Combative mode...

Like most people, I have my good days and my bad days. Fortunately, my good days far outweigh my bad days. But I do know what it's like when the bad days keep piling up and everything becomes too much of a chore. When a couple of bad days turn into a week of bad days, into a month of bad days and all of a sudden you find yourself in a spot where nothing matters anymore. For me, that stopped when I said to myself 'enough is enough' and started talking with people, started taking more interest in the things around me. It wasn't easy; I had to force myself to do it.

Some people still think that depression is trivial and not a genuine health condition. They are wrong. Depression is a real illness with real symptoms, and it's not a sign of weakness or something you can 'snap out of' by 'pulling yourself together'. Sometimes it takes a concerted effort of medication and therapy but there are things you can do to help yourself. If you are feeling depressed, don't struggle on. Talk to someone, anyone. You have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to fear. It's important to seek help from your doctor if you think you may be depressed. If you've been feeling low for more than a few days, take this short test to find out if you're depressed. Depression is quite common and affects about one in 10 of us at some point. It affects men and women, young and old.

Trying to find a diet to ease depression? Unfortunately, there's no specific diet that works for depression. No studies have been done that indicate a particular eating plan can ease symptoms of clinical depression. Still, while certain diets or foods may not ease depression (or put you instantly in a better mood), there is something to be said for a healthy diet in relation to mental health, as much as in relation to physical health. The healthier you feel, the more likely you are to go out and do something, which is the first step in dealing with, and overcoming, depression.

Damaging molecules, called free radicals, are produced in our bodies during normal body functions and these free radicals contribute to aging and dysfunction. Antioxidants such as beta-carotene and vitamins C and E combat the effects of free radicals. Antioxidants have been shown to tie up these free radicals and take away their destructive power. Studies show that the brain is particularly at risk for free radical damage. Although there's no way to stop free radicals completely, we can reduce their destructive effect on the body by eating foods rich in antioxidants as part of a healthy diet. Below is a list of foods that can help because of their antioxidants:

Apricots, Broccoli, Cantaloupe, Carrots, Collard Greens, Peaches, Pumpkin, Spinach, (Sweet) Potatoes, Blueberries, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Oranges, Peppers, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Nuts, Seeds, Wheat Germ, Whole Grains, Beans, Pulses, Peas, Lean Meat, Cheese, (Fatty) Fish, Milk and Yoghurt, Poultry, Soy, Seafood.

A bowl of yoghurt with some wheat germ, seasonal fruit (apricots, peaches, blueberries, strawberries) and flaxseeds or crushed brazil nuts makes a tasty breakfast. Top it with some grated dark chocolate (75% cocoa) for an extra boost in endorphins (the 'happy' hormone). Or replace the yoghurt with some cottage cheese or ricotta and whole grain bread or cracker bread. Have it with some freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice (with pulp) for an extra little lift.

For a light dinner try mixing some smoked mackerel with crumbly feta or young goats cheese, finely cubed red pepper and tomato, quinoa, couscous or chickpeas and some spinach that has been sauteed with one finely chopped onion and two cloves of minced garlic. Add loads of fresh herbs such as basil, thyme, oregano or mint to taste. For something that looks more filling, try adding a soft boiled egg or fried mushroom.

Fancy a snack, a pick-me-up, or a refreshing drink later on in the day? Try making a smoothie/milkshake with some fresh strawberries or blueberries, bananas, vanilla ice cream and some finely chopped pieces of dark chocolate (70% cocoa). Add in some wheat germs for a more filling drink.

This drink is full of antioxidants and endorphin increasing properties; brilliant if you are feeling 'a bit low'. Make sure that you drink plenty throughout the day (1.5 to 2 litre per day) but try to avoid great quantities of coffee and alcohol.

For a simple and quick tea, try this One Pot Pasta: add 350 gram pasta, 350 gram chopped tomatoes, chopped yellow pepper and finely sliced leeks, 1 finely chopped onion, 3 cloves of grated garlic, pepper and paprika and oregano or thyme (to taste), 2 sprigs of basil, a good splash of olive oil, 1 stock cube (vegetable or chicken) and 750 millilitre of water to a large pan. (Yes, one pan.) Bring to a boil on medium to high heat, stirring regularly. Once it comes to the boil, cook for a further 10 minutes whilst stirring. By the time the pasta is cooked it will have taken on all the flavour and the water should be reduced to form a nice sauce. Serve with some grated cheese and fresh basil. If you want to use wholemeal pasta, cook the pasta for slightly longer.

No meal is complete without a dessert and there are some wonderful options out there. One of my favourites combines sweet potato and pecans but you could substitute the sweet potato for pumpkin, if you want.

Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Crumble

Ingredients:
For the pie crust

• 150 gram self-raising flour
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 115 gram butter
• 2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling

• 700 gram (2-3) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 5 centimetre chunks
• 2 large eggs
• 60 grams of light brown soft sugar
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 175 millilitre double cream

For the topping

• 100 gram light brown soft sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 125 gram pecans
• 1 tablespoon double cream

Method:

For the pie crust

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs (it's okay if some of the butter is still slightly bigger in size)
2. Add the ice cold water and bring the dough together, add some more water if necessary (one teaspoon at a time) until the dough is crumbly but holds together when you squeeze it
3. Turn the dough onto some clingfilm, pat it down to a disk, cover with more clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least one hour
4. After one hour, place the dough on a floured piece of baking paper and roll the dough out to a 35 centimetre circle
• use your knuckles to press the edges of the dough firmly to prevent the dough from cracking when you roll it out
5. Pick up the baking paper and flip it over onto a 23 centimetre pie plate or flan dish and gently fit the dough into the bottom and along the sides of the dish, being careful not to stretch or tear the dough, before removing the baking paper
6. Trim the dough to a 2½ centimetre overhang and crimp this to form a rim
7. Prick the bottom of the pie crust all over with a fork and place in the fridge to cool for another hour
8. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, place the pie crust in the centre of the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is firm and golden and leave to cool completely

For the filling

1. Cover the sweet potatoes with water in a large pan, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes)
2. Drain the potatoes, puree in a food processor until completely smooth and leave to cool completely
3. Preheat the oven to 190ºC
4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, the brown sugar and maple syrup until smooth
5. Add the sweet potato puree, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cream and whisk until completely smooth
6. Pour the filling into the fully cooled pie crust and bake on the lowest rack in the oven for about 50 minutes or until the filling is set
• transfer the pie to a cooling rack after baking to cool for one hour, then place in the fridge to cool completely

For the topping

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the sugar and pecans
2. Cook the mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture is 'smooth' (this will take about 3 minutes)
3. Stir in the tablespoon of cream and leave to cool for a couple of minutes
4. Pour the pecan mixture over the cooled pie and spread it evenly out with a knife or spatula
5. Leave the pie to cool for about 30 minutes until the topping has hardened
• Do not place the pie back into the fridge but leave it in a cool place for up to 6 hours (if you last that long...)

You might feel as if you are all alone in the world, but trust me when I say: 'You are not, there are people who know and understand exactly how you feel. Talk to them.'. The food I have mentioned will not magically 'cure' your depression but it might help you to feel better, more capable, more energetic. It will not happen overnight but stick with it.

Tea made from St John's Wort has been proven to help with depressions and might be helpful for you. If you would like to try this, make sure to discuss it with your doctor as the herb does affect some medications. It might also be a good idea to discuss a drastic change in your diet with your doctor as this could have implications for people with certain illnesses such as diabetes.

I won't end this post with my usual 'Enjoy' (although the food is very enjoyable) but with this: If you are feeling depressed, or have been diagnosed with clinical depression, talk to people about it. There is nothing to be ashamed of.

Be safe, take care of yourself, trust in your abilities.

'Keeping it real'

When I think of comfort food, my immediate thought is pasta. From there on in I don't really mind what type of pasta; any will do... Spaghetti, lasagna, macaroni, or any other type you can think of.

What goes with the pasta is more difficult. There just are so many choices. Just the base of the sauce can provide me with a delicious challenge. Which is quickly followed by: 'Do I want a lot of sauce or just enough to coat that pasta?'. In the end there are only three pasta dishes that really bring me the comfort that I want. And one of them makes most people question my sanity.

If I am 'down and out' and all I want to do is curl up in a ball and cry, one pasta dish is sure to save me. And yes, I am quite sane. Don't knock it till you tried it. Macaroni with sugar, butter and cinnamon. Boil the macaroni, drain, add a decent knob of butter, sugar and cinnamon to taste, mix and let the butter melt to create the 'sauce', get the biggest spoon that fits your mouth and start shoveling... Okay, I might just have lost some (more) of my sanity...

The second one will help me when the days are turning grey, when I am not quite feeling myself and when work is starting to get to me. Pasta Romesco; a sauce based on roasted red peppers. The last one, however, will get me over just about anything: work, heartache (haven't had that in a long time), general sadness, dreary weather. But I will eat it whenever I fancy. No 'special' occasion required... Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

Now, I would love to tell you that this is an ancient dish eaten by the lonely shepherds in Italy how would carry pasta with them, make the cheese there and then and only used bacon, pancetta or guanciale if they had it. I can't. I would love to tell you that it is an 'ancient' dish that was eaten by the carbonaro (charcoal miners) or that it was created as a tribute to the Carbonari (the secret society of 'charcoal men'), but I can't. Most likely it was just an urban dish from Rome. Nobody knows for sure. The romantic in me says the lonely shepherds or the charcoal miners. The more sensible part of me says: 'I don't care, I'm just glad someone gave me a taste of it.'. You can make up your own mind.

So, however you are feeling at this moment, have a go at one of my most favourite pasta dishes. It'll lift the spirits! And with the recipe below, you are hard pressed to create a dish that disappoints. Authentically you use Spaghetti for this but I like to use pasta like Rigatoni as the sauce holds better because of all the ridges and Conchiglie as this can hold the sauce and pieces of bacon...

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Ingredients:

• 225 gram (uncooked) pasta
• 4 large fresh eggs (you can use only the yolks for a more intense flavour or use 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks or use all 4 eggs whole)
• 225 gram pancetta, bacon or guanciale (Italian cured pork cheek or jowl), cut into 1 centimetre cubes
• 180 gram grated cheese (parmesan, pecorino, cheddar - which ever one, two or combination you have or like)
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Salt (to taste, if necessary)

Method:

1. Bring plenty of salted water (it should taste like the sea) to a boil
2. Add the pasta, return to the boil, and cook for 8-10 minutes or until 'al dente' (cooked but still firm when bitten)
3. In the mean time, heat a large frying pan or skillet over medium heat
4. Add the bacon to the frying pan and fry for about 3 minutes or until the meat is crispy and most of the fat has rendered out
• remove the frying pan from the heat
5. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and the cheese until well combined
6. As soon as the pasta is cooked, reserve about 100 millilitre of the cooking water and drain the rest of the water off
7. Return the frying pan to medium heat and add half of the reserved pasta water to the pan when the pan is hot
8. Toss the pasta into the frying pan and, whilst moving the pan continuously, wait until the bubbling subsides
• most of the water will evaporate
9. Remove the pan from the heat and add the egg mixture, stirring quickly until the eggs thicken
• the residual heat in the pan will cook the eggs but work quickly to prevent the eggs from scrambling
• if the sauce seems too thick, thin it out with a little bit more of the reserved pasta water
10. Season liberally with freshly cracked black pepper
• taste before you add any salt: depending on the kind of pork used, it may not need any salt

Following this recipe you should never have any problems cooking the perfect pasta dish. 

Although traditionally nothing else is added (and in my book you never add cream) you can fry a little onion and garlic with the bacon if you so desire. The best eggs to use are free range, organic eggs - in this case I would only use the yolks to really taste the eggs. If you can find guanciale, please use it: you will be surprised at the difference this will make. Use whatever type of pasta you want (have lying around) but try to avoid fresh pasta as the sauce will not stick to it as easily as to the dried varieties.

Whether you use bacon or pancetta, free range or dozen-a-dime eggs, cheap or expensive pasta; this dish is great!

As they say in Italy:

Mangia Mangia

Or as I like to say:

Please, eat!

I know, it's a bit cheesy...

After a couple of gloriously sunny days, the heavens opened yesterday and my backyard looked like an aquarium: loads of plants, all standing in 3 feet of water... I just needed to add the goldfish...

The temperature has dropped slightly and, with every drop of rain, the 'closeness' slowly dissipated. And so did my lethargy. When the temperature is too high I don't fancy eating or cooking/baking. As a matter of fact, I don't feel like doing much of anything until the temperature drops below 20ºC. And so, I had a crazy run of baking: wholemeal bread with rye flakes, rye flake buns, cheesy rye flake buns, chocolate chip cookies, mini fruit and walnut scones, fresh garlic bread... I think I might have gone a bit overboard...

As England was playing last night (gotta pretend that I am keeping up with the World Cup...) I was looking for a nice snack as the match started at 11 p.m. The night before we had 'kroketten' as Spain was trying to hold back The Netherlands (what a marvelous score, 1-5). So, for yesterday, I wanted something typically British but also something typically me. A cheese board is too simple, although tasty, and pasties are too heavy for this type of weather. What is a girl to do???

Eventually my brain started spouting out all kinds of typically British fare: crumpets (really??? as a snack???), Broccoli and Stilton soup (it's not that cold), Welsh Rarebit (not quite the kind of snack I had in mind). That was cheese twice... I love cheese, so does hubby. I might be onto something here... The UK has some lovely cheeses but 'plain and simple' cheddar does remain one of my favourites when it comes to snacks. Don't get me wrong, baked camembert with raw vegetables and boiled new potatoes to 'dip in' is good. So are breaded brie bites with jalapeño relish. But, sometimes, nothing beats 

Ooey-gooey baked cheddar cheese dip

Ingredients:

• 1 punnet grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 340 gram cream cheese, I used plain but you could choose a flavoured version)
• 225 gram mozzarella, torn into little pieces or freshly grated
• 225 gram extra mature cheddar, grated
• 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
• 4 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves
• ½ tablespoon freshly chopped oregano leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC
2. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spread the tomatoes in a single layer on the sheet
3. Sprinkle the olive oil, salt and pepper over the tomatoes and place in the oven to roast for 20-25 minutes
• the skins on the tomatoes will start to split
4. Whilst the tomatoes are roasting, mix the cream cheese with 200 grams of the cheddar and mozzarella and the parmesan
5. Add the herbs, garlic and the roasted tomatoes and mix well
6. Transfer the cheese mixture into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the remaining cheddar and mozzarella on top
7. Bake the cheese for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbling

Serve with a little sprinkling of parmesan and crusty bread, fresh veggies, crackers, boiled new (or baby) potatoes, or whatever you fancy.

Perhaps I should have gone for cheddar and Wensleydale with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, or English mustard and ale: the Italians beat the Brits 1-2... Oops, my bad... Still, I can only tell you to...

Enjoy

Crisp and Golden.

Crisp on the outside. Soft on the inside. Golden colour. Tantalising scent. As simple or elaborate as you fancy. But always oozing something delicious as soon as you cut into it. Whether as a snack or as part of a 'light' meal with a salad: a toastie is a great way to eat a sandwich. If I'm honest, it's the only way to eat a sandwich. Let's face it, a ham-and-cheese sandwich might be good but when the ham is nice and warm and the cheese is oozing in just the right way that same sandwich becomes great. The same goes for a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich (even better with some chocolate paste), although that might not be the healthiest sounding option...

I have a motto when it comes to food: every food item has something good in it, if you look close enough. Let's take for instance one of my favourites: chocolate. Everyone will tell me that, when eating something chocolate-y, chocolate is not good for you. Let's face the facts:

1. chocolate it made of cacao beans: we all know that beans are good for you
2. added to the beans is sugar, which is made from beets: beets is a vegetable, need I say more?
3. fat is added to make it creamy; we need some fat in our diet

This might be a slightly distorted view of things but, hey, it works for me: I eat as much chocolate as I like, absolutely guilt-free... But it works for more than just chocolate; it works for everything. There is just one golden rule: I wouldn't eat broccoli all day, every day, so I don't eat chocolate all day, every day. Moderation is the key.

At the moment I have a thing for a brie-and-cranberry toasted panini. It used to be bacon-cheese-soy-sauce-and-egg on brown bread. Before that there was ham-cheese-tomato-onion-and-chilli-sauce on white bread. It's also been camembert-walnuts-and-honey (I might just go back to that one in a bit, on good wholemeal bread). Or I might just try an American 'classic': The Reuben; (turkey) pastrami with sauerkraut and swiss cheese (Emmentaler to you and me) on rye bread. It does have a ring to it.

The fun thing about toasties is that you can go as wild as you like. A friend of mine loves (more like, is addicted to) cheese and baked beans... Every now and then she will spice it up a bit and puts a slice of ham with it. When she goes wild, she really lets go, doesn't she? A colleague of mine likes cheese with mayo, pickled onions or piccalilly. My husband prefers a proper Monte Cristo (ham and cheese, to you and me) and peanut butter with banana (preferably fried in a pan with some butter). What is your favourite?

For me, the bread used for a toastie is as important as the filling. I never use fresh bread, it has to be at least two days old. And I prefer not to use white bread unless it is for a Monte Cristo or a Croque Monsieur. Most of the times I wind up using the same wholemeal bread (because it's right there) but I prefer to match my bread with the fillings that I fancy. The sweet, nutty flavour of rye bread goes wonderfully well with french cheeses such as brie and camembert but is also lovely with goats cheese and blue cheese... Sorry, I got distracted by the idea of a goats-cheese-apple-and-walnut toastie on rye... Or blue-cheese-and-grape on rye... Seeded breads go well with strong meats such as salami. 

If I fancy something sweet white bread will do but even then I prefer wholemeal or seeded bread. But if it's decadence I'm after it can only be a sweet bread (or bread made with enriched bread dough) such as brioche. Peanut-butter-and-apple (or banana), brown-sugar-apple-and-cinnamon, chocolate-paste-banana-and-pecans. But there is a bread that is even better for a decadent, sweet, treat. Banana bread... Think about it... Picture it in your mind... Want it... Can you taste it? Banana bread is even great with savoury fillings, think for instance bacon-and-maple-syrup, blue-cheese-and-walnuts (or pecans).

There is one more bread that needs a mention here: sourdough. The slightly tangy flavour is perfect with strong cheeses but can also be a great substitute for a Reuben and white sourdough bread is ideal for a Croque Madame: ham-cheese-lettuce-and-egg. Because of the slight tang, sourdough is also very good with sweet fillings; pick any of the variations above or make your own version.

The recipe for any and all toasties is the same:

• two slices of bread, whatever you fancy
• filling to your taste, as much or as little as you like
• a little (or a lot) (peanut)butter, chocolate paste or sauce
• a hot grill, griddle pan, frying pan, toastie maker (such as breville), panini grill

1. cover one slice of bread with butter or sauce
2. place the fillings on top
3. cover the second slice with butter or sauce
4. place the sandwich under the grill or in the pan (or whatever else you are using) and fry until golden and the filling is piping hot

Eat as is, with a nice dipping sauce (I love french mustard with a cheese toastie) on the side, with a steaming bowl of soup, or with your favourite (fruit) salad.

Of course, you don't have to use bread. Using flour tortillas with similar fillings will make a lovely change; just let the cheese melt in between two tortillas in a dry frying pan, turning the tortillas over so that both sides become lovely golden and crispy...

You know what they say:

Enjoy

MIY

Whenever in the past I wanted to lose weight I was told to stop eating cheese because it contains too much fat. A better alternative would be low-fat cheese, if I was really opposed to cutting cheese out of my diet all together. But, that means eating processed food (remember my article from the third of April?) and eating a lot more of it to at least give the idea of eating something full of flavour. The problem, you see, is that to remove fat from cheese it requires a lot of work and in the process you lose texture and flavour. I tried it. I loathed it. And went back to proper, I-don't-care-if-it-is-bad-for-your-health-and-waistline, full-fat cheese. And then I wrote the article on processed foods...

A dear friend of mine asked me about cutting processed foods as much as possible out of my diet. More precisely, she asked me if I had finally given up on cheese as this is a processed food as well, and one that is not easy to make yourself... Not a fair question, I thought, as life would be not worth living without cheese (in my humble opinion). She had a point though, making cheese at home isn't the easiest as you need all kinds of equipment, the right environment and rennet (a complex of enzymes found in the stomach of baby mammals that allows them to process mother's milk, which is used to coagulate, or thicken, milk during the cheesemaking process). But, I thought, it wouldn't be impossible. After all, it has been done for millennia... Even the ancient Egyptians had tomb murals depicting the activity. And, until the industrialisation, cheese has been made in homes and farms all over Europe and the Middle-East.

And then I remembered a venture in making my own cheese several years ago. I love cheese on all of its guises; from very young through to 3-year-matured, from cheddars to blues, from soft to hard, and everything in between (except low-fat). But one of my favourites has got to be the herbal fresh cheeses such as Boursin. They are, however, extremely expensive for what they are (anywhere from £4 to £18 per kilo); thickened milk with herbs... I love these kind of cheeses because of their many uses: be it on toast or crackers, as a dollop in soups, as a quick stir-in-sauce for pasta. Years ago I had a blast at making it myself. I drained thickset yoghurt overnight and stirred in salt, herbs and garlic. It worked a treat but was slightly more sour than the well-known fresh cheeses and not everyone was as enamoured with it as I was. The result was that I stopped making it. Until now, that is. Because I have an easy recipe to make one kilogram of fresh cheese for less than £2... And that will taste like the real deal... And that you can adapt to your own preferences and requirements... Life is sweeeeeeet!!!

Fresh Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 litre whole milk (unpasteurised would be best, so if you know a local farmer...)
• juice of 1 lemon, or little splash of a neutral vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 200 gram buttermilk

Method:

1. Pour the milk into a large enough pan and heat slowly on low heat
2. Slowly stir the milk until little bubbles appear at the sides of the pan, making sure the milk doesn't boil
3. Turn off the heat and pour the lemon juice or vinegar and the buttermilk into the milk
4. Leave the milk for about ten minutes

• the milk will start to separate into curds and whey
5. Pour the whey and curds into a sieve, lined with a tea towel and placed inside a bowl to catch the whey
6. Leave the curds to stand for half an hour until they whey has drained off and only the curds are left
7. Pick up the four corners of the tea towel and tie them together of the handle of a wooden spoon
8. Place the tea towel with the cheese into a high bowl (for instance a large mixing bowl or the jug of the blender) making sure the towel does not touch the bottom of the bowl and let the wooden spoon rest on the rim
9. Leave this to stand for several hours for all the remaining liquid to drain out of the curds
10. Remove the cheese from the tea towel and place in a dry tea towel
11. Place the cheese into a bowl and leave to rest in the fridge, overnight would be best
12. Remove the tea towel and serve

Herb cream cheese

Ingredients:

• One recipe of cream cheese, as above
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped finely, to your taste
• 4 cloves of garlic
• a drop or two of olive oil
• a drop of honey

Method:

From step 6 above

1. Add a little salt and pepper, 3 tablespoons of finely chopped herbs, 4 cloves of minced or pureed garlic, a couple of drops of olive oil and honey and stir this into the curds 
• Be careful with the amount of salt you add: start with a little and keep tasting to make sure the flavour is to your liking
• The more garlic you add, the more pungent the flavour (and smell) will be so add this to your liking, or leave it out
2. Follow from step 7 above

As stated earlier, you can make this with Greek yoghurt: Spoon 1 tub of yoghurt into a tea towel and follow from step 7 above, adding the ingredients after it has been left to drain overnight. You will need a little more olive oil because this has a risk of becoming slightly too dry otherwise.

For those who are lactose intolerant, you could use sheeps or goats milk or kefir in much the same ways as above.

As you Make It Yourself, you can change the flavours of the cheese to your liking, requirements and desires. Try for instance:

• Smoked Paprika and very finely chopped Shallots
• Honey and Thyme
• Herbes de Provence and Garlic
• Lemon and Chives (can only be kept for a day or two)
• Coriander and very finely chopped Green Peppers
• Chilli Pepper and Horseradish
• Mint and Rosemary
• Anchovy, Olives and Capers (leave out the salt)
• Garlic and Parsley
• Cinnamon and grated Apple (can only be kept for a day but is perfect on fresh toast)
• Ginger, Coriander and Black Pepper
• Carrot Cake (grated carrot, chopped walnuts and raisins)
• Wild Garlic and Thyme Flowers

The list is practically endless (which is perfect as there are so many uses for cream cheese) and is only limited by your own imagination. I do type that sentence a lot but that is the principle of cooking: You can make anything your imagination lets you.

So, next time you are invited for a dinner party and are trying to think of what to bring for the host but don't want to bring the obligatory bottle of wine, bring them some MIY cream cheese... Use half the recipe, place the cheese (when you come to step 10) inside the tea towel into a nice little bowl, leave it to rest overnight, remove the tea towel and place the cheese back into the bowl and press it gently down with the back of a spoon. Cover the bowl with some clingfilm, a nice piece of checkered cloth and tie with a ribbon...

Now all I need to do is think of something to eat with my cream cheese, because I've been told I am no longer allowed to just use my fingers...

Enjoy