Recipe: Cherry-berry frozen yogurt

Who says you need an ice cream maker to make frozen yogurt? Photo by Matt Leatherman

Improvise, adapt and overcome. Clint Eastwood made the tactical concept well-known in the 1986 film Heartbreak Ridge. It's also the unofficial mantra of the Marine Corps, and it's an ideology central to law enforcement. 

Essentially, it means finding what works. It embodies a success-based attitude, no matter what the odds. 

IAO is a concept to live by. And in the case of this blog, it's a concept to cook by.

From situations where I've been missing key ingredients to occasions when I've botched entire dishes, I've had to improvise, adapt and overcome in the kitchen more times than I can count.

IAO has been especially helpful in my attempts at making frozen yogurts, sorbets and soft serves. I don't have an ice cream maker, which is a key piece of equipment needed for creating these frozen desserts -- or so I originally thought. As I've learned through IAO, the food processor serves as an effective backup. In fact, it's so qualified that I've managed to put off buying an ice cream maker for three years.

If you have a food processor, try out this recipe. You'll likely be pleasantly surprised by just how texturally sound and deliciously flavorful this frozen yogurt is. To boot, it's made with healthy, whole ingredients.

Cherry-Berry Frozen Yogurt
(Serves 4)

1 cup frozen sweet dark cherries
1 cup sliced frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana, sliced 
1/3 cup plain unsweetened yogurt 
2 tablespoons wild desert honey
3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (more if you like your frozen yogurt runnier)

Place all ingredients in the food processor, and process until smooth. Serve.

Store any leftovers in an air-tight, freezer-safe container for up to one day. Before serving, let thaw on the counter for 15-20 minutes. 

Related posts on The Concentric Circle:

• Making yogurt at home
• Super Saver: Freeze your own fruit 
• Dairy-free banana-cinnamon soft serve
• Peanut butter smoothie

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a sweet night

Photo by Matt Leatherman

After months of anticipation, it's almost here. Christmas: My favorite season and holiday.

This year is particularly special because it marks the first time Matt will meet my parents, brother and some of my dear friends. In two days, we'll fly to Nashville, Tenn., to spend Christmas week with them. After that, we'll go to Denver, Colo., to ring in the New Year with Matt's family, and I'll attempt snowboarding for the first time. I can't wait. 

As I look forward to the joyous moments that lie ahead, I simultaneously think back to what this Christmas season has already delivered: a night spent decorating our tree; going to see a theater performance of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas; meeting up with friends and family at the annual December Nights festival; viewing an awe-inspiring computerized Christmas light display; and drinking The Best Hot Chocolate Ever. 

All credit for the latter goes to my better half, who never ceases to amaze me with his culinary talent and his undying quest to make my dark chocolate wishes -- and all my dreams -- come true. When you try this recipe, you'll understand why it got its name. 

So, dear readers, as I begin to pack my bags to head home, I leave you with a taste of our holiday season and say, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a sweet night."

The Best Hot Chocolate Ever
(Serves 2) 

2 cups 1% organic milk (or 1% Lactaid)
1.5 ounces Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt
1.5 ounces Lindt dark chocolate with chili
Marshmallows (optional) 

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Heat the milk in a separate pot over a medium heat until its steaming, stirring occasionally. 

Spoon the chocolate evenly into two mugs. Pour the milk over the chocolate in each cup. Whisk vigorously until the chocolate and milk are combined. Top with marshmallows (optional), and enjoy!

Recipe: Peanut butter smoothie

A peanut butter smoothie that tastes more like a peanut butter milk shake? Yes please! Photo by NCR Back in the day, my family used to rent a beach house in Duck, North Carolina, for a week during the summer.

We'd spend days sticking our feet in the sand, riding jet skis and soaking up the sun. Nights were spent eating shellfish and ice cream. (Yes, in the 1990s, I could eat ice cream pain-free.)

Our ice cream spot of choice was Dairy Queen. I loved Blizzards, and would either order cookies ‘n’ cream or peanut-butter cup.

After a long day of frying myself to a crisp in the sun, the thick, frozen, sugary goodness was heaven. And the memory is quite possibly even sweeter. 

I don’t eat Blizzards or milk shakes today, but I do enjoy smoothies. 

Recently, I’ve been working on creating a dessert smoothie that loosely resembles that peanut-butter cup Blizzard I loved so much as a young girl. The challenge, of course, has been to remove all milk and refined sugar, replace it with unsweetened almond milk, fruit and honey, and maintain a rich (and sweet) peanut butter flavor. 

Yesterday I finally fine-tuned the ratios to the taste I’ve been imagining.

This smoothie tasted so much like a peanut butter milk shake that, if I hadn’t known what ingredients were actually in it, I would’ve thought it was a peanut butter milk shake. Even my taste tester agreed, and he’s a connoisseur of ice-cream desserts, especially when peanut butter is involved. 

Whip one up, and see if you too think this smoothie is too good to be truly healthy. 

Peanut Butter Smoothie

(Serves 2)

1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup frozen bananas

1/2 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 cup unsweetened, all-natural creamy peanut butter

2 teaspoons honey

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve (with a straw, of course).

Recipe: Baked pears

Baked pears not only taste like fall; they'll also make your house smell like fall. Photo by NCRThere's a full-blown celebration of fall going on at our house right now. We're planning our Halloween costumes, flipping through out-of-print Gourmet magazines in search of Thanksgiving recipes, and giving our oven a daily workout.

For us, that's really a true sign of fall--the grill taking a sabbatical and the oven stepping up to cook just about everything.

This week alone, our oven has roasted a chicken, golden beets and fingerling potatoes; toasted a baguette; and, tonight, baked the pictured pears.

Pears are in season right now and that means you can generally find them for a steal of a price. My local market is selling them for 49 cents a pound this week. 

I was craving a little something sweet tonight, so I whipped up this quick and easy dessert. Baked pears take less than 5 minutes to prep and one hour to cook. And let me tell you--they smell incredible as they bake. Even better than the smell is the fact that they're vegan and fairly healthy.

Despite the way it sounds, apple butter doesn't have butter in it at all. It's just apples, apple cider, molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon and spices. I buy one made by Julian Jams, which is in nearby Julian, Calif. 

Baked Pears
(Serves 2)

2 Bartlett pears, halved and cored (leave the stems on)
3 tablespoons raisins
6 dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon apple butter
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup cranberry-blueberry juice (I like L&A)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a small bowl, mix together the raisins, apricots, apple butter and cinnamon.

Arrange the pears skin side down in a 6-x-6 baking dish. Scoop the dried fruit mixture into the hole of each pear. Pour the juice into the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with a glass lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour, basting the pears with the liquid about a half way through. 

Remove from the oven, uncover and allow the pears to cool for 5 minutes. Place two pear halves on each plate, and spoon a little of the juice over each one. Serve.