It’s January, with days dreary and nights dark. A time of reckoning after a season of revelry. Even the Seasonal Shopper is touting yogurt. Here’s the skinny: I’m writing about yogurt because it tastes great, not because I’m from the diet police. We’re talking good eating, and not just prepackaged pickup snacks. The health, diet and nutrition benefits of yogurt are merely lagniappes.

If you haven’t shopped yogurt lately, you’ll find plenty new. Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, Global Foods Market and Jay International Foods all carry a good selection of different yogurts. The creamier European style works well as a base for dips and dressings. A favorite winter salad of spinach, sweet clementines, almonds and red onion tasted zippier with a honey-Dijon-yogurt dressing. Ditto for the iceberg wedge slathered with yogurt blended with Gorgonzola crumbles and cracked black pepper.

Thick and rich, the Greek and Mediterranean yogurts can be used as you would cream cheese. Mix them with honey, spread them on graham crackers and top with slivers of dried apricots and chopped pistachios. Swanky. Combine the yogurt with apples and celery, diced small, carrots grated fine and chopped walnuts for a crunchy spread that works well for crackers or bagels.

Yogurt cooks, too. Read Indian, Greek and Mediterranean cookbooks to learn how. I found yogurt makes a great marinade for shrimp or chicken. Fiery curries, chiles, coriander, cumin and mustards combined with cool yogurt produce incredible tastes as sauces for potatoes, pastas or rice. When I substituted yogurt for sour cream in several tea bread and cake recipes, the play of very tart against sweet made good recipes better.

For a taste departure, try yogurt made from goat’s milk produced at Our Garden in New Florence, Mo. Right from the carton, the flavor was too intense for me, but blending one cup of yogurt to two cups of softened cream cheese made a spread I loved. The flavor is original and well worth a try. You’ll find Our Garden selling at both winter farmers’ markets.

Yogurt can even be made in your own kitchen. Doesn’t get more local than that. Making it doesn’t require much more than milk, nonfat milk solids, starter, a thermometer and a pan. It’s simple, but how easy it is depends on how much you want to invest.

The easiest way is to buy a yogurt maker, which maintains temperature throughout the fermentation period – essential to produce a good yogurt. Salton makes one, available online, that produces quarts and another for individual cups. Kitchen Conservatory in Clayton carries the Donvier brand yogurt maker and packets of dried yogurt culture.

If you have a place in your house where the temperature remains a steady 90 to 100 degrees for five to eight hours (like a closet with a heat vent running through it) or if you are willing to baby-sit a container of fermenting yogurt sitting in a water bath in an unheated oven for at least five hours, a yogurt maker isn’t necessary. Either way, we’ll show you how in this month’s recipe.

Revisit yogurt this month. It’s a taste brightener. Plus, you can feel virtuous eating such a healthful food.

Homemade Yogurt

1 quart

“Don’t stick your fingers in the starter,” said Robert Marshall, co-author of The Science of Providing Milk for Man and professor emeritus of food science at the University of Missouri-Columbia. “Making yogurt is all about growing the right kind of bacteria, so start with good food-handling practices.” Marshall’s scientific know-how and enthusiasm for dairying helped me construct this recipe.

1 quart milk*
1 oz. instant nonfat dry milk**
1 Tbsp. commercial plain yogurt with live culture*** or 1 packet of dried yogurt starter (follow directions on the package to mix)

•Wash all jars, utensils, pots and measuring cups in hot, soapy water. Rinse thoroughly in hot water and let air dry.
•It is not necessary, but you may sterilize the jars in a hot water bath. Let stand in hot water until ready to use.
•Pour the milk into a 2- or 3-quart saucepan or into the top of a large double boiler.
•Add the instant nonfat dry milk powder and stir to incorporate.
•Heat, stirring occasionally, until the milk steams a little and the edge of the pan supports small bubbles. Bring the milk to a temperature between 185 and 190 degrees. Don’t allow the bottom of the milk to scorch if using a saucepan directly on the heat; scorching will affect taste. Using the double boiler will prevent scorching.
•Remove the heated milk from the stove to a counter and allow it to sit for 3 minutes, monitoring the temperature of the milk until it reaches 110 degrees.
•Place 1 cup of the cooled milk in a clean measuring cup or dish, then add the yogurt culture and stir until smooth.
•Pour into a container or containers and cover with a clean lid.
•If using a yogurt maker, set the timers as directed.
•If using the closet method: Wrap the container in a large bath towel and allow to sit for 5 to 8 hours. Test the yogurt for consistency after 5 hours. Remove and refrigerate when ready.
•If using the oven method: Place the containers in a 115-degree water bath and put it in an unheated oven; close the oven door. Do not turn the oven on; the water should come halfway up the containers. Check the temperature every 2 hours. Add more hot water if the temperature drops below 100 degrees.
•After 5 to 8 hours, refrigerate the finished yogurt and enjoy.

* Cow, sheep or goat milk may be used, as can whole, 2 percent, 1 percent, skim or zero fat.

** Nonfat dry milk powder increases the milk solids in the yogurt, creating a creamier, denser texture.

*** Use fresh yogurt at least 2 weeks before its expiration date to avoid poor culture activity. Once you have made yogurt, reserve 1/4 cup to start the next batch.

Tester’s note: For an improvement in texture and less free whey – the liquid stuff that accumulates on top of the yogurt – you can add gelatin. Gelatin affects the mouth feel of the yogurt, making it creamier and more consistent. The process differs slightly as follows: Begin heating the liquid milk over medium-low heat. Mix 1 tablespoon Knox gelatin with the instant nonfat dry milk. When the milk in the pan reaches 140 degrees, add the gelatin mix and finish as directed above.