Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

My freezer is PACKED. Loaves of leftover bread started tumbling out as I maneuvered cold plastic containers around to make room for yet another dessert, which our household of two (la maman and myself), would prefer not to consume in one sitting.

The combination of bread overload (even for me there is a limit of how much toast I can eat, and I love toast), and summer heat has led me to a bread-baking hiatus. Last week I made vanilla ice cream. It was a big hit, but all tasters agreed that it was too rich to enjoy guilt-free. So, I decided to try my hand at fro-yo.

I trolled the internet and found that most recipes for frozen yogurt call for Greek yogurt. I know that it's supposed to be thicker than regular yogurt, but it's impossible to find in supermarkets here. I also read that you can strain regular yogurt to make it thicker, so I got my strainer out, and dumped a few containers of yogurt in it. Most of the yogurt fell through to the other side, a lot fell onto the container, and some onto the side of the bowl.... next time I'll go with cheese cloth. Either way, the final product was delish- exactly what I wanted. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

This recipe is based on David Lebovitz's recipe for vanilla ice cream, and my sister's Philadelphia-Style Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream:

• 1 c. milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
• 3/4 c. sugar
• pinch of sea salt
• 5 egg yolks
• 2 c. yogurt (strained or Greek if you like it thicker)
• 1 bar of good bittersweet chocolate
• green food colouring (optional)

Heat milk, extracts, sugar and salt in a saucepan until warm. While whisking the egg yolks, slowly pour in a bit of the milk mixture. Now pour the egg yolk mixture into the milk slowly while whisking the milk. Heat the mixture, while stirring, until the mixture coats the back of the whisk. Strain the thickened mixture into the yogurt. Mix well, and chill (either in the fridge or over an ice bath). Put a deep baking dish, or bowl made of plastic, stainless steel or something durable in the freezer, and pour your custard mixture into it.

After forty-five minutes, open the door and check it. As it starts to freeze near the edges, remove it from the freezer and stir it vigorously with a spatula or whisk. Really beat it up and break up any frozen sections. Return to freezer.

Continue to check the mixture every 30 minutes, stirring vigorously as it's freezing. If you have one, you can use a hand-held mixer for best results, or use a stick blender. You can also use just a spatula or a sturdy whisk along with some modest physical effort.

Keep checking periodically and stirring while it freezes (by hand or with the electric mixer) until the ice cream is frozen. (It will likely take 2-3 hours to be ready).

When the mixture is mostly frozen, melt a bar of good bitterweet chocolate in a double boiler. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the fro-yo, and place back in the freezer. About half an hour later, take out and break up the chocolate pieces and stir into the fro-yo. Freeze a bit longer until firm, and serve!