Greek Yogurt Ice Cream

Seasonal Recipe of the Week 

I have been having a blast making ice creams for the last few months. I bought a great inexpensive ice cream machine on Amazon. It's the kind with a built in compressor so I can keep making pints without the inconvienience of having to re-freeze the cannister and waiting 24 hours. What a breakthrough! I have been doing research on different bases from Jenny's with a cream cheese addition  and no egg custard base

to classic recipes from David Leibovitz . There are so many variations to explore especially once you factor in gelato, sorbet, and frozen yogurt options. But I thought today I would give you the easiest most delicious plain frozen Greek yogurt which you can turn into thousands of fantastic flavors. 

 Ingredients 

1 qt (32oz) plain full fat Greek yogurt

½ cup heavy cream

¾ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup wildflower honey

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp kosher salt

Procedure 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, heavy cream, granulated sugar, wildflower honey, extra virgin olive oil, and kosher salt until smooth. Churn the mixture according to the machine’s instructions. In my machine it ususally takes 30 minutes till its super thick like soft serve. You can eat it then but I harden it up in the freezer for a few hours to make it scooping consistency. It will get very hard so remove it from the freezer and sit it on the counter for 45 minutes to serve it soft.

A simple palate of ingredients, I would recommend using the best quality you can find.

Just a whisk will be needed to stir together

The final product.The olive oil gives it a silky texture.At this point you can fold in fresh berries,      caramel, basil syrup, toasted coconut, granola, chocolate syrup, etc.

Super healthy high protein nut and seed crackers

Seasonal Recipe of the Week 

You know it's always something!  First it was low calorie, then low sugar, then caveman Paleo vibes (ridiculous) then high fat, then no carb Keto, then no processed anything, and now its all about protein. I think as long as you are eating when hungry,  eating reasonable portions of a diverse group of foods, and not out of boredom, and not to excess, you will probably live a long healthy life. That being said, I love developing recipes to meet the current trends especially when they are delicious. I started seeing these seeded crackers around town and frankly they were not that good so I came up with this. It's totally open to interpretation in terms of which seeds and nuts you prefer and how sweet you want to make it (with the addition of dried fruits). Fresh fruit will not work due to the amount of moisture in it, but you could add chocolate chips, just saying. And its vegan! Have fun!

 Ingredients

1/2 cup GF flour

1/2 cup hazelnut flour (or any nut flour)

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

1T herbs de provence

1/8 t nutmeg

1/8 t black pepper

1/4 t smoked paprika

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup flax seeds

2 T hemp seeds

3 chopped dates

1 cup almond milk

 1 T  honey

 Procedure 

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 small loaf pans with parchment and spray with oil. Stir all ingredients together and pour into pans. Bake 30 minutes. Let cool. Take out of pan and freeze loaves at least 4 hours. Take out and using a serrated knife slice into 1/4- 1/8 inch slices. Arrange of parchment lined sheet pan and bake at 300 15 minutes then turn them over and bake the other side. Cool and store in airtight container.

All about Figs, mostly leaves

Seasonal Recipe of the Week 

I am fortunate enough to have a friend who farms figs right here on Long Island. I have become a student of "the fig man" which is a very zen experience. Not only am I learning about growing but I am learning patience, learning about soil and water, learning about trimming, and learning about our ever changing environment. Everybody knows how delicious ripe juicy figs are, but that my friend is only half of the story. I have been experimenting with pickling green unripe figs(thats a fall project), making figs soaked in port wine, and using fig leaves for a variety of products. Right now I am all about the leaves. Nothing more exciting then experimenting!

Fig leaves can be treated in different ways- used raw, blanched, toasted, or dried in the dehydrator. Interestingly when you toast fig leaves at 350 degrees for 4 minutes they smell a bit like coconut, its lovely! I have just started to do my deep dive into fig leaves as I am waiting for the figs to ripen so here are a few recipes I am working on:

Fig leaf infused olive oil  (this is great on salad, cheese, or eggs)

Ingredients 

3 large fresh fig leaves- stems removed and blanched for 30 seconds in boiling water then an ice bath and patted dry. 

Procedure

Take the dried blanched leaves and rough chop. Put into a tall plastic cup and add the oil then blend with a stick blender until  pretty smooth. Let sit 1 hour then put through cheesecloth and into a sealed jar and refrigerate.Will last for 3 weeks. It will be a beautiful color so it's nice to use in a squeeze bottle to decorate plates if you are feeling all fancy!

Updated Fig Pumpkin Seed Pesto ( spread on crackers, use as a veggie dip, put on pasta)

Ingredients

100 g blanched fig leaves (Then pull off the leaf bits from the veins.Toss the veins in the trash and only use the leaf bits. It's an extra step but it makes a creamier more tender product).

1 cup olive oil

50 g toasted pumpkin seeds

pinch salt

 a few grinds black pepper

2 drops mint extract or 10 fresh mint leaves

1 Tablespoon honey

1 1/2 cups EVOO

Procedure

Put everything but the fig leaves in blender and blend till smooth. Then add the fig leaves in slow handfulls and blend till smooth. If too thick add more oil. If too bitter add more honey. Refrigerate or freeze.

Raw Fig leaf syrup (add to cocktails, seltzer, or water for a refreshing beverage)

Ingredients

6 raw fig leaves

3 cups water

1 cup sugar

Procedure

Could not be easier. Just combine in a sauce pan, bring to the boil.Turn off heat and let sit till cool. Strain into a jar and refrigerate

Toasted fig leaf syrup

Ingredients

6 fig leaves toasted at 350 for 4 minutes

2 cups water

1 cup honey

 1 cup sugar

Procedure

Combine water sugar and honey and bring to the boil for 4 minutes.Add the toasted leaves and let cool. Remove the leaves and strain liquid and refrigerate

test post

Nothing to see here, just testing. Have you lost weight? Well, you look fabulous!