Soft Fresh Cheese

When making cheese the best recipe to start off with is soft fresh cheese. You don't need any fancy equipment or cultures for this delicious cheese. I've tried several recipes, but this one works best for my taste buds. This recipe requires overnight draining, so start preparing the cheese one day before you actually want to serve it.
Makes about 2 cups.

Ingredients:
- 1 liter plain unsweetened yoghurt ( I prefer Greek style yoghurt)
- 1 to 1.5 tsp salt (according to taste)
- Generous handful of mixed fresh herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, basil, chives; finely chopped

Utensils:
- 1.5 liter capacity bowl x2
- Big lid that can cover the sieve
- Sieve or fine colander
- Muslin cloth (cheese cloth) or thin tea towel (I use a bandana)
- Spoon
- Teaspoon
- Chopping board and sharp knife

You can also use dried herbs, but it will definitely give a different taste to the cheese. You can use all of the above herbs, or only one variety. Just use what you like and try different flavourings every time you make the cheese. After a while you'll know what you like the most.

Preparation:
Mix the yoghurt with the salt in one bowl. Drape the muslin cloth or clean tea towel over the sieve and place the sieve over the second bowl. Make sure the sieve can stand in the bowl. (A wobbly sieve can collapse as soon as you pour the yoghurt mixture in the sieve.) Pour the yoghurt mixture into the sieve and put the lid on top of the sieve. Place it in the fridge and let it drain overnight.

In the morning you'll see that all the liquid has drained from the yoghurt. This is also called whey. You can either discard the liquid (Do not pour it down the sink if you have a septic tank! The bacteria in the tank won't thank you for that and it can destroy the good bacteria.) or give it to the chooks. They'll go mad and it is good for the egg production as well. You can also pour it onto compost if you have some. Seems to be really beneficial.

You'll see that there is a firm substance left in the sieve. That's your cheese. Ladle the cheese out of the sieve into a clean (serving)bowl and stir in the finely chopped herbs. Cover the bowl with cling film and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours for the flavours to develop.

This cheese will keep in a covered container for over a week in the fridge and is delicious served on a piece of warm French bread (baguette) or crackers. After a couple of days you might see some water (whey) on the bottom of the bowl/container. No worries, you can still eat the cheese. Just drain the whey and stir the cheese and you'll be fine.


Variation:
If you have a sweet tooth and would like to serve the cheese as a dessert, omit the fresh herbs and mix 2 Tbsp of liquid honey and 1 tsp ground cinnamon through the mixture.

You can use the sweet version for breakfast with toasted muesli and fresh fruit or as a light snack. When serving for dessert pour a generous dollop of cheese on a plate and scatter nuts around the cheese. Garnish the plate with fruit (pear, dates, figs or slices of green tart apple) and drizzle with some honey.