Greek yogurt gets a try out

Posted April 15, 2010

In an extremely unscientific taste test, here’s how 24 Daily News employees rated four Greek yogurt brands against each other and one regular yogurt brand. All were the non-fat, plain variety.

Overall, participants preferred the texture of Fage, and a majority favored Fage or Oikos brands. But most also said they would not spend more for Greek yogurt than they would for regular.

Here’s how to make your own yogurt

Want to make your own Greek yogurt? Tom Vasiliades, owner of South Street Souvlaki, describes the process.

Boil whole milk. Vasiliades prepares a gallon at a time for himself and eight gallons a night for the restaurant. When milk rises, remove from heat.

Let it cool to lukewarm. Vasiliades said you should be able to hold your pinkie finger in the milk for 10 seconds – that means it’s lukewarm.

Remove a cup of the cooled milk. Mix this with yogurt culture or yesterday’s yogurt (2-3 commercial spoonfuls per 2 gallons of milk).

In a large bowl, slowly combine this mixture with the remaining lukewarm milk. Put the mixture in a low oven (no higher than 110 degrees) for 6-8 hours.

Serve as is, or, if you want a thicker, creamier texture, strain through cheesecloth for two days in the refrigerator. (Line a colander with cheesecloth and strain into a bowl to catch the liquid.)

Here’s a main dish featuring lamb from Vasiliades.

LAMB WITH YOGURT

3 pounds boneless lamb cut

in bite-size pieces

3/4 cup white wine

1 pound yogurt

4 ounces butter

1/2 cup fresh dill

5 mint leaves

5 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Place lamb in a baking dish, and top with butter cut in pieces. Add a cup of water and white wine, plus the herbs and garlic. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Remove meat from pan and mix the yogurt with the pan juices. Return meat to the pan, cover and bake until golden brown. Serve with potatoes or rice.

PEAR AND WHIPPED GORGONZOLA YOGURT AND PORT GLAZED GRAPE CROSTINI

1 loaf French bread, cut into

12 slices

1/2 cup port

1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup grape juice

1/2 cup red grapes, halved

1 large pear, chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup fresh basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice French bread and lay on a sheet pan. Toast until golden brown. In a small saucepan, bring port to a simmer. Add grapes, grape juice, diced pear and sugar to port. Stir and let simmer until reduced by half. Set port mixture aside.

Whisk heavy cream until soft peaks begin to form. Fold crumbled Gorgonzola and Greek yogurt into whipped cream until just combined.

Spread the yogurt-and-cheese mixture over each piece of bread. Spoon the grape and pear reduction onto each crostini. Garnish with chopped basil.

Source: Chobani.

BULGUR WITH ALMONDS, APRICOTS AND GREEK YOGURT

2 cups bulgur

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups water or vegetable broth

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped

1/2 cup almonds, slivered

1/4 cup apricots, finely chopped

Boil water and bulgur. Reduce to a simmer. Add salt and butter. Cover and simmer 45-50 minutes until tender. Stir occasionally.

In a sauté pan, toast almonds over medium heat until golden.

Once bulgur is cooked, add the toasted almonds, dill, apricots, and yogurt. Stir to combine. Serve warm as a side dish or cold as a salad.

Source: Chobani.

Greek yogurt rides a wave of popularity

By CHRISTINE FISHER

fisherc@phillynews.com 215-854-5444

POSTED: April 15, 2010

GREEK YOGURT – once considered “hippie food” – is experiencing a boom in popularity.

“Greek is chic right now,” said Yoplait marketing manager Peggy Stang.

“We showed over 450 percent growth last year alone,” reported Nicki Briggs, a representative of Chobani, a major Greek yogurt producer in the U.S.

Greek yogurt differs from other yogurt in that excess liquid is strained out of it. The process gives Greek yogurt its thick, creamy texture and concentrated health benefits. It’s a staple in Mediterranean diets.

Chobani and competitor Stonyfield began producing Greek yogurt just three years ago. In 2008, major Greek yogurt producer Fage (pronounced Fa-yeh) built its first U.S. plant. Last month yogurt behemoth Yoplait launched a line of Greek yogurt.

Stonyfield representative Sarah Badger credits Greek yogurt’s success with consumers to its health benefits, tart taste, thickness and versatility in cooking.

Authentic Greek yogurt contains twice the protein of regular yogurt because when the excess milk is strained out, solid whey protein remains.

“If you’re looking for a good source of protein, Greek yogurt wins out over regular yogurt,” said Dr. Christopher Bernabei of Philadelphia’s Balance Health Center & Yoga Spa.

Greek yogurt also wins out over regular yogurt when it comes to probiotics. These are live bacteria cultures that improve digestion and boost immunity. All yogurts contain at least two strains of probiotics, but Greek yogurts can contain five or six strains, each with different properties.

“The art of making Greek yogurt is adding the probiotic cultures,” said Chobani’s Briggs.

Some probiotics can help convert lactose into lactic acid, making the product easier to digest for those with lactose intolerance. Less lactose correlates with less sugar.

In Greece, where yogurt is called yiaourti, its health benefits are legendary.

“It’s old folklore that [in Greece] they use it for sunburns,” said Stephen Nothangel, of Philadelphia’s Estia Restaurant.

Tom Vasiliades, owner of South Street Souvlaki, said that in Greece yiaourti is “as popular as Coke.” It is also considerably healthier.

At his restaurant, Vasiliades makes eight gallons of Greek yogurt every night.

“I don’t buy it because I make the best,” he said.

South Street Souvlaki and Estia Restaurant serve Greek yogurt in traditional Tzatziki dipping sauce, on its own or mixed with fruit, as a complement to savory dishes.

“When it comes down to it, a product succeeds or does not succeed based on taste,” Briggs said. “It’s not every day you find something you want to eat that is actually good for you.”

Chef d’cancer patients: Jack Shoop lovingly crafts a medical center’s meals

By CHRISTINE FISHER
Philadelphia Daily News

Posted on Thu, Mar. 18, 2010

fisherc@phillynews.com 215-854-5444

JACK SHOOP has owned several top-rated restaurants and is one of just 61 chefs in the United States who’ve been certified as master chefs by the American Culinary Federation. When the opportunity for a major career change arose, however, Shoop let his mom be his guide.

Less than two years ago, Shoop, a Harley-riding Kensington native, traded in his Florida restaurant gigs to become the executive chef for Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Eastern Regional Medical Center in Northeast Philadelphia. Shoop stresses the clinical and spiritual importance of food in the meals he prepares daily for about 800 cancer patients, their families and CTCA employees.

Shoop’s decision to make such a significant career switch was due in large part to his mother’s passing. “Even though my mother didn’t die of cancer, I just felt like she was telling me to do it,” Shoop recalled recently.

Hurricane Katrina played a part, too.

In 2005, the hurricane hit Shoop’s restaurant in Destin, Fla. – the fourth such storm to strike the business. At the same time, his father passed away. The coinciding events prompted Shoop to return to Philadelphia to help his newly widowed mother.

She died unexpectedly a few months later.

Upon returning to Philadelphia, Shoop began working at Viking Cooking School in Bryn Mawr. That led to him doing a cooking demonstration for CTCA leaders as a part of a team-building workshop they attended. CEO John McNeil approached Shoop after the event and asked him to join CTCA.

Working in a hospital, he sometimes finds himself thinking of his mother’s passing, and it’s brought him to tears. “I never cried in my restaurant. Here I’ve cried about a thousand times,” he said. But the opportunity to make a positive difference in the world outweighs any emotional strain from his job.

Shoop sees his work as a way to “redirect passion for the culinary arts to better the lives of cancer patients and their caregivers.”

Certainly the job brings special challenges. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 40 percent of cancer-related deaths are due to malnutrition. Cancer and its treatments can affect a patient’s ability to taste and smell and lead to nausea, trouble absorbing nutrients, anorexia and fatigue.

At Eastern Regional Medical Center, Shoop and a team of oncologists, naturopathic doctors, nutritionists, mind-body specialists and therapists use a whole-person approach to ensure optimal nutrition for their patients. This approach is based on the idea that cancer does not affect one part of the body but rather the body as a whole – as well as all aspects of patients’ lives.

CTCA’s philosophy of all-inclusive care centralized under one roof is the result of another man’s love for his mother: Founder Richard J. Stephenson started CTCA in Illinois after seeing the unsatisfactory care his own mother received when she battled cancer. CTCA also has facilities in Illinois, Oklahoma, Arizona and Washington state.

The objectives of what CTCA calls its “Mother Standard of Care” are to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients and to treat patients as they would their own loved ones.

Not surprisingly, Shoop enthusiastically embraced that approach. “Every single person can make a difference,” he said, adding that he extends that philosophy to how he treats his 52-person staff as well.

The compassionate cook

Shoop got his first job working for a Delaware County butcher at age 13. Later, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York. He trained in classic European styles and had several restaurants in the southern U.S.

When Shoop took over the operation at CTCA in August 2008, he instituted a kitchen management system developed in France, the Brigade System, in which every person in the kitchen has a specific station and task.

Shoop said that with this system, he aims to eliminate chaos and manage through silence.

Shoop’s kitchen was quiet and orderly during one recent visit. Mangoes, avocados and other fresh fruits and vegetables lay on pristine metal countertops that reflected the vibrant colors. Even during the busy lunch prep period, the kitchen was remarkably calm. A pastry chef lined trays with some of the 400 pastries prepared daily. Another cook delicately placed rows of shrimp on a tray.

But there is more to Shoop’s kitchen than order.

“Our purpose is so wonderful and beautiful,” he said of working at a cancer-treatment center. “The people that were complaining in my restaurant – I just gave them another martini.”

At CTCA, he consults with patients to find foods that they can tolerate and enjoy and that will make them more receptive to treatment and recovery. He packs all the meals with nutrients and flavor while reducing unnecessary saturated fats and other potentially harmful components.

His cream of asparagus soup, for instance, has 80 percent less saturated fat than conventional recipes. Parsnips, olive and corn oils, taro root and cornstarch replace flour, butter and cream while maintaining traditional appearance, texture and flavor.

Shoop’s kitchen also uses a few special ingredients that aren’t found on any grocery store shelf.

“Really it’s about two Ls – loving and listening,” Shoop said.