Ever since I returned from Dubai, I've become fascinated by Middle Eastern cuisine. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Sahadi's in Brooklyn, and I discovered Labne. Labne is a dense yoghurt eaten in Syria and Lebanon. It's not as tangy as many of the Greek yoghurts I've tried in the past, but it has the same thick texture. You can flavor it with crushed mint and olive oil. Also, it doesn't have nearly as many carbs as most yoghurts. Labne from Karoun Dairies in California has just two grams of carbohydrates in a two tablespoon serving size .

For those of you on a low-carb diet, like the Atkin's, Labne is a great find. You can use it as a dip for hamburger meat. It can be a substitute for sour cream. It also tenderizes meat in a stew and adds a great creamy tang to a soup. For those of you not on a strict low carb regimen, I urge you to try it over bread with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, olive oil and maras pepper. When entertaining, Labne can serve as dip for bread. This month, the New York Times Magazine featured a recipe for labne-and-ricotta cheesecakes with rice, nut and raspberry relish.

Ah, the diverse ways you can add labne into your diet! Next time you have zaatar bread, dip it into labne and taste the gastronomic effects of this unique low-carb treat.

Without getting a professional machine to keep in your kitchen, there are two main ways of making frozen yogurt. The first method involves making a mixture that is similar to an ice cream base, albeit much lower in fat than a full cream-and-eggs mixture, and churning it in an ice cream maker until the desired consistency is reached. The second method involves a literal translation, where the yogurt is mixed with fruit and frozen. Rianna, from For the Love of Baking, whipped up this Mango Frozen Yogurt using the latter technique and it is bursting with fruit and flavor. Mixing it with fruit is crucial, because yogurt does not usually react all that well to being frozen if you just pop a carton in to the freezer, and the more fruit you use, the better the final product will be. If you don't mind trying something a touch more time consuming, try going for the more traditional version instead.

Dannon's new yogurt, Activa, contains a special bacterial culture known as Bifidus Regularis that helps to regulate the digestive tract. To help promote their new product, and perhaps to locate potential markets for this breakfast-food-come-Milk of Magnesia-competitor, Dannon commissioned a survey to determine the most irregular cities in America. The survey defined irregularity as not going to the bathroom for two or more days and found that the ten most irregular cities are:

1. Orlando, FL
2. Memphis, TN

A Spanish biotech company, Puleva Biotech, has isolated and categorized the types of probiotic bacteria in breast milk in an attempt to determine the source and nature of its health benefits to children. The company says that breast milk was previously considered to be sterile, but it has isolated more than 3,000 types of bacteria in their samples. They report that they have determined the health benefits of 4 of these types and the company has come up with a unique way to use them: in yogurt.

The company has developed a yogurt, Puvela Max Defenses, that is enriched with these four strains of probiotic bacteria. Aimed at  children between the ages of four and twelve, the yogurt is intended to provide the some same health benefits to these older children that they received as infants. The four types of bacteria promote a healthy intestine, stimulate the immune system and aid in the body's absorption of vitamins and minerals.

My lemonade taste test generated a flurry of responses. It seems that quite a few people have opinions about the sugar derived substitute and even though Splenda has been around for a while now, I don't think I'm the only one who never really used it at home. The lemonade worked out pretty well, with the Splenda tasting very good, even when compared to the sugar-sweetened version. One comment on my previous post suggested that sweetening plain yogurt might be a more interesting way to use the sweetener.

Did you know that Splenda is 600 times sweeter than sugar? I didn't and probably put a bit too much Splenda into that batch of yogurt. At least, I think I put too much Splenda in. Though the artificially sweetened yogurt wasn't unpleasant, the taste of sweetness overwhelmed the actual flavor of the yogurt, reminding me almost exactly of commercially sweetened products. The yogurt sweetened with sugar was sweet, but the sweetness enhanced the tang and flavor of my yogurt, rather than masking it. I would use Splenda again, but would be very conservative in how much I used so the flavor wouldn't compete with the yogurt. In this round of Splenda vs. sugar, though, sugar definitely comes out ahead.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]