Heather's Bytes

The heavens opened up and the angels rejoiced when I found the original for this recipe. At least they did in my head. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is on my list of top five favorite ice creams – how can you go wrong with such an amazing combination?

If you make your own ice cream, use this in your favorite ice cream base. I use this one for Oreo ice cream, just don’t add the Oreos.

Over time I’ve adapted and tweaked it to what my family likes and it’s a hit. If I had another freezer drum for the ice cream maker I’d end up doing a double batch every time I make it. As it is, this makes a very generous quart of ice cream.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for Ice Cream

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Egg Beaters egg substitute
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tb flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 to 1 cup semi-sweet miniature chocolate chips

Beat the butter and sugars until well blended, add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda together and add to the wet dough until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by small bite-sized rounds onto a cookie sheet or plate lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer for at least one hour. Remove from the freezer and, if needed, chop into smaller bits and add to your favorite sweet cream ice cream base during the last minute of mixing, and don’t let it go too long or it’ll get sticky. Freeze and voila!

Now, I only use half of the cookie dough for the ice cream. Anymore than that just won’t fit in my ice cream maker. You can either eat the dough raw, freeze in bite-sized chunks and put into a freezer bag to store for your next batch of ice cream, or bake it on a lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes.

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Last summer, Mike and I were brainstorming, trying to come up with ideas for some light summer dinners. One of his suggestions was fish tacos and I agreed to see what I could find. This is significant for two reasons: I don’t like 99% of the seafood I’ve tried (I want to like it, I just don’t), and I’d never had fish tacos before.

I found a bunch of recipes online and discovered that it’s a pretty basic dish. So, since I’m a glutton for punishment, I decided to up the ante a bit with some homemade tortillas, too. Harina is really easy to find here in Las Vegas and is perfect for making some delicious soft flour tortillas. If you can’t find harina at your local stores, though, you can find some recipes online to use instead.

Tortillas are pretty fun to make on your own but they require a little bit of arm strength when rolling them out. Take turns with someone so you don’t get burnt out! Use a cast iron skillet because you don’t want to use any extra fat in the pan (like you’d have to with a non-stick pan), and you have to turn the heat up pretty high. Slap the tortilla in on one side for about 30 seconds, and then flip it over to the other side. I usually just peek to see how dark they’re getting. It’s not rocket science!

Keep them “clam-shelled” in a long paper towel to avoid them sitting in condensation, and then fold over with some aluminum foil to keep them warm and pliable. Just add new tortillas on top and then fold the paper towel and foil back over.

For the fish tacos, I made up a batch of Baja Sauce. Beware, that recipe makes a TON, and even halved it still makes a ton. (And to be honest, we’re kind of over that particular recipe so when I make these again I’m going to dig up something else.)

For the fish I used a package of good frozen fish fillets. We’ve tried frying up our own and just couldn’t seem to get what we wanted. The fillets were perfect and deliciously crispy with no mess. I cut each fillet in half length-wise, then chopped those into threes (for a total of six bite sized pieces per fillet).

To assemble, slather some sauce onto the tortilla, then some crispy shredded cabbage. Next, add the fish, then a little more sauce, and some fresh chopped tomatoes (the ones in the picture above were from our garden last summer).

Needless to say, these are a hit. If you’re serving these to fish taco fanatics, buy two boxes of the good fish fillets since each fillet is the perfect size for one taco.

Greek yogurt is thick, creamy and surprisingly easy to make. It’s also called for in many frozen yogurt recipes because there is less water in the mixture, making for less ice crystals and a thicker final product.

You can actually use regular yogurt to make Greek-style yogurt, and depending on what you want it for you can use just plain or vanilla, or even the fruit varieties. Sugar- and fat-free work too. Here’s what you do:

Get your strainer and a bowl big enough that the strainer can fit into it with a bit of space space between the bottom of the bowl and the bottom of the strainer.

Line the inside of the strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth (you can find cheesecloth in the baking aisle at the grocery store). Empty a container of yogurt onto the cheesecloth, and depending on how much you’re using you can even use a smaller strainer and bowl, etc.

You’ll immediately start to see some of the liquid from the yogurt. Gently cover the top of the yogurt with plastic wrap and place the whole thing in the fridge.

Depending on how thick you want your yogurt will determine how long it should stay in the fridge and drain. For a creamy, sour-cream textured Greek yogurt, keep it in for 4-6 hours. A more authentic Greek yogurt needs 8-12 hours, and 24 hours will give you something close to cream cheese.

When you’re done, gently lift the strainer from the drain bowl. The liquid that’s left is whey, and actually contains any bitterness from the yogurt. Scoop your Greek yogurt into an airtight container and keep stored in the fridge, or:

Make frozen yogurt!