Comfort me with frozen yogurt

You know yesterday was a terrible day when I was not even remotely embarrassed when I dissolved in tears in the middle of the busybusy Atlanta airport. I won't get into my frustration but, seriously, the abysmal food options in terminal D did not help one bit. I am one of those people who brings lots of snacks when I travel (yesterday I brought toasted pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and homemade spice cookies) but naturally my supplies had dwindled greatly after a 6 hour wait.

The worst part is that I tortured myself needlessly by thinking about how well we have been eating lately -- kale and tomato frittata, smoky grilled lamb kofta, babaghanoush, homemade bread, zucchini carpaccio, creamy pasta with kale and garbanzo beans, and really ridiculously good chocolate chip cookies that I keep meaning to tell you all about.

But most of all, I was thinking about my nectarine frozen yogurt. I was in such a terrible mood yesterday, oh, just cranky and mad and a little mean-spirited, but I honestly believe that nectarine frozen yogurt would have made it all -at least a little- better.

I became smitten with plain frozen yogurt earlier this summer but the nectarine version is just as lovable. And if you love the fragrance and feel of fresh stone fruit as much as I do, it is such a pleasure to make - and the process is a snap. Peel and cut 4 large nectarines into chunks, toss the juicy flesh with sugar and orange liqueur, and blend. As you can see, I neglected to peel the nectarines beforehand and opted to push the puree through a sieve.

The resulting nectarine puree is perfectly fragrant and luscious and the most beautiful shade of summer orange you can imagine. See?

Now, the fun part: Swirl the puree into 2 cups of whole Greek yogurt and sneak a taste: the hue has been tamed but the flavor is rounder, smoother. Run it through the ice cream maker and the result is creamy, tangy and -the best part- pure nectarine flavor. Wow!


Nectarine frozen yogurt (adapted from David Lebovitz)

The secret to this is to use outstanding, fresh, this side of ripe, peak-of-the-season fruit. The primary flavor is the nectarine so you'll probably be disappointed if you use flat-tasting fruit. This was the first time I used alcohol in frozen yogurt, by the way, and I was pleased with the extra scoopability it brought to the table.

4 nectarines, or about 2 pounds
3/4 cup sugar plus more to taste, if desired
3 teaspoons orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)
2 cups plain Greek yogurt

• Peel nectarines and cut into chunks. Toss fruit in a medium bowl with the sugar and orange liqueur. At this point you can cover the bowl and let the fruit sit for about an hour, stirring every so often, or you can simply move on to the next step. Macerating the fruit will bring out more flavor, but I am comfortable skipping this step if the fruit is amazing.
  
• Transfer the fruit mixture to a blender and pulse until the mixture is smooth. Add yogurt and blend again. Taste the yogurt mixture to determine if the mixture is sweet enough for your tastes. I always err on the low side because I don't like anything too sweet. Just remember that the sweetness will always lessen when you freeze the yogurt.
  
• At this point, you can chill the yogurt mixture for 1 hour before freezing it, or you can simply pour it into your ice cream maker right away, per your manufacturer's instructions.