Pomegranate Rosé Frozen Yogurt

It’s my four(!)-year blogiversary! But it’s bittersweet: A week ago Paula and I found out that we will need to move out of the apartment we’ve lived in together for 3 years (and which I’ve lived in for the past 7 years).

Our landlord lives downstairs from us, but her husband recently passed away and she needs someone taking care of her now, so her daughter will be moving into our apartment ASAP.

Within minutes of hearing the news (and while we were still in shock), we began the search for a new apartment online, quickly realizing that our rent is about to (drastically) increase while our living space is about to (drastically) shrink. (None of this should have come as a surprise, after we read this cover story on the local rent crisis in a Santa Barbara newspaper last fall…)

Basically, we’ve been lucky to live where we’ve lived for so long!

I’ve never lived in any other apartment as long as I have this one (in my early 20s, I was always moving — once or twice a year).

Nor have I ever loved any apartment as much as I have this one. We have a guest room — practically unheard of among Santa Barbara renters — which we’ve put to good use as an office for my freelance editing, and for our many visitors. And we have high ceilings, and — most importantly for this blog — a large kitchen with lots of light.

I’ve fallen (or worked my way) into so many cooking-related habits during the 7 years I’ve lived here, that over the weekend, while apartment-hunting, I found myself the most concerned about what our future kitchen would look like. I’ve dealt with zero counter space before (when I lived in Japan), but I was crossing my fingers that we’d land in a place with a gas stove and with at least one kitchen window…

To be honest, a lot of this blog has been made possible by my large kitchen (which opens to my living room), and its large window with morning light. (And in the blog’s early days, by my wood balcony, featured in the banner photo across the top of the site.)

Unfortunately, the place we finally agreed to put a deposit on does not have a large kitchen, nor a gas stove (how will we char our tortillas?!), but the kitchen does have a small window, and the adjacent living room has a large window as well — no window on the other side of the room, though, where our table will go…

This might sound overly dramatic, but I’m not sure if I will continue with the blog — with the same (already low) frequency at least — in the new smaller, darker kitchen; the photography part can already be frustrating enough in my current apartment, since it doesn’t come naturally to me. (Not only for that reason; it’s also something I’ve been thinking might become necessary to finally get my typing RSI/tendinitis under control.)

I don’t want to rush into any decisions on that though, since continuing to cook and blog just as much in the new apartment could make it feel more like a home.

Luckily, I already have two other recipes, plus this one (for the most delicious — and just slightly boozy — of pomegranate frozen yogurts) photographed in my current kitchen and ready to go.

But the packing and moving might interrupt my regular posting schedule, not to mention the meticulous grocery shopping + cooking meal plans that Paula and I have been putting together each week to save money (and to make weeknight cooking less of a chore).

So bear with me through this time of a little upheaval in my life… This frozen yogurt should help! It’s tart and tangy from dry rosé wine and lemon juice, with an (adjustable) sweetness from pomegranate juice and pomegranate molasses.

Since so much of the flavor for this frozen yogurt comes in liquid form (the wine and pomegranate juice), it’s important to use Greek yogurt, which has already had much of its liquid whey strained out of it, rather than plain yogurt. The base of thick Greek yogurt, along with a little sugar, and a little booze, makes for a perfectly scoopable and creamy soft-serve-textured frozen yogurt.

I like to eat it with a sprinkling of pulverized freeze-dried raspberries, for that extra boost of color and flavor, but that part’s purely optional; other toppings, like something chocolatey, might be nice too.

Now Paula and I have about a month to downsize and get rid of at least a rooms’ worth of furniture, and quite a lot of clothes (and maybe even kitcheny things!?). I can already tell we’re going to be too busy and preoccupied to cook much; instead we’ll spend that time eating our way through the leftovers that are taking up space in our very full freezer, so there’ll be fewer frozen things to move. Good thing this frozen yogurt is not going to give us any trouble — it will probably be the first thing to disappear.

Print this recipe. (PDF)

RECIPE:

Pomegranate Rosé Frozen Yogurt
(Adapted from “White Wine Frozen Yogurt” on Serious Eats.)

(Makes about 3.5 cups)

Active time: 5 min.; Total time: 25-30 min., plus several hours freezing time.

Ingredients:
~ 2 cups (full fat) plain Greek yogurt, chilled
~ ⅔ cup sugar
~ ¼ tsp. salt
~ ½ cup dry rosé wine, chilled
~ ¼ cup 100% pomegranate juice, chilled
~ 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
~ up to 1 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses, depending on desired sweetness (optional)
OPTIONAL:
~ freeze-dried raspberries, pulverized in a coffee grinder or Blendtec, to serve

Equipment needed:
~ ice cream maker

How to make it:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, and salt, until the sugar and salt have dissolved in the yogurt.

2. Stir in the rosé wine, the pomegranate juice, the lemon juice, and the pomegranate molasses (to taste), until everything is incorporated.

3. If the mixture is not still quite cold, then cover and chill for a while in the fridge before churning. Otherwise, churn immediately in an ice cream maker, according to your ice cream maker’s directions (it takes about 20 minutes in mine), until it’s about 95% frozen. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2-3 hours before serving (or enjoy some right away). Serve sprinkled with pulverized freeze-dried raspberries, or other toppings as desired.

Note: The alcohol in the rosé will prevent it from freezing 100% while churning: when you transfer it to a container, there may still be about 2 tablespoons of unfrozen liquid, but once stored in the freezer, the entire batch will freeze to a nice soft-serve consistency.

Print this recipe! (PDF)

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