are the most generous people I know. I have begun to call it the "farmers' way". Recently I visited Lynn Swanson at Glendale Shepherd to document her for the Female Farmer Project. And in the generous farmers way, I came away with some of her beautifully crafted farmstead cheese and yogurt.
glendale shepherd sheeps milk yogurt
This is less a recipe, and more of an inspiration for you. Often times people will shy away from something like sheeps milk yogurt, perhaps because they're afraid it will be chalky or taste of sheep. While possibly true for some, others love the grassy, fresh taste. But straining the yogurt to remove the excess whey is a great introduction to trying sheep milk yogurt. Give it a try!
empty yogurt into cheese cloth
Its as simple as opening a jar of yogurt - any thick greek style yogurt will do, and straining it in a cheesecloth for anywhere from 2-5 hours. I wanted mine to be thick enough to spread so I drained for 5 hours.
labneh cheese made from yogurt
toasted flatbread with dukkah and smoked salt
To accompany the labneh, I decided to toast some flatbread with a dukkah spice blend, and smoked salt with a drizzle of olive oil. I toasted them in the oven at 350 for just a few minutes.
Once the cheese is strained to your desired thickness, then comes the fun part - flavoring it! I opted to with chopped flat-leaf parsley, lemon zest, a fruity spanish olive oil, toasted pistachios and flaky sea salt. Served with the toasted flatbread and blood orange Simple and Crisp these simple ingredients were elevated to decadent.