Comunidad Health Foods

I made a vow to myself that I would stop blogging about unperfected recipes. Gone are the days of trying a recipe, getting it almost right, and telling you about it with little disclaimers here or there. That was ok when I was blown away by having 5 followers. Now that more people are sitting up and taking notice of Floptimism (it’s still a small following, but each and every one of you make my day by sticking around, seriously!), I feel as though I owe it to you to really only give you the recipes that I can say 100% work – ones that have already been tweaked and tested. I’ve started remaking things two or three times to get them right, and I can honestly say that I’ve even enjoyed the fine-tuning aspect of this whole process. It really seemed like the days of close-but-no-cigar recipes were over – no more “well the flavor was right, but the consistency…” or “I totally burned it but I think you can do better so here it is…”

That is, until I met this frozen yogurt. I debated this one for quite some time. I really shouldn’t tell you about it. This should not be happening right now. But it is, it has to, because after I took one bite, and then a second, and then a third, and then suddenly I looked back on the past 3 days in a row to discover that I ate a bowl of it for dessert each of those three nights…well, I can’t let National Frozen Yogurt Day go by and not tell you about this flavor and recipe. I don’t care if the consistency is borderline atrocious, one of the downright worst textures I’ve made to date you’ll feel the same.

This is frozen yogurt at its almost purest state, and it’s not for everyone. If you like that tang of plain yogurt, particularly Greek, you’ll enjoy this. The Nutella just barely sweetens it, giving it a deep chocolate flavor without masking the beautiful flavor of plain, unadulterated yogurt. You could add more Nutella – the original called for equal parts but warned that it was cloyingly sweet that way – to subdue the yogurt and bring out the Nutella a little bit more. This would also fix the problem I ran into with the consistency – Nutella is oily enough to supposedly prevent the ice cream from getting too solid in the freezer, when used in greater amounts. However, the amount that I used wasn’t nearly enough, and I wound up with a brick after freezing it, and a stubborn brick at that. It does not soften quickly on the counter. Last night it took me 2 hours of refrigerator time to get it to a point where I could scoop it, and even then it probably could have used a little bit more patience on my part. A few nights before that I microwaved it and wound up with more of a sauce (which I poured over a different flavor of frozen yogurt – so not a bad thing!) than froyo. Suffice it to say, this recipe has its kinks. But it’s sheer perfection when it comes straight out of the machine (so if you want to serve/eat it immediately, all of these textural issues go out the window), and the flavor is so heavenly enjoyable that you can look past the glitches. This is the kind of froyo that makes me never want to buy the processed, overly sweetened cartons at the grocery store. This is the queen of all Froyo, and true to her title, the queen can get away with any offense – including being hard and stubborn as a rock.

By the way, don’t feel boxed in by this recipe. My brain is already in overdrive thinking of the possibilities for this as the foundation of many other flavors: stir in thawed bananas or make a banana split, top with strawberries, add peanut butter and honey (it’s seriously one of the most delicious sandwiches I’ve ever had – I can’t believe as a teenager I actually ate that calorie & sugar bomb for lunch on a regular basis), or reinvent my raspberry-banana Nutella sandwich in froyo form. Just think of all of the incredible ways that you like to eat Nutella, and find a way to make it work as a frozen yogurt flavor.

What’s your favorite way to eat Nutella? (Yes, “with a spoon” is a perfectly legitimate answer.)

Strawberry. Banana. Oreo. Frozen. Yogurt.

I had you at hello, didn’t I? I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off National Ice Cream Month (okay, maybe strawberry banana oreo ice cream would have been more appropriate….). The idea came to me in a much simpler form, and by came to me, I really mean that I stole it from one of the most endearing local ice cream parlors I’ve ever been to. I hope that doesn’t make me an evil person. I was up in the Pocono Mountains on a vacation with L before my summer class started, and we took a ride over to Coutt’s Blueberry Farm Market, a small gift-and-treats store owned by the same family that owns a nearby blueberry farm. The store boasts adorable keepsakes, a standard but intriguing lunch menu, and – my personal favorite – homemade ice cream and baked goods. They have standard flavors, but their crazier ones are to die for – I’m talking blueberry cheesecake, cinnamon bun, and Buckhorn – an “everything but the kitchen sink” indulgence so named for the local high school’s mascot. The day L and I went, they also had a flavor called Banana-Oreo, and after sampling a few flavors (I had to make sure I chose the right one!), I went with it. I thought of it as a kooky combination, but one that seemed unmistakably natural upon taking the first bite. It was sweet and subdued from the banana, with chunks of oreo intensity scattered throughout to keep you on your toes. That night when we sat down to eat our ice cream for dessert, I knew that I had to try my hand at it. Ban-Oreo ice cream was in Floptimism’s future.

Then, one day later in the summer, I was food shopping at my local Giant. I was on a mission – list in hand, full of fresh produce, milk, and eggs. The cookie aisle was not a stop on this particular day’s train. The Grocery Gods must have known this, for fate intervened and placed a cunning, alluring display of Oreos right next to the milk case…and not just any Oreos, either, but limited-edition, short-time-only, Berry Burst Ice Cream Oreos. I couldn’t help but be drawn to them! I picked them up, turned them over, examined the ingredients, and then stood with them in my hands for several more beats. I didn’t need them. They weren’t on my list. But limited edition Oreos! Still, my sheer iron will turned them away, and I marched out of the store proudly sans cookies.

I also proceeded to think about those darn specialty Oreos incessantly for next few days. Days turned into weeks, and I knew I needed to try them. I looked up reviews online, and finally tracked them down with L. We sampled them and were pleasantly surprised. We’re both relative purists when it comes to Oreos – I personally have only ever strayed as far as double stuffed and golden, but both times have come crawling back to the glory of the original. The others weren’t bad – just not as downright addicting. L has tried a few more varieties, but he too always comes back to the original. Still, they were good! Not original good, but I have no regrets in buying them. The filling is slightly thicker than normal, yet the ratio seems to be spot on between the decadent chocolate and the sweetness of the berry filling, which is reminiscent of a slightly oversugared strawberries-and-cream concoction. As my mom said upon sampling them, you can’t devour a whole sleeve of these guys in the blink of an eye like you can with the originals (maybe this is a blessing in disguise, but the glutton in me regrets this fact) – two or three is plenty satisfying – but they’re good. And we left it at that.

Then, it came time for Ban-Oreo ice cream. I looked up some recipes and considered my options. I decided to use a banana frozen yogurt recipe from Diethood as my starting base, and made changes to fit my vision more closely. I went to make my shopping list, but as I was writing down Oreos, I stopped myself. Why buy a pack of regular Oreos, when I have a nearly full pack of Berry Ice Cream oreos sitting on my kitchen counter? I mean, strawberry-banana is a killer combination! Strawberry-chocolate is, too, and I already know from Coutt’s that Banana-Oreo works fantastically. It had to work!

And that, my friends, is how the Strawberry Ban-Oreo Frozen Yogurt was born. It came together like a charm, a very fast charm, and churned up more beautifully than any other frozen treat I’ve made to date. It looked beautiful, with flecks of pink from the Oreos peppering the otherwise off-white base and chunks of deep chocolate Oreo cookies. It tasted creamy and tangy, not at all too sweet but just enough, and the banana tasted like real bananas, not some artificial banana flavoring. Next time, I would add a great deal more banana liqueur for two purposes – (1) to up the banana flavor just a little bit more, and (2) to help keep the frozen yogurt from freezing up so solidly in the freezer. As it stands, it really needs to thaw for a long time before being scoopable. I’d also consider making it with a combination of yogurt and milk so that it maintained its thick creaminess, but the liquid of the milk would help with this freezing issue. I would also crush a few more Oreos to allow the chocolate flavor to be a bit more pervasive. But really, all of these changes are me being nit-picky, because this recipe is a gem, and I am incredibly proud of how well it turned out. L even commented that it looked like an ice cream you’d buy at a store! I’m taking some in to work tomorrow to celebrate the holiday weekend right (and with it being July 1^st, it only seems appropriate), so I hope my coworkers enjoy it as much as my mom, L and I have been.

One Year Ago: Grilled Herbed Turkey with Maple-Dijon Sauce

Update: This recipe is featured in a post on Around the Plate!

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