Today I ran a number of errands and did my grocery shopping to prepare for the work week ahead. Youngest son came for dinner tonight and asked that I make my "
Chicken Scampi-ish" that I made last week. He had only looked at it on my blog but wasn't here when we had it and thought it looked good, so I made it for hm tonight...and he loved it! Yesterday, I decided to try out the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer that I got as a Christmas gift (from youngest son). I was really excited to use it and pre-froze the freezer bowl several days ahead of time so it would be ready (you are supposed to freeze it for at least 15 hours before using it). I decided to make mint chocolate chip frozen yogurt using full fat Greek yogurt. My favorite Greek yogurt is Fage 2% that I eat for breakfast most days -- but I wanted to use a full fat Greek yogurt so it would be creamier. I bought a larger container of Cabot Greek yogurt that contained 4 cups of yogurt. I used peppermint extract, stevia equivalent to 1 cup of sugar, a little vanilla extract and made my own "chocolate chips" by shaving half of a 3.5 ounce Green and Black 85% cacao chocolate bar. Everything seemed to be going good -- it looked like it was going to be "so easy" and in 20 minutes we'd have delicious, creamy frozen yogurt. To begin with, the part that clamps on to the mixer itself and holds the "dasher" (the paddle that turns/churns the ice cream in the bowl) didn't really seem to fit my mixer head securely. I've had my Kitchenaid mixer for probably 20 to 25 years now, but the directions indicated that it would fit all models...they lied because it didn't fit mine. We attached it but it didn't feel like it was going to stay attached long. But...that wasn't the biggest problem we had -- when people make ice cream, they are essentially pouring liquid (cream, etc.) into the bowl and the mixer is turning...but since we were making frozen yogurt, we were scooping a thick mixture into the bowl WHILE THE MIXER WAS TURNING (otherwise it freezes as soon as it hits the bowl and doesn't work). There isn't much clearance to add your mixture to begin with and with the thicker yogurt mixture that can't just be poured in....well, it was almost impossible. We had the biggest mess on our hands!!! Hubby finally lifted the mixer head quickly and I dumped it in which took all of about 15 seconds...but as soon as it hit the bowl it froze and when we turned it back on, it sounded like it was going to either break the dasher that turns or burn my mixer motor out. I decided at that point to cut my losses and turned off the mixer. Believe it or not....hubby and I HAND MIXED the frozen yogurt in the freezer bowl at the same speed the mixer would have done for 20 minutes -- which felt like about 120 minutes because you feel like your arm will fall off. Bottom line is we actually succeeded in making the frozen yogurt and it turned out like what you expected it would have with the mixer...but I knew there was no way I would EVER do this again because it just didn't fit our mixer head securely and I didn't want to destroy my mixer in the process. So, we packed the ice cream maker attachment up (after cleaning it) and returned it and told them it didn't work with our mixer like the instructions said it would. Instead, we bought a free standing stainless steel 2-quart Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that has a much easier opening to add the thick mixture from the top of the machine. We will try that one soon -- right now I am burned out on that whole process. As far as the frozen yogurt itself, the instructions said that the sweetness decreases after freezing and we found that to be true. The frozen yogurt is quite tart and not nearly anywhere as sweet as it was before freezing it, so I will remember that and adjust for it when we make ice cream or frozen yogurt in the future with our new ice cream maker. I snapped a few photos though for you to see how it looked as well as a quick pic of our dinner tonight. Enjoy!
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| This is the Greek yogurt I used |
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| See how rich and creamy it is? |
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| "Hand Churned"...but not by choice! |
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| Chicken Scampi-ish (at youngest son's request) |
OMG! I hope your next batch of ice cream is much easier. I love Cabot Greek Yogurt and have that for breakfast. I will try to make frozen yogurt with it. My family got me a Cuisinart ice cream maker for Christmas this year. I made Vanilla Ice Cream using Swerve. We should have eaten it right away, but stuck it in the freezer for dessert after dinner. Kind of a weird texture after that. I've not tried stevia ever. Maybe I'll use that instead. I hope your son enjoyed dinner and dessert at home. Have a great day GG!
ReplyDeleteHi Renee -- I replaced the Kitchenaid ice cream maker that flopped with a Cusinart yesterday -- maybe next weekend I will try it again. I love Swerve and wondered about using it instead but worried that it would crystalize with being frozen -- erythritol based sweeteners seem to do that when the finished product is either refrigerated or frozen sometimes. What I have read though is that if you powder it (in a blender, etc.) that it helps prevent that. Before I go whirling it around in my blender I'd try the confectioner's Swerve first which should already be powdered. I will have to try the Cabot plain with cinnamon and liquid stevia then like I do with my Fage every morning for breakfast during the week before I completely right it off. I picked up some full fat Greek Goddess yogurt yesterday while grocery shopping to try it. If you haven't tried stevia before...I would do it in a small setting (like an individual cup of yogurt) -- just in case you don't like it. I prefer the NuNaturals stevia because it doesn't have the bitterness many do. Hope your ice cream maker makes awesome ice cream for you and your family -- and also hoping my new one will too! :-)
ReplyDelete"write it off" -- not right it off...LOL -- I hate there is no edit button! :-)
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