Kefir Cream Cheese, Whey, Sourdough Starter & Bread

So have you tried kefir yet?  I have only been making kefir for about a month but I am hooked (notice it's been showing up in about half of my recent recipes)!  This is another of those indigenous foods (in this case from the Caucasus Mountains which span Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia etc.) that  is not only delicious but life-sustainingly good for you!

 

In my initial post on kefir you can learn how to make it and ideas on getting some "kefir grains" which are the catalysts of its creation.  If you haven't done it already, get some (if you know me personally come on over--I have enough to share) and get started.  It's absolutely worth the trouble.  They make amazing smoothies (just put a half-cup of kefir per person in a blender with your favorite fruits and/or sweeteners and you end up with a refreshing, low-fat, healthy, and delicious drink you won't want to put down), and are a key ingredient in the best pancakes ever.

This post is about some of the many additional things I've been doing with it.  As I mentioned in the first post Kefir grains are not actual grain but a complex combination of yeasts and healthy bacteria in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars--they resemble little sprigs of cauliflower.  The bits of natural yeast got me interested in making sourdough bread, its creamy tang suggested it as a good option for a sour cream / cream-cheese alternative which then opened up many additional possibilities such as spreads, dips, and dressings.

Here are a just a few of the wonderful things you can do with kefir, nature's "Miracle Elixir"

Kefir Cheese

Kefir cheese is simple to make.  Simply strain the whey out of the kefir until what remains is the consistency of a soft cream cheese.  Some of your options for straining include:

• Pour it into a bag made from a cotton T-Shirt and hang that from a cupboard over a bowl to catch the drippings
• Pour it into coarse cheese cloth, twist into a ball, and hang it over a bowl or bottle
• Put a coffee filter into a plastic colander over a bowl and pour kefir into it to drain
• Use a commercial yogurt cheese strainer (nice tool to have--I've owned mine for over 25 years--it is in the funnel shape you see above, but is no longer on the market)

Kefir Whey

You can see the yellowish whey left from straining the kefir in the picture of the jar above.  Don't throw it away.  It's filled with nutrition.  Use it as a base for soups, smoothies, breads etc.

Kefir Sourdough Starter

Sourdough starter takes is made by feeding and concentrating the yeast you introduce into a batter.  We'll use the bit of yeast that exists naturally in kefir.

• In a ceramic or glass bowl mix together one cup of white flour and one cup of kefir whey or simply use kefir and stir it well--this is the sourdough starter but the yeast needs to be concentrated
• Cover with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter to grow
• After about 12 hours pour out into a different container all but 1 cup of the starter
• Feed the starter by adding another cup of white flour and a cup of liquid (whatever kefir whey you may have or simply water) and mixing well
• Repeat the process every 12 hours, pouring off all but a cup of starter and feeding it by adding another cup each of flour and water, mixing well, covering, and leaving to ferment 
• Do this until the starter mixture is bubbling and smells "sour"
• Pour a cup of your starter into a container, seal it and put it in the fridge for next time (now that you have your starter future bread starters will only take a single feeding left overnight)
• Use the remaining starter to make kefir sourdough bread (see recipe below) or any other sourdough bread such as my recipes for Blue Cheese and Walnut, Cranberry Walnut, Nutty Three Grain, or Jalapeño Popper

By the way, what you are doing by reducing the starter to 1 cup before feeding it is getting a higher proportion of food (i.e. the starch in the flour) to yeast spores.  The spores multiply much more quickly in an environment with a lot of undigested yeast.  You can use the starter you poured off into the separate container by adding it to your batch of sourdough.  Just remember to reduce the flour and liquid in the recipe by 1/2 cup each for every extra cup of starter you put in (remember it's half flour and half liquid).

Kefir Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread

• 2 cups Kefir Sourdough Starter (see instructions above)
• 1 cup Kefir
• 2 cups Water - luke warm
• 2 Tbsp Salt
• 6-8 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 cup Gluten (or make  half the flour white flour)

Mix the starter, kefir, 5 cups of flour, and salt in your mixer and mix into a dough.  Continue to add flour until the dough springs back when you poke it.  Place it in a bowl and let it raise for two or five hours (the slow raise enhances the sourdough flavor) until it doubles in size.  Punch down, knead until the bubbles are out of it.  Divide it into portions the size of your desired loaves (if you put the dough into a loaf pan or banneton it should only be half full because it will will more than double in size).  Let raise until double and bake in a 425 degree fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes until the loaves sound hollow when you tap them.  Place them on a rack for at least 10 minutes before you slice them.