Russian Banya of Dallas

There is a traditional Russian Bathhouse in Dallas. Who knew??? 3 of us found the Banya yesterday. We intended to only stay about 3 hours. It ended up stretching to about 4. Who noticed??? http://russianbanyaofdallas.com/

There are three types of saunas at The Banya, Turkish, Finnish and Russian. I had never really thought about “wet” saunas as being “Turkish” and “dry” saunas being “Finnish”, but that is how I will think of them from here on out. Turkish saunas are relatively cooler with higher humidity. Finnish saunas are all about heat, with no humidity at all. Russian saunas have less heat than the Finnish saunas with more humidity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banya_(sauna)

One of the things that makes the Dallas Banya unusual is that it uses a traditional wood-fired stove to heat the banya. There is this wonderful, vaguely smoky smell to the place that made me think about being in the mountains in winter.

Everything in the Russian sauna is hot. You have to wear flip-flops or your feet will be uncomfortable. The wooden seats are hot enough that you have to bring in a plank from outside to sit on. I made the mistake of wearing a bathing suit that had a metal ornament on it. That metal heated up. I kept waiting for the underwires in the suit to become a problem. They might have eventually, but I shucked off the suit before that happened. The Banya is better in the buff.

We bought a Venik, a bundle of oak branches, with the leaves intact. The management soaked the Venik for us. Using it in the Banya added another layer of sensations to the experience.

The Banya has a Rosemeade address but it fronts on Marsh. I spent an extra 10 minutes or so trying to locate the place. Rosemeade is the dividing line between Dallas and Carrolton, so the street numbers on the south side of the road don’t match up with the numbers on the north side.

I had a massage. The guy is good. Next time, I will schedule the massage ahead of time and set it up toward the end of the process.

The vast majority of the time at the banya is spent sitting outside, waiting to go back in. You have to cool off a little before you can take more heat. Bring a book. Bring your knitting. Bring a friend. Order a snack and some tea. It is all good…

Yogurt Cheese

I have been making yogurt cheese for years. It is a lot like other fresh cheeses such as fresh mozzarella or ricotta. I mix it with mayonnaise and use it in salads. It isn't hard to make. I have a drip coffee filter that I use. I line it with a paper filter, fill it up with yogurt, set the filter into a container that will keep the filter in an upright position, cover the entire rig with plastic wrap, and let it sit in the refrigerator over night.

Here is Alton Brown's recipe for it. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/yogurt-cheese-recipe/index.html

The liquid that remains is called "whey". Using it up is more of a challenge. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/353018 I substitute it as the cold water part in making jello. I use it in oatmeal. It can be used in any baked-good substituted for the liquid.

I came across an interesting recipe several days ago using the cheese. It preserves the cheese using olive oil. Preserving with oil is just another way to keep things from going bad without refrigeration. For an over view of this (and other) preserving techniques, see http://campfire.theoildrum.com/node/4858

The recipe? Make the cheese. Put about a cup of olive oil into a clean jar. Add garlic cloves to taste (I did about 5 large cloves, but, then I really like garlic). Then create walnut-sized balls of the cheese and add them to the oil, being careful to completely cover each ball with the oil (to avoid having them stick to one another). Once the jar is full, put the lid on the jar and refrigerate.

To use, let it come up to room temperature. The olive oil is going to do that funny thing that olive oil does in the refrigerator.

I am going to use the cheese as a spread on crackers or bagels, or an addition to pasta and marinara sauce (once it is on a plate and ready to serve). And, the oil is going to take on the garlic flavor and can be used in cooking or as a dip for slices of baguettes.

And, I just bet there are going to be lots of other places to use this new way to flavor and save Yogurt Cheese