Homemade Labneh, Yogurt Cheese or Kefir Cheese لبنة

In the previous post, I showed you how to make your own yogurt, which is fantastic by itself, but you can take it one step up by making your own Labneh or Kefir Cheese. Labneh is a staple breakfast or dinner item in the Lebanese pantry. You drizzle olive oil all over labneh and eat it with olives, zaatar (thyme), tomatoes, cucumber and of course Arabic bread.
In fact, my daughter loves to eat labneh and olive on a pita bread (3arouss labneh w zaytoun  عروس لبنة و زيتون). Dinner in Lebanon is traditionally as light as breakfast and it consists of labneh, a variety of cheeses, olives, olive, tomatoes, cucumber and of course flat bread. It is often served with light tea...there is something about labneh sandwich and tea, they go together very well. When we were kids we loved it when Mama made us labneh sandwich with tomatoes and cucumber, olives and green onions inside a huge rolled Arabic flat bread. We insisted "With a lot of olive oil and a lot of salt". These sandwich were delicious and the flavor was just perfect. The other day my sister visited me and I made labneh sandwiches for our daughters for breakfast. We started to reminisce about our childhood and the labneh sandwiches. We both had the same memory of asking for extra olive oil and salt. I told my sister that I always make sure that add some olive oil and a bit of salt to my daughter's sandwich and she said that she does it too. How funny!

Tools:
3 Cheese cloths or 1 flower sack
Clean colander
deep bowl

Ingredients:
pinch of salt
1 pound (around 1/2 kilo) of homemade Yogurt

Method:
Place the colander over the bowl, line the colander with the cheese cloths or flour sack, and pour the yogurt inside the lined colander. Add a pinch of salt and stir. The salt enhances the flavor and allows for faster drainage of water or whey. The whey will accumulate in the bowl. I discard the whey. Repeat the procedure for 3 to 4 times for about 3 to 4 hours while placing concoction in the fridge.

when you feel that most of whey is in the bowl and that the yogurt is now more of soft cheese texture, remove the labneh from the colander, put in in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil to preserve, cover and refrigerate. I prefer to use glass Pyrex bowl that come with their own lids.

Spread the labneh over a pita bread, drizzle with olive oil and enjoy with some olives, cucumber, mint..etc..whatever your heart desires, and don't forget the tea!

Enjoy!
Nadine