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
It might seem too good to be true but you can have ice cream on the Budwig diet. When made with the fat-free quark, it is cholesterol-free and rich in the good fat omega-3. You can use this recipe for an interesting way to have the linseed oil-quark cream instead of a muesli-style dessert.
This ice cream was created by Johanna Budwig. It has got to be the all-time easiest home-made ice-cream recipe, the result is creamy, smooth and absolutely delicious – and is probably one of the healthiest ice creams ever. It is a great treat, especially for anyone wanting to eat more healthily or with concerns about cholesterol, and it’s a good option for tempting a patient with a flagging appetite.
Vanilla Ice Cream
100 g quark
45 g linseed (flax) oil
50g skimmed milk
1 tablespoon raw natural honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste ( but not flavouring or “essence.”)
Simply blend and freeze.
Enjoy with fresh fruits, berries, nuts and a couple of heaped dessertspoons of ground linseed.
Variations:
Chocolate Ice Cream: add 1 tablespoon cocoa powder to the mix above and blend. Particularly good with ripe pears and chopped Brazil nuts
Blueberry Ice Cream: add 3 tablespoons blueberries and blend, then fold in a handful of chopped walnuts. Good with sliced peaches and almonds.
Raspberry Ice Cream: add 3 tablespoons of raspberries and blend.
Banana Ice Cream: mash a ripe banana and blend, great with fresh strawberries and mixed nuts.
Try your own variations with different fruit purees and juices, seeds and berries. Who would have thought linseed oil ice cream would taste this good?
Pears and chocolate always go well together; this is good enough to serve for dinner parties and is sublime. It is rather like a chocolate pear Eton mess.
Mix the honey and some skimmed milk into the quark linseed cream, add cocoa powder, mix well, add ground linseed and spoon into a dessert bowl and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Chocolate, Banana and Raspberry Muesli
This is more of a dessert but chocolate makes a great breakfast too.
Unsweetened coconut chips or ribbons – grated fresh coconut or chopped Brazil nuts (optional)
Place ground linseed in a bowl and mash into it the banana.
Mix the honey and some skimmed milk into the quark linseed cream, add cocoa powder, mix well and pour over mashed banana and linseed. Sprinkle with raspberries and coconut or Brazil nuts.
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.
There are so many variations on the theme of quark-linseed cream that it is impossible to do more that tickle your taste-buds, whet your appetite and get your imagination going! Once you have the basic idea, you’ll soon be incorporating the quark-linseed cream into your everyday diet and delighting the faddiest of friends with your delicious desserts and dressings!
Serve the quark-linseed oil cream with traditional muesli or just with any fresh whole, chopped, pureed fruit. This can be traditional apples or pears, berries, or more exotic fruits like papaya, pineapple or kiwi.
Some fruits like blackcurrants, gooseberries and rhubarb are best lightly cooked. Prunes and figs can be raw or soaked and cooked.
You can flavour the full- blended the Quark-Linseed Oil Cream by gently stirring in:
A mashed banana
A squeeze of lemon juice and/or grated lemon zest
Ground cinnamon and/or ground dried ginger in pinch or more to taste, goes well with apple, prunes, figs.
Grated fresh ginger – it tastes beautifully gingery and lemony and goes well with fruit compote, blackcurrant or raspberry goes very well with it.
Vanilla extract – about ½ teaspoon (not synthetic essence), a little extra skimmed milk and use in place of cream or custard; it is particularly good with baked or stewed apples or rhubarb. If you add the ground linseed into the cooked fruit you have a healthy alternative to fruit crumble that is totally Budwig compliant.
These are recommended by Dr Johanna Budwig but aren’t easy to find in the UK: Seabuckthorn juice, Rosehip pulp
Any fruit juice. i.e grape, pineapple, cherry, berries, orange,
Cocoa or cacao (raw ground chocolate beans) powder, just add to taste for a chocolate pudding. Good with strawberries, raspberries, figs and prunes.
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.
The goodness of beetroot and the tang of horseradish combine to create a bright, spicy, pick-me-up salad or sandwich filling: what’s not to love!
400 g beetroot. You can either cook the beets, until soft, peel and slice or dice; or shred/grate/julienne the peeled raw beetroots through a mandolin or food grater/processor.
1 eating apple finely diced or grated
One portion of the quark-linseed oil cream
the juice of ½ lemon
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
a little extra lemon juice or milk if needed
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp grated fresh horseradish
a pinch of ground caraway and a teaspoon of whole caraway seeds (optional)
a sprinkle of cayenne or paprika
Mix all ingredients and serve with potato or leafy salad. It’s good in a sandwich too.
As an alternative make this with celeriac or carrot.
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" – Hippocrates
