LEBNEH

A soft cream, not sour nor sweet, ideal as a dip.

It is a Lebanese recipe easy to prepare at home.
My old book about Lebanese cooking , “L'art culinaire libanais”, written by George N.Rayes in 1950, a gift of a friend of my father, describes a method to prepare it from milk that is so laborious that I would never be able to prepare without the help of my friend Christina who learned it from the Lebanese cook working for her family when they were living in Kenya.

Ingredients: 250gr of plain full fat yogurt of good quality, extra virgin olive oil, salt, rose pepper and other spices you like (Curcuma, Turmeric , Saffron, Garam Masala, Cinnamon et)

Place a large colander over a bowl.
Wrap it with one or two layers of paper towels or with a paper filter used to make coffee (such as Melitta filters).

Pour yoghurt into he colander.
Cover with kitchen cellophane and place in the fridge overnight.
The day after, the liquid (a kind of buttermilk ) will be inside the bowl and, in the filter, there will be a white cream, the lebneh, that you will place into a serving dish.

Remove paper and gently, spread lebneh making dimples in it with a spoon.
Season with a little olive oil, salt and and sprinkle red Aleppo pepper or sweet paprika and curcuma.

Serve this dip with other Mezedes, as appetizer or quick snack, accompanied by unsalted crackers.

You can also use it as a base for other cream as tzatzik. It 's also very good if you season it simply with good olive oil and chopped fresh herbs.

Note 
If you think that your freshly prepared lebneh tantes too acid, pour over it fresh water ad let it drain again. The water will wash the lebneh, removing  all the acidity.
(From " Cucina mediterranea – La Storia nel Piatto" )