If you’ve been buying quirk in the cheese section at the supermarket you may have missed this. It’s a great new product and very useful for anyone following the Budwig Diet. It is ideal as an alternative to traditional quark for most people. Made in the UK by Yeo Valley, it is organic, unpasteurised, contains live cultures, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus and 10% protein which is just about ideal for combining with linseed (flaxseed) oil on the Budwig diet. It tastes nice and creamy too.
I found this new live culture kefir quark in Waitrose yesterday. Johanna Budwig promoted live fermented foods for the Budwig Diet. Kefir is milk fermented with a special broad spectrum culture. The bugs in this culture are good bacteria which promote a healthier gut biome so are believed to benefit the digestion, immune system and the health of the whole body.
Live kefir quark cottage cheese
High protein, low fat
This has a lovely fresh flavour, a super texture, very low fat (virtually fat-free) and 12% protein which makes it ideal for the Budwig Diet. The downside is it is only in little tubs with a plastic spoon and is quite pricey but if you want a live culturedquark and don’t want to make it yourself this is a good option. Hopefully in the future it will become available in larger tubs.
Live kefir quark cottage cheese
FOCC muesli
The Budwig diet is often called the Flax Oil Cottage Cheese FOCC diet because the cornerstone of the diet is thoroughly blended flax seed (linseed) oil and cottage cheese which is turned into a muesli with fruit, ground flax, nuts and honey added.
This delicious bowl of Budwig muesli was made with with live kefir quark, it’s also a rich source of soluble prebiotic fibre which makes it a very very digestion-friendly breakfast,
In her recipe for this muesli Johanna Budwig gave the recipe for quark to be used. It is a simple European cottage cheese, made in the home; it is much smoother and nicer for the Budwig muesli than British cottage cheese. In many parts of Europe traditional home made quark used to have live cultures which makes it a healthier option. This Kefir quark made a lovely Budwig Muesli blended with Flax Farm cold-pressed linseed (flaxseed) oil.I made the Budwig muesli just the same way as normal.
Budwig Muesli Recipe
I blended the tub of kefir quark thoroughly with 45 ml cold-pressed linseed (flax seed) oil, added a few drops vanilla extract, sweetened with stevia extract and added 2 heaped dessert spoons freshly ground linseed, a small tangerine , half a banana , a teaspoon of raw honey and topped with strawberries and walnuts; yum! See more Budwig recipes
Here are some more suggestions for the Budwig Diet breakfast. All are rich in omega-3, tummy-friendly fibre, minerals, vitamins and natural antioxidants. It is an essential element of the Budwig diet or a super-nutritious replacement for conventional breakfast cereals and mueslis for anyone trying to improve their health. You can vary it endlessly with different fruits, nuts, berries and spices.
Budwig Muesli Ingredients
2 tablespoons Linseeds (brown/bronze or golden)
1 portion of Quark-Linseed Oil Cream (made from 100 g quark and 45-50g cold-pressed linseed oil thoroughly blended and optionally sweetened with 1 teaspoon honey, )
A portion of raw seasonal fruit chopped
Spices to taste
Nuts, berries, freshly made juice, spices to taste
Method
Grind the linseeds to a fine powder in a dedicated electric coffee grinder and place in a bowl. Add chopped fruit. Mix the quark-linseed cream with any spices you fancy – cinnamon, fresh or dried ginger, vanilla extract are all good – add to bowl. If you would like the cream to be softer simply stir in some skimmed milk or freshly-pressed juice and spoon over the fruit and ground linseed. Top with berries and nuts. JB particularly recommends Brazil nuts, which contain lots of selenium, and walnuts. She also suggests pine nuts and unsweetened coconut which can be raw or shavings (but not sweetened).
Try making your muesli with these combinations added to your basic Budwig cream:
Autumn Fruits: Bronze linseed ground. Chopped apple, and add
ground vanilla to the cream and ground cinnamon to the linseed, top with blackberries and hazelnuts.
Multicolour Fruits: Gold linseed ground. Chopped pineapple and mango. Add freshly grated ginger to taste, top with strawberries and blueberries, coconut shavings and Brazil nuts.
Citrus: Golden linseed ground, 1/2 a chopped grapefruit, 1/2 banana, satsuma sections, cinnamon, fresh ginger and raspberries Brazil nuts and sliced almonds.
Eton Mess Use strawberries, raspberries and sliced banana. Add vanilla extract to the FOCC, top with berries and chopped macadamia or walnuts nuts.
Trifle: Use chopped bananas and raspberries as the basic fruit, add a few drops of vanilla extract to the FOCC, drizzle the ground linseed with a little Amontillado sherry sweetened with stevia to taste, top with more raspberries, fresh red currants, if available, and chopped pistachios or very lightly toasted almonds nuts.
Chocolate but not really wicked: Fruit chopped banana , add two heaped dessertspoons of cocoa powder to the FOCC and a little stevia powder to taste, top with the raspberries and lightly toasted almond flakes and chopped Brazils.
Tzatziki with quark/cottage cheese/Greek yoghurt, linseed oil, lemon cucumber and mint.
Budwig quark and linseed oil muesli with honey, ground linseed, fruit, berries and chopped nuts,
This is the cornerstone of the whole Budwig diet;it is used for the breakfast and lunch. It is also called FO/CC, Flax Oil/Cottage Cheese and Budwig Flax Oil Cream. (Linseed is called flax in North America.)
The magic comes from the sulphur-rich milk proteins in the cheese making the omega-3 in the linseed oil more soluble. Linseed Oil-Quark cream should be made with good-quality fresh ingredients and it will taste creamy, light and delicious. The basic FOCC “cream” is very versatile and can be used as a healthy alternative to cream, crème-fraiche or yoghurt for anyone who is health-conscious.
Budwig Muesli Recipe
Ingredients to make the FOCC Cream:
This makes a standard portion for a woman, men should have up to 25% more and children less
Quark and cold-pressed linseed (flax seed ) oil
45-50g cold-pressed linseed oil (flax seed oil)
100 g Quark (If you can’t find quark use low fat/fat-free cottage cheese or unsweetened plain Greek yoghurt (this should be 10-12% protein.)
2 tablespoons milk (optional to help mixing)
1 teaspoon cold-extracted raw honey (optional)
Blend quark cottage cheese with flax oil very thoroughly
Place Linseed Oil and quark in a jug or tall container suitable for using a stick blender. If you prefer a softer consistency add two or three tablespoons of skimmed milk. Blend very thoroughly; is very important to continue blending until the oil completely disappears into the emulsion. If required sweeten by mixing in up to 1 tsp honey.
Muesli Ingredients
25g ground linseed
1 tsp Honey
Berries (forest fruits)
Nuts
Fruit chopped
Method
Assemble fruit and freshly ground linseed in a bowl. Top with creamed linseed oil and cottage cheese, top with berries and chopped nuts. Eat immediately.
Variations
The Budwig diet calls for the Quark – Linseed Oil “cream” to be eaten with ground linseed and fruit as muesli for breakfast, For lunch you can add it to the first course or pudding. With imagination the possibilities are almost endless.
Budwig Muesli Smoothie
A modern variation is to incorporate the linseed oil/cottage cheese cream into a smoothie by adding it to blitzed fresh fruits and freshly pressed juice.
Place all other ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
Then add blended cottage cheese linseed (flaxseed) oil, pulse gently until incorporate with fruit etc., Don’t over-
blend,
Other ways for using Budwig creamed linseed oil and cottage cheese
Johanna Budwig’s own savoury recipes include using the cream as mayonnaise, Indian-style Tzatziki, sauces, sandwich fillers or toast topping. Use it just as you would any cream or soft cheese (within the rules of the diet). In savoury dishes try “cream” with good seedy mustard, curry powder or herbs.
For dessert you can use it like a mousse flavoured with chocolate or spices; it combines well with cinnamon, cocoa, vanilla, banana, orange and lemon or make the Budwig “cream” into easy ice creams. There are recipes on the site for several delicious flavours of (Budwig-compatible) ice-cream.
N.B. Always blend the cold-pressed linseed oil and cottage cheese thoroughly before adding other ingredients.
This is the most ridiculously delicious meal and very quick, cheap and easy. Bake a large potato. Mix the quark-linseed oil cream with a tiny pinch of salt, a little black pepper and small amount of finely chopped chives and use to top the potato. Serve with salad or cooked veg.
Boil a portion of potatoes and when cool enough to handle chop/slice. Mix a portion of quark-linseed oil cream with the juice of a lemon and 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar. Add a a finely sliced onion, chopped chives, parsley and/or dill, black pepper and a pinch of salt and enough skimmed milk to made a creamy consistency. Mix into the chopped potatoes and sprinkle with paprika and/or a little cayenne pepper and chopped dill pickles.
Waxy potatoes have smooth, dense flesh that holds their shape well when cooked. They work well in salads or simply boiled. Key waxy varieties include Charlotte and Jersey Royals but if you can’t get any of those, don’t worry, it’ll still be great with any potato.
Tzatziki is from made from simple ingredients. This is a Budwig compliant version of the classic Indian side dish.
With a food-grater or food processor grate or finely chop a de-seeded cucumber, add ½ to 1 garlic mashed clove per helping, squeeze of lemon juice, a small handful of chopped dill or mint to taste, and combine with a roughly equal quantity quark-linseed oil cream. Season to taste with black pepper and chopped green or red chili (optional) sprinkle with cayenne pepper (also optional).
Serve with curries, cooked vegetables, dhall (curried lentils or chickpeas), rice or buckwheat or enjoy as a dip.
The quark-linseed oil cream makes an excellent base for a healthy mayonnaise that is every bit as good as the real thing.
This is the basic mayonnaise recipe from Dr Johanna Budwig’s Oil Protein Cookbook.
3 tbsp cold-pressed linseed oil
3 tbsp quark
3 tbsp milk (or 6 yoghurt)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
and/or 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar,
tbsp made mustard smooth or seeded,
Pinch salt.
Blend oil and quark very thoroughly then stir in the rest of the ingredients.
Use to top raw veggies or any salad, have on top a slice of bread or as a sandwich filling, use as a dip or as a relish or chutney with a bean dish or curry, use with a baked potato or mash – brilliant with salad potatoes.
Variations
Add in individually or any combination of the following:
Chopped cornichon/pickled gherkins/dill pickles
Chopped capers,
Finely chopped herbs; dill, marjoram, chives, thyme, coriander, parsley, mint
Chopped chillies
Mashed garlic
Soaked, chopped dried tomatoes
Chopped onions, celery, tomatoes, cucumber, courgette, apple
Soy sauce
Caraway seeds, ground and/or whole
2 tbs soft cheese, hard cheese, herbed cheese or even blue cheese.
Chopped walnut, pine nuts
Black pepper, white pepper
Olives
Green pepper corns
Sweet red and/or green peppers, chopped
Cayenne pepper
Saffron
Horseradish
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" – Hippocrates
