As already mentioned, high heat is the cause. 1. Make sure your yogurt is warmed to room temperature - not cold from the refrigerator. 2. Don't add yogurt directly to a boiling or extremely hot mixture. Remove the cooked mixture from direct heat when adding yogurt. 3. Temper the yogurt by stirring a few tablespoons of the hot food into the yogurt, warming it gradually. Then stir the warmed yogurt into the hot mixture. Do this near the end of the cooking process so the yogurt won't heat too long. If you heat it too long, it will once again cause the curd and whey to separate and the sauce will curdle. 4. Be gentle anytime you are stirring yogurt. All that stirring activity breaks down the curd and reduces it to liquid. 5. Another alternative is to add cornstarch (as well as the flour method given by collenoz) to the mixture: allowing 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch per cup of yogurt, dissolve the cornstarch in a small amount of cold water. Add this to your yogurt mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened. 6. If your warm cooking mixture thins out too much with the addition of yogurt, you can also try adding a little arrowroot or flour (1-2 tablespoons per cup of yogurt) mixed with cold water. -Grainlady

This should be a pretty easy fix. For some reason apparently you're not getting the butter and sugar mixture hot enough to melt the sugar. You could go about it several ways but the easiest would be to cook the butter and sugar directly over the heat until the sugar melts. There is no reason that part needs to be done in the double boiler. Then you have several choices. You need to cool it down a bit so you can add the egg. I'd suggest just leaving the pot off the heat for a few, put it back on the double boiler and go from there. Easier even, you could just temper the eggs with some of the hot liquid, adding a spoon at a time to the eggs until they become warm [add about a quarter of the mix to be safe], then add back to the rest of the mixture, stir well and you're done. If you want to keep more to the original recipe I'd say you should probably melt the butter first, making sure the heat is up a bit so the butter is quite hot, then add the sugar and see if you can dissolve it then. I suspect you're just keeping the heat too low.

You might whisk in a small amount of flour. If you can smooth out the curdles with the whisking, the flour will help keep it from re-curdling. If you are using skim milk, it will curdle more easily than whole milk or better yet half and half or best yet cream. Next time, you can mix the milk with the flour before adding it to the sauce.

1.__________________________________________________________ CREAMY ROQUEFORT DRESSING Posted by: MQmoi (My Page) on Mon, Nov 18, 02 at 11:28 Here's one of my favorite salad dressings from Bon Appit. If you do not have sherry wine vinegar, make your own from 3 parts apple cider vinegar to 2 parts dry sherry. CREAMY ROQUEFORT DRESSING 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 large shallot, minced, 1 tablespoon Sherry wine vinegar, 1 large garlic clove, minced, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 1/3 cup crumbled Roquefort cheese, 3 tablespoons whipping cream 2.__________________________________________________________ Mediterranean Vinaigrette Posted by: MQmoi (My Page) on Wed, Nov 20, 02 at 20:28 Posters sometime ask for basic vinaigrette recipes. Here are my favorites. Mediterranean Vinaigrette 3 T. red wine vinegar, 2 cloves garlic, peeled, 2 t. sugar, 1 t. dijon mustard, Salt to taste (1/2 t. or so), Fresh ground black pepper, 2/3 extra virgin olive oil Place all the ingredients in a blender EXCEPT the olive oil. Blend until smooth. Add the oil and blend until it is mixed well. It should be opaque. Shake the dressing if it separates before using. 3._________________________________________________________ Greek Vinaigrette Posted by: MQmoi (My Page) on Wed, Nov 20, 02 at 20:28 Greek Vinaigrette 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 c. fresh lemon juice (about one large lemon), 1-2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 t. dried oregano, Salt to taste (about 1/2 t.), Fresh ground black pepper I mix this by hand with a wire whisk. 4.__________________________________________________________ Honey Lemon Dressing Posted by: MQmoi (My Page) on Wed, Nov 20, 02 at 20:28 I like this with fresh spinach and fruit salad. Honey Lemon Dressing 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 c. fresh lemon juice, 2-3 t. honey, Fresh ground black pepper, I mix this by hand with a wire whisk in a small bowl. 5.__________________________________________________________ ZESTY FRENCH DRESSING Posted by: Sharon_fl ) on Sun, Dec 8, 02 at 23:36 The 2 dressings I am posting, are treasured family recipes. Both my mom & I were cooks for 30+ years-both having owned our own restaurants and I also had a big nightclub. Along with other eateries we worked in over the years-I'm proud to say they are still being made & served in 3 counties in PA! I have given the LARGE quantity amounts for a reason (you can cut recipe in half). With the holidays coming-you might want to start a tradition that I have done since 1968--I buy the little jelly jars & give a jar of each of these to my neighbors and also to guests of my annual Xmas party. A pair of these-(presented in a small foil Xmas bag with festive ribbon) to folks on your list-will be appreciated. My people even give me back the jars after they're gone-assuring them of more the next year! LOL! Any questions-email me. ZESTY FRENCH DRESSING ************************* 8 small cans tomato soup, - 6 cups sugar, 6 cups CIDER vinegar, 3 cups of salad oil, 3 cups Lemon juice, 2 bottles (5 oz each) worchestershire sauce, 2 Tbs. each..salt and pepper, 2-3 Tbs. fresh chopped garlic, ** Put in deep pot to mix, using a whisk to blend well, after adding each ingredient. Pour into a jug(s)-filling 3/4 full and ADD...1 whole onion. Refridgerate for at least 2-3 days before using. Of course-the onion is just to flavor the dressing in the big jug! Ahead of time..you can go to any restaurant & ask for their empty gallon jugs (like their mayonaise comes in). Use these to store dressings in, until time to portion in jelly jars. Keeps 2 months under refridgeration. 6.__________________________________________________________ SHARON"S SWEET & SOUR BACON DRESSING Posted by: Sharon_fl ) on Sun, Dec 8, 02 at 23:36 ************************************** (makes 1 and 1/2 gallons) 2lbs. bacon, fried crisp-SAVE grease!' 12 eggs (beaten with spoon)' 11 cups sugar' 1 TBS salt' In a DEEP, HEAVY pot..put eggs & beat with a spoon, until broken up well. Add about 2/3 of the grease from the bacon, to the pot. Mix the sugar & salt into the eggs, until well blended. THEN ADD: ************** 2 cups flour' 3Tbs and 1 tsp. dry mustard' * Mix until well blended THEN ADD: ************** 5 cups cider vinegar' 10 cups warm water' *MIX WELL, using whisk! Heat on medium, and still frequently, but NOT constantly, since constant stirring loses heat & takes mixture longer to thicken! This will take around 20-30 minutes to thicken. You DON'T want it real thick-more like a medium thick gravy, as mixture will thicken more as it cools. If it does get away from you & gets too thick? Add HOT water- a little at a time-immediately-not after it cools! *When done-add 3Tbs of margarine or butter to the hot dressing & blend in. **This is best served warm (nuke for 30 seconds). ***Great on Spinach Salads, lettuce salad, Baked Potatoes or green beans. 7.__________________________________________________________ Fresh Onion Dressing Posted by: MQmoi (My Page) on Sun, Mar 2, 03 at 22:02 Since I have a few dressings in the FAQ and one person tried it and liked it, I'd like to add this one. Those casseroles would be good to add too. We often have requests for them. Hint. Hint. :) _____________________________ This is delicious. It uses one whole sliced thin onion, so the onion is like another ingredient for a green leafy salad (with grape tomatoes). We had it twice this week. It is from the Trellis Cookbook. I want to try it sometime on a Salad Nicoise. Fresh Onion Dressing 6 T. apple cider vinegar, 3 T. fresh lemon juice, 4 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard, ½ t. salt, ¼ t. black pepper, 1 ½ c. olive oil, 1 small onion sliced thin (I used a mandolin), 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil, 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, ½ T. minced garlic, 2 anchovies, minced (I omitted) In a stainless steel bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper. Add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking continuously until all the oil has been incorporated. Add the onion, basil, thyme, garlic, and anchovies and combine thoroughly. Cover with film wrap and refrigerate until needed. Chefs Touch: For this dressing, you may use a mixture of herbs such as marjoram, oregano and parsley, in addition to basil land thyme. It is better to use only ONE fresh herb, however, should only one be available, rather than to add dried herbs. The dressing is quite assertive when first prepared. I would suggest making it from 4 to 24 hours before serving. The flavors will mingle and mellow. May be kept covered and refrigerated for 3 to 4 days. 8._________________________________________________________ Sausage And Rosemary Sauce Posted by: Ann_T (My Page) on Tue, Apr 22, 03 at 11:53 Patty, You can add this one to the FAQ file. Ann Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Adapted from: Robert Alda's 99 Ways to Cook Pasta Sausage And Rosemary Sauce ========================== 4 to 6 Italian Sausage, hot or sweet, or combination Olive oil 2 shallots, 3 ounces of Mortadella, 1/2 cup dry white wine, 1 tablespoon dried or fresh rosemary, 1 tablespoon dried basil, 2 to 4 cans tomatoes (depending on number of sausages) . Par boil sausage for 2 to 4 minutes. Mince Mortedella and shallots in food processor. Heat in oil in large pot and add mortadella and shallots. Remove casings from sausage and mince in processor and add to pot. Cook until meat starts to brown on the bottom. Add the rosemary and basil and the wine. Simmer until wine has evaporated. Puree tomatoes but leave some texture and add to pot. Simmer for at least 1 hour. Remove any fat that surfaces. Serve over fusilli or Conchiglioni (shell) shaped pasta, to pick up the little bits of sausage. Options: I have made this without the Mortadella and it works. When I don't have good Italian Sausage I make this same dish using ground pork and season it as if it were sausage. Saute the pork and season with the shallots, couple of cloves of garlic, hot red pepper flakes, grind some fennel(optional) with the rosemary and basil, and then follow the above directions. (Tastes almost identical) Servings: 6