Cardamom and Tea

baklava frozen yogurt

by 2 Comments

This spring, I’ve been making so much baklava (also known as baklawa). And I mean, really, a lot. I’m pretty obsessive about tinkering with and testing my recipes before posting them here, so I’ve lost track of the number of trays I’ve made in the last couple months while fine-tuning my recipes for cardamom baklawa and olive oil botanical baklawa. So I had to come up with some sort of baklava ice cream to use up all those leftovers.

Luckily, the baking method I use is super easy, so the “problem” with making heaps of baklava isn’t really the amount of time it takes, but the sheer quantity left over. In other words, when it’s as simple as slicing, pouring, and baking, it’s pretty easy to end up with way too much. After you’ve shared plates with friends, left some at the neighbors’ doors, stuffed plastic containers into your guests’ luggage, and eaten some for breakfast every day for a week, you need to figure out what to do with all those delicious leftovers.

That’s where baklava frozen yogurt comes in.

The key to making baklava frozen yogurt is to remember to freeze some leftover baklava next time you make a batch, so that you can easily make it into frozen yogurt later on. You know it’s time to freeze the leftover baklava once it starts to feel like a chore to have to finish the rest of the tray—at that point, stop what you’re doing (because eating should never feel like work!), freeze those leftovers, and enjoy them in frozen yogurt form after a few weeks, once baklava is a novelty again. But, honestly, this frozen yogurt is so good, I’ve baked baklava just so that I could have some left over to make this recipe.

If you’re using my recipe for cardamom baklawa, this frozen yogurt recipe will work well as is. But if you’re using another kind of baklawa or baklava, feel free to substitute the cardamom with something that works better with the particular baklava you’re working with. For instance, you might replace some or all of the cardamom with cinnamon, cloves, or allspice, and you might add a teaspoon or so of rosewater or orange blossom water to the yogurt. It’s entirely up to you.

Print

baklava frozen yogurt

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 1/2 to 28 hours (including the time it takes to chill the ice cream core)
  • Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

  • One quart plain whole milk yogurt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 11 ounces leftover cardamom baklava *
  • Special equipment: ice cream machine **

Instructions

  1. At least 24 hours before you plan to make the frozen yogurt, freeze your machine’s core.
  2. At least 1 hour before making frozen yogurt, coarsely chop the baklava and divide into 8 ounces (about 2 cups chopped) and 3 ounces (2/3 cups chopped). Freeze the chopped baklava.
  3. At least 1 hour before making frozen yogurt, put a 6 cup freezer-safe container in the freezer.
  4. Combine the chilled yogurt with the sugar, salt, and cardamom. This step can be done a day ahead of time and kept refrigerated or it can be done right before transferring to the machine.
  5. Once everything is properly chilled, freeze the yogurt mixture according to your machine’s guide.
  6. Once the frozen yogurt has thickened significantly and finished processing, stir in the 8 ounces (2 cups) of chopped, frozen baklava.
  7. Transfer the frozen yogurt to the frozen storage container and immediately cover and place in the freezer.
  8. Store the frozen yogurt in the freezer for 30 minutes for soft serve, or continue to freeze for about 3 to 5 hours for hard ice cream.
  9. To serve, top with the 3 ounces (2/3 cups) of chopped, frozen baklawa (some on the whole batch and/or some on individual servings).

Notes

* If you are using another kind of baklava, feel free to substitute another spice for the cardamom to better match your baklava’s flavor (e.g., allspice, cinnamon, rosewater, orange blossom water). Also feel free to use store-bought baklava.

** If you do not have an ice cream machine, you can use David Lebovitz’s method.

find us on instagram and let us know what you made!

meatball stew | kift’it gu shirwah

by 2 Comments

A couple weeks ago, in early April, I spent the day at the beach with my friend, Anita. We spent the afternoon hanging and talking in between reading and grading midterm papers. It was surreal driving home and seeing no leaves on the trees after spending a beautiful, 85 degree, sunny day by the water. This week, the trees are greener, everything is in bloom, and it’s almost grape leaf season. But this week, in the meantime, it’s been pretty chilly and rainy, which is perfect weather for one last cozy stew, like kifteh’it gu shirwah.

While kift’it gu shirwah is more traditionally eaten in the fall, it is a lovely, warming dish to enjoy during these last few chilly days of spring. It’s got lots of bright vegetables and a lovely, light tomato broth. It doesn’t feel heavy like most winter stews, but it’s super filling and hearty, in a healthy way. The meatballs are made of ground beef and uncooked rice, which braise and steam as the stew cooks. The rice add a lovely texture to the meatballs and all of the flavors meld together as the dish cooks. Kift’it gu shirwah is really similar to kubbat shorba, but instead of wheat (bulgur or semolina), we use rice in the meatballs, so it’s a nice gluten-free alternative.

Print

meatball stew | kift’it gu shirwah

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: about 6 servings

Ingredients

For the tomato sauce:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter *
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, medium diced
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup minced light-green and white green onion parts (from about a bunch of green onions)
1/2 cup medium grain rice (e.g., Calrose)
1/2 cup packed minced parsley (from about 1/2 bunch)

To finish the stew:
3 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
2 cups boiling water
1 green bell pepper, large dice
2 small or 1 large unpeeled zucchini, large dice

Instructions

  1. Make the tomato sauce: Place a 4 to 8 quart stockpot over medium-low heat. Melt the butter in the olive oil and add the diced onion. Cook the onions, stirring every minute or two, for about 8 minutes until they lightly brown.
  2. Add the diced tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for about 12 minutes, until the tomatoes start to fall apart.
  3. Make the meatballs: While the tomatoes are cooking, prepare the meatballs: combine the ground beef, salt, pepper, minced green onions, short grain rice, and minced parsley. Shape the meatballs into about 25 small balls (about the size of ping pong balls).
  4. Finish the stew: Add the lemon juice to the diced tomatoes, return the heat to high, and simmer for 2 minutes.
  5. Add the meatballs to the tomatoes, top with the 2 cups of boiling water, cover and simmer for 2 minutes without stirring.
  6. Gently stir the meatballs, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
  7. Gently stir the meatballs, cover with the bell pepper and zucchini, reduce heat to low, and cook for another 15 minutes. The dish is done when the vegetables are soft and the meat and rice have cooked through to the center of the meatballs.
  8. Adjust the seasoning and serve. If you eat some left over the next day, you should stir about 2 to 3 tablespoons of additional water into each serving immediately before reheating (let it sit for about 2 minutes, stir, and then serve). The rice absorbs a lot of the moisture overnight.

Notes

* Substitute olive oil to make this dairy free.

find us on instagram and let us know what you made!