Dear LPG, 

Now that the days are a bit warmer I have to say that the idea of making something as fresh and simple as Yogurt appealed to me and I must admit to also being drawn to a recipe with so very few ingredients. I have to say that I went for the vegan version of rennet once I worked out how it is produced.

As ever, I had a read through the method and, naturally mediocre chef that I am, I must admit to having been attracted to the very few actions needed to perfect the production of this food.  I do have to say that there was a lot of waiting involved and the heating of the milk was a challenge because, while that is all I had to do, the constant checking of the temperature for fear of missing the optimum time for phase two left me quite anxious.  You can’t leave it, because it needs constant stirring, but for all that I spent more than an hour watching a saucepan of milk get hot slowly. 

Then after the adding of just two ingredients there was another twelve-hour wait before more sieving, draining and waiting.  The good thing is that because one of the ingredients is a little of what you are trying to make, tasting the end result for authenticity was an easy process.  Mine ended up being a bit thinner in consistency than the shop-bought version but, after all the love and patience put into its making, I think I did not do too badly.  So, I must say I feel a bit healthier having helped celebrate Iceland’s big day.  

I think that I have ignored the USA for long enough in my attempts to bring a little independence your way, so on July 4th this year I feel that I must produce a decent hamburger.  I am not a complete kitchen novice and I do know how to get a bun and put a shop bought beef burger in it but, in honour of the American celebration, I am going to try a bit of authenticity and I have found that there are some subtle differences between their three most popular snacks of choice.  I have not decided whether to go for the McDonalds, Burger King or Wendy’s version yet, but you can be sure that my July dish of independence will be a classic.

  CB, Lewisham.

                   
CB offers us some selected recipes…

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… and found an authentic American to help with the education of your palate… 

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