Thanks, everyone!
Nova, I have no idea....I really just got really curious one night, started doing some light internet research and found this way to make the cheese. I typically go to google, read through page upon page of different recipes, adapt many different features and processes from several and make my own. This was my first ever attempt, with many more to follow!
Quick easy recipe for this:
24 oz plain full fat (14% fat) oikos yogurt (or other good Greek plain yogurt)
1 teaspoon finely ground pink salt (other salt works just fine)
10 bullet habaneros (spice it to your taste, we've all been eating peppers long enough were we should be able to roughly gauge the heat. Keep in mind though, sitting in the cheese will cause some of the heat to lessen!)
black pepper
5 cloves fresh garlic, smashed then minced
With the not spicy labneh, I used fresh herbs (basil, oregano) and minced scallions.
Mix it up real good in the container
take a colander, sit it in a bowl, then line the colander with cheese cloth. Scoop all the awesomeness into the cheesecloth, then tie it off into a little sack. Throw it in the fridge for up to 72 hours to drain out the moisture and whey.
Eat!!!!
Judy is 100% right about the olive oil, etc; so awesome!! From my readings, it seems that traditionally the labneh is put into a bowl. An indent is made in the middle of the cheese, and it is covered in olive oil and smashed garlic. Then, people take Markouk (really thin thin bread, made on a saj (I NEED to find one of these) and use it to "pinch a portion of the cheese/oil out and eat.
To preserve your Labneh, get a jar and some good olive oil, roll the firmed up Labneh into balls, then put em in the jar with the olive oil! Can throw some fresh rosemary in the jar, too, if you like.
