"TOTAL" Greek Yoghurt

I've been asked to do a little consumer review of the Fage brand "Total" greek yoghurt (why do some people spell it with an "h" - I usually don't, but as Fage do, so will I, for this review anyway.

So... yesterday, a bag landed on my desk full of yoghurt - the "full fat", 2% and 0% (and a couple of twin pots with honey - which stayed there for lunch time dessert this week)

Over the next week or so, I wil add to this post my thoughts on the product and some notes and pics of what I've tried with it.

here goes....


           TOTAL TWIN POT (2% - HONEY)

I tried this for lunch, as is, unaltered.  At first I was a little dubious - I'm no fan of twin pots, I find them fiddly and a little pointless (probably because I'm a "tip it all in" person) - there seemed to be way too much honey, so I spooned it in and mixed it up, bit by bit. To my surprise it was, in true Goldilocks fashion, just right for my taste, sweet but not tooth achingly. It was nice and creamy and to be perfectly honest, I didn't notice the reduction of fat at all.

Would I buy it? probably not - but only because of my twinpotaphobia - as it is genuinly very nice.

TOTAL 0%

This one is actually my girlfriends review.  She liked the "set'ness" of it, but found the whey on top a little off putting. She found it to be a little grainy and not as smooth as her regular brand of greek yoghurt. A slightly cheesey taste - not bad but not a winner.

TOTAL 0%

Thought I would give this a whirl myself, but "pimp it out", as I'm so very down with the kids...

I'll put the method in my recipe section, but basically, I strained it out so it was pretty dry (like a curd cheese), soaked some raisins and sultanas in a little dark rum, added the fruit and booze back in to bring it back to a yoghurt consistency, also added a couple of teaspons of ginger preserve and a dash of honey for sweetness and to balance out the rum.

Verdict: DELICIOUS. Turned a reasonably bland fat free product into a fairly elegant adult pudding.

UPDATE TO RUM&RAISIN - I didn't take into consideration how the rum would intensify after 24 hours - which makes it WAY too strong. Suggestion - just add the rummy raisins, not the rum as well, and thin it out with milk!

Here's what it looks like..

TOTAL 2%

For my first attempt at using Total in a hot meal, I tried a creamy mustard sausage pasta dish (inspired by Nigel Slater). Bacon, Chorizo, Sausage, Dijon, Wholegrain, Parmesan and Garlic, all cooked up, add a small pot of 2% and stir through until all heated...

Worked well, nice creamy flavour (in fact, the slight "cheesyness" noted previously about Total works well), with a slightly acidic back note.

Verdict: seems good for cooking - I would use it again if I wanted to cut out the fat element of cream without losing the creamy taste.

TOTAL "FULL FAT"

I decided to give the full fat version of Total a try with a quick and simple Tandoori Chicken (made it up as I went along, and seem to have made a Chicken Tikka Masala type of dish.

Anyhow - the Total worked perfectly, no splitting, no fuss - I would certainly use it again.

Recipe posted soon in recipe section - but basically, mix tandoori spices with yoghurt, olive oil & lemon juice - marinade chicken breasts for 20 minutes or so. Pop it in a screaming hot griddle pan, one side for a minute or two, flip it over and in a 200degree oven for 20-25 minutes - mix remaining marinade into passata and heat through to cook out the spices. Dry fry some onions - serve! This is SO good!!

and here's what it looks like

I also used the full fat for creamed leeks (in fact, I accidentally used the 2% which split instantly, however, I rescued the dish by tipping in the full fat, which either hid the split very well or brought it back together (not sure of the science behind it). the full fat worked well, the slight cheesey'ness, mentioned earlier about both 0% and 2% was also OK - to be honest, I would prefer real cream in future, but it's good if you are looking to de-fat/de-calorie a dish like this.

For dessert, I knocked up an apple crumble and served with a spoon of full fat - which was good too.

Herewith a couple of pics...

CONCLUSION:

0% - THIS IS FINE FOR PEOPLE WHO REALLY MUST HAVE NO FAT, BUT, IN MY OPINION, ISN'T WORTH HAVING OTHERWISE. NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT UNALTERED OR TO COOK WITH, BECAUSE OF IT'S GRAINY TEXTURE.

2% - THIS IS A GOOD EATING YOGHURT, SMOOTH AND CREAMY, EXCELLENT WITH A BIT OF HONEY STIRRED IN. IS OK FOR COOKING IF ITS A LAST MINUTE STIR IN AND ISN'T DIRECTLY HEATED.

FULL FAT - THE KING OF THE TOTAL RANGE, COOKS WELL, EATS WELL, NO SURPRISES. IF YOU WANT TO BUY AN ALL PURPOSE YOGHURT WITH NO BOTHER IN DOUBLE CHECKING BEFORE YOU USE IT, THIS IS THE "TOTAL" PACKAGE. WILL BE PUTTING THIS ON MY SHOPPING LIST IN FUTURE.