I am really into my fermented foods at the moment. Kefir is a fermented milk drink which is made by adding kefir grains which are colonies of live yeast and bacteria to milk. This fermentation process creates a creamy, tart beverage with a texture similar to runny yoghurt. A friend of mine gave me some Kefir grains and I have carefully and lovingly kept them fed and warm/cold depending on which point the kefir is maturing.
My personal preference is for kefir that is about 2 days old. It needs to be at least two days old before use. It gets sharper in flavour as it ages. When the kefir has matured up to the point where you want it to stop fermenting I just pop it in the fridge where the cold sends it to sleep.
When ready to serve, strain through a sieve, transfer the grains to a clean jar and top back up with milk to make another batch. I know some people just rinse the previously used jar and reuse that but I like everything sterile ie. run through the dishwasher.
Kefir Smoothie Recipe – for 1
- 1/2 cup of blue berries – I use frozen as they are better value
- 1 /2 cup frozen mango or strawberries or cherries – whatever you have in the freezer
- 300ml or so of kifir
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 1 tablespoon protein powder
- 1 tablespoon oats
Method
Pop all ingredients into a blender and blitz until it is smooth. As with all smoothies, drink as soon as possible as they don’t really like hanging around.
If you like this kefir smoothie, you may like this smoothie too: Green Smoothie – Cooking with Fi