To Make Frozen Yogurt: Mint Edition

We have a few great gelato places in DC, but there's no good spots (that I've found) to eat some frozen yogurt. Maybe those don't generally exist? Is frozen yogurt stupid? TCBY? Ugh.

Anyway, I didn't want to make the swirly kind of frozen yogurt. That's all sugary. I wanted a frozen version of the full fat, plain yogurt I eat for breakfast. When done right, that kind of yogurt brings me back to the first time I tried French plain yogurt: sour, thick, creamy, and fluffy all at once. I topped it with raspberry jam. And I sat on a balcony overlooking the lake in Annecy pretty much feeling like I'd never be that happy again. I was that happy again, but it was 14 years ago and I can see myself there, making that discovery. Profound yogurt experience.

SOOO. Back to the present and the frozen plain yogurt. I had this idea that I could make mint yogurt. Not mint chocolate chip. Not mint made from phony flavors. But, real minted frozen yogurt. When I read about the perils of freezing yogurt, lots of people said it can get too icy. And a lot of people just used mint extract. And some people put heavy cream in theirs, which is fine, but I really want to do my best to have the focus be the yogurt. So, I followed the Kitchn's recipe + 101 Cookbooks and took some tips from the Internet at large (add vodka; strain the yogurt to reduce water content) and came up with something that I think is pretttttty decent. Don't make this expecting the creaminess of ice cream or gelato. It's NOT that. But, it's something you could eat a little bit of every night as a snack and feel pretty good about.

I brought 1/2 can coconut milk to a simmer with a package of mint leaves. I pressed on the mint leaves to extract flavor. I let that set for 30 minutes off the heat. I mixed together 2 cups of full fat plain yogurt (that I had strained for 2-3 hours; not much water came out, but some did) + 1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon of vodka + 1 tsp vanilla + the coconut milk minus the mint leaves + ~40 drops of mint bitters. Then, I put it in the ice cream machine until the magic happened. (I tried making it without the ice cream machine, and it was WAY too icy. It was okay to eat if I let it set out for 1/2 hour before eating...but the texture was not perfect.)

To Grill Indoors: Chicken (Skewers) Edition

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Sally asked the British lady: chicken SOS, what do I do? (Or something.) And the thing is, out of context that's bonkers. But, the context is: me, in my car, pulling up to my apartment with chicken breast in the grocery bag. And the British lady said (on the Splendid Table podcast): easy. Olive oil, cinnamon, cumin, crushed garlic, and cayenne on the chicken. So, I did it. The chicken marinated for an hour. Then I grilled it with some pickled jalapenos. Those are spicy, but really good grilled.

I already had in mind to make an Israeli cous cous salad with yellow peppers, garlic sauteed spinach, blistered cherry tomatoes with a splash of lemon juice & avocado oil. Something was missing; I added smoked paprika. Depth. I finished the dish as I planned: with some grilled peppers and mushrooms and a dabble of parsley yogurt sauce for dipping onto the plate. 

I had also planned to grill the chicken and veggies on the sticks. But then things weren't cooking evenly and I decided (bold move) that COOKED chicken was more important than skewered chicken.

Expert tip: use Greek yogurt (plain, obviously) add a little water + salt + parsley or cilantro. 

The Irish lady said the meal would be spicy and cool. (She had also recommended yogurt, but hers was plain.) Sometimes, I forget to add cayenne in my spice blends. But, judging by the speed with which this dinner was inhaled, I'll likely remember it.

Is this a #bigdeal? Since I was wearing so many colors, the cashier at Trader Joe's gave me stickers. "You wear so many colors! These are special, " he leaned in as he whispered to me, "they smell when you scratch them."