Frozen Yogurt (no ice cream maker needed)

Here in Australia recently it’s been hot, hot, hot. I know I’ve griped about it before but when it gets up to almost 40 C / 100 F, and your apartment doesn’t have air conditioning, griping can and shall ensue. As you can probably imagine, slaving over a hot stove is the last thing on the planet I want to be doing during the hot afternoon hours. So, I huddle in front of the fan with my laptop and fantasize about cold foods I can gobble down with relief.

One such cold food I leaped all over making was (you guessed it) frozen yogurt! I looked up a few favourite blogs for any tips and tricks—and much to my dismay, discovered that most of the “real” foodies out there have ice cream makers. I’d feel left out in the cold except for that being the precise effect I was seeking.

Fortunately a bit more digging (and let’s be honest, some common sense aka determination to consume something anything oh-my-goodness cold) revealed that one makes frozen yogurt by, der, freezing it. The other special equipment you need? A fork and a bowl. And maybe a spoon to eat it with!

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Edited: February 1st, 2011

Blueberry Flan

I don’t think I knew how lucky I was growing up. My passion for food is definitely from my parents, and their passion for fresh produce always meant that our fridge was well-stocked from the local farmers market or with bounty from mum’s garden. After a decade of getting plants established in the back yard, this summer my parents reaped the benefits from their hard work—three liters of fresh, home-grown blueberries in one weekend. Dad said he was almost tired of eating all of their fresh blueberries. While I try not to shake my head too much as my mum demurely continues that they didn’t taste as good as wild blueberries, I have a whole new appreciation for their garden, especially after seeing a woeful cup of raspberries being sold at my (really quite truly awesome) supermarket today for a heartbreaking $9. Though fortunately in Australia we’re in the heart of mango season, so it’s hard to feel too hard done by.

Anyway! Blueberry flan is one of those lovely desserts that manages to be sweet, refreshing, decadent, and light all in one. And maybe even healthy, considering it’s made with yoghurt. A bold claim?  Yuppers. Guess you’ll just have to make it yourself to see if I’m all talk or not, eh? And yes, wild blueberries truly do make this a stunning dessert, though you can also use fresh domestic ones, or frozen berries.

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Edited: October 19th, 2010

The Best Yam Fries Dip

You may have noticed my recent post about homemade baked yam fries, and in it you will have noticed that I promised to share my yam fries dip recipe as well. Ironically, I perfected this recipe before I perfected the fries themselves—I do so love my dips and sauces! After much fiddling, I have created this sauce, which is tangy and smooth and altogether wonderful paired with homemade yam fries. It would also be a great dip for veggie sticks in general.

Without further ado, enjoy!

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Edited: October 15th, 2010

Cranberry Nut Loaf

Health alert! This wonderful loaf is moistened with yoghurt, sweetened with honey and molasses, crunchy with walnuts, and has a whack of whole wheat goodness. Can you say, ‘yum’? Even better, this is the last recipe that I’ve been milking off of cooking Christmas in July, and is the result of one of my tips in the Art of Feast Cooking on how to use up ingredients that you have left over from a holiday meal. The ingredient? You guessed it—cranberry sauce!

Now, cranberry sauce doesn’t always need to be used up straight away. It doesn’t go off as quickly as other ingredients—if it’s in a jar and in the fridge, it can last several months after the fact (which is also why I got to doing this recipe only now). And whether you were using home made cranberry sauce or from a jar or can, it also freezes just fine, to be used for your next holiday meal. If you’ve already defrosted it once, though, it’s probably a good idea not to freeze & keep reusing it… you know, food safety and all that! So that’s where this recipe comes in.

This loaf reminded me a lot of one of my favourite muffin recipes, and its moist, dense interior is just so satisfying with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning. I was a bit surprised when I pulled it out of the oven to see how dark it was on the outside, and was thinking with a bit of dismay that I’d managed to burn the whole thing (and ruin my attempt at cleverly using up all our leftover ingredients). Fortunately, it was all a clever guise—once I cut into it to see that it was in fact done perfectly, I remembered that the more complex sugars (such as honey and molasses, which are used in this recipe), tend to darken much faster than normal white sugar. Think of it as a ‘caramelizing’! The edges of your loaf might look quite dark, but they will in fact taste just fine.

Alright, on with the show! See my notes at the bottom of the recipe for ingredient substitutions if need be.

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Edited: August 29th, 2010