I'm a bad daddy...

I started a new job, I have a bad cold and my oldest learned he could climb EVERYTHING so I've been a bit busy on both the cooking and the blogging front.  Tonight I plan to do burgers/sausages and some Cornish game hens on the grill but I want to give you frogurt.  Sometimes called FroYo (especially by the hippies up north) it is a mixture of yogurt and stuff that is frozen in an ice cream maker.  You've made the homemade yogurt right?  OK if you haven't take a day and make it....  now ready?  OK you can buy some if you want to but you will loose the ultimate homemade bragging rights.

The link to my ice cream maker is here.  We also have a stand alone freezer that we keep pretty cold (most home freezers are around 0 degrees and vary within the freezer, we have an energy-star stand up freezer in the basement that we keep at about -15.  I know that my Ice Cream maker benefits from the extra cold. BTW this is the type of maker where you freeze the container.

Take about 2 quarts (about 1 cup shy actually) or the amount that your Ice Cream maker will handle (and please use whatever you are comfortable with).  Add stuff to the yogurt.... chocolate, vanilla & sugar, brown sugar & chocolate chips, blueberry jam and taste the yogurt until you are happy with it.  This is the taste of your frogurt so be happy.  Now one thing to look out for is that homemade yogurt can be a bit more sour than store bought commercial processed stuff so you may need to sweeten it a bit more but do it to taste (AND I DO MEAN TASTE if you don't sample it do not blame me if it's horrible remember cooking is NOT about recipes it's about how flavors mesh and and how they work on you).  If this is your first time spinning ice cream I do recommend a fruit flavor using jam (homemade of course) as the flavoring,  yogurt and jam go together like peas and carrots (thanks Forrest).  Once the mix is at a taste you enjoy put it in the coldest part of your fridge for at least 4 hours (usually the bottom shelf).

We need to chill it because it will freeze faster and better.  Set up your ice-cream maker and turn it on it's lowest setting.  It needs to be on so it won't freeze the beater in place after you pour in the yogurt mix.  So slowly pout in your chilled mix and let it spin for 15 to 20 minutes or (if you you have a fancy electric machine) the maker tells you it's done.  At this point it should be the consistency of soft serve ice-cream.  Eat now if that is your choice or put in an airtight container in the freezer for the next day where it will set up just like store bought.

Keep it simple with your first batch.  Later on at the 10-15 minute mark you can put in chunks like almonds(or other nuts), chocolate chunks, bought candy bits etc.  If you want a ribbon of flavor going through, stir it in gently once it's out of the container (the ribbon flavors need to be hard frozen for the ribboning to set).

The chocolate (no sugar added) I did for my wife was pretty good, she liked the bitterness of the dark chocolate but not for me.  I am thinking of trying honey with almond bits next a classic yogurt combo.

Enjoy the long weekend all.