Kefir - A Few Favorite Uses

[weinoo]

It's a lot cheaper than yogurt - at least cheaper than the good yogurt. So one of the coolest uses I've found for kefir is to use it for an almost instant soup. Peel and seed a couple of cukes, into the blender with some seasoning (don't forget the dill and mint for cacik) and a few cups of kefir, boom - instant cold cucumber soup.

And I can sometimes find the pre-cooked beets (not the canned variety, but the vacuum packed ones from France), into the blender with some seasonings and kefir, boom - instant cold borscht.

Do you use kefir?

[Toliver]

I use a strawberry flavored kefir in my morning smoothies. I've also used it with my Kashi cereal in place of milk.

I suppose you could use the plain kefir as you would use sour cream/yogurt in certain dishes (like in a tzatziki sauce), though it doesn't have the same body to it.

[andiesenji]

I used to make my own but it is a bit more complicated than making yogurt - needs a different type of culture that is tricky to use consistently.

Now I simply prepare my regular yogurt (I use the cultures from New England Cheeesemaking supply) and use half & half instead of milk. This produces a very thick and creamy result which I then "thin" with low fat or non-fat milk to get the exact degree of pourability I want.

The yogurt will liquify more if worked with a blender but I usually just use a whisk to blend the yogurt and milk as I like it thicker.

The kefir available here is not cheaper than yogurt.

Edited January 14, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[cdh]

Love kefir... but aside from drinking it and pouring it over cereal, I don't use it as a culinary base. It is amazing the variety of "spoiled milk" products that are out there... the russian markets I go to for the best kefir selection have shelf-feet of stuff I barely understand so there must be use for all of them...

Some day, if I'm bored, flush, and feeling scientific, getting one of each of the varieties and doing taste-tests and pH readings would be a fun project.

[Mottmott]

chris,

russian markets? Where do you find them? What special items do you go there for?

[cdh]

Philly's Russian markets are out in the wilds of the upper Northeast. On Bustleton Ave just past Castor you'll find Bell's Market, and a couple miles further out Bustleton you'll find Net Cost Market. My primary purchases there are pelmeni, kefir, pickles, and occassionally pickled mushrooms. They've got a very european selection of lots of stuff...

Do a search for Bell's Market on eG.... that's where I found out about the markets out there, and there are lots of interesting suggestions from our fellow forum readers.

Edited January 15, 2011 by cdh (log)