Ginger Panna Cotta with Cranberry-Blood Orange Sauce

Why have cranberries as your dinner side when you can dress them up a little bit for a fun and spicy dessert? Evaporated milk, lite cream and yogurt lighten up this creamy Italian classic while maintaining the rich flavor that makes panna cotta so irresistible.

For Panna Cotta:
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
1/2 cup lite cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup lowfat Greek vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon grated ginger, juice reserved

Mix milk (minus 1 tablespoon that you need to save) and cream in saucepan. Add grated ginger. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat. Cover; let steep (cover) 30 minutes. Strain to remove ginger.

Sprinkle gelatin over ginger juice/reserved tablespoon milk. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes. Stir sugar and gelatin mixture into milk mixture. Stir over low heat until sugar and gelatin dissolves. Remove immediately from heat. Whisk in vanilla yogurt. Divide among ramekins. Cover; chill until set. It typically needs at least 5 hours to set.

For Cranberry-Blood Orange Sauce:
12 oz fresh or unthawed frozen cranberries
1 cup honey or light brown sugar
Juice from 2 blood oranges, about 1 cup

Use a peeler to remove 2 large strips (about 4 inches long) from 1 orange. In a saucepan of boiling water blanch zest 1 minute and drain in a colander. Chop zest very finely and transfer to a bowl.

In a saucepan bring to a boil juice and sugar/honey, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries, return to a boil. Simmer for 10-25 minutes or until cranberries burst. Taste for sweetness, add extra sweetener if needed.

Remove from heat and stir in chopped zest. Refrigerate until serving.

Run small knife around panna cotta. Place bottoms of ramekins in bowl of hot water briefly to loosen them. Place plate atop ramekin. Hold plate and ramekin together and flip gently to removed panna cotta.

Serve with a generous helping of Cranberry-Blood Orange Sauce

Morir Soñando

This drink from the Dominican Republic is very refreshing during a hot summer day. It is sweet, filling and nourishing. A Latino version of the Orange Julius, if you will : )

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
2 cups milk (I like whole, because it tastes richer, but skim is fine as well)
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Lots of crushed ice!

Option 1:

Mix sugar, milk and vanilla until sugar has incorporated into liquid. Add orange juice and whisk. Pour over ice and serve with a a straw!

Option 2:

Follow steps from option 1, but add to blender and mix until smooth.

Blood Orange Margaritas

Ingredients:
4 blood oranges, juiced
2/3 cup fresh lime juice (from about 4-5 small limes)
2/3 cup orange liquor
1 ½ cups tequila
¼ cup simple syrup (or to taste)
1 blood orange, sliced into wedges
Crushed ice
Ice cubes, for serving

Mix blood orange juice with lime juice, Cointreau, tequila and simple syrup.

Pour mixture into cocktail shaker filled with crushed ice and shake vigorously.

Place a few ice cubes into short cocktail glass and pour margarita over ice.

Garnish with blood orange wedge.

Blood Orange, Ricotta Salata and Fennel Salad

Do you ever come up with a recipe in your head and feel totally bad ass about it, only to realize that someone already thought of it? That's what happened with this salad. I was all cocky about my culinary creation until I googled blood orange salad and found a very similar recipe. It's a great salad, although I remain a bit bitter over its pre-existence.

Ingredients:
3 small blood oranges
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 tablespoons evoo
4 oz baby spinach
1/2 of 1 small fennel bulb
1 tablespoon ricotta salata
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Juice one blood orange. Add the champagne vinegar, freshly ground pepper and whisk in olive. Salt to taste.

Wash spinach thoroughly and dry in colander.

Slice oranges in half vertically. Cut into 8 wedges and carefully cut away from peel. Place in bowl.

Cut off the fennel bulb's stalk. Cut in half lengthwise, removing the core. Shave 1/2 of the fennel with a vegetable peeler to form long fennel strips.

Whisk vinaigrette. Toss fennel, spinach and vinaigrette together. Plate salad, adding blood orange wedges to the tops of the salad greens. Crumble the ricotta salata over each salad.

Blood Orange Martini

I'll admit...I am a little obsessed with blood oranges right now. And these are such a refreshing break from the traditional martinis!

To make 1 blood orange martini:
3 oz orange vodka
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz simple syrup
7 ounces blood orange puree or blood orange juice
Orange twist

Blood Orange and Mango Sorbet

3 medium ripe mangos, peeled and cut into chunks (I used 3 cups of frozen mango chunks, thawed)
2-1/2 cups blood orange juice from 7 to 8 medium blood oranges
3/4 cup granulated sugar, or to taste (if mangos are not sweet I'd use 1 cup sugar)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated blood orange zest

Blend the mango and blood orange juice high speed until smooth. Strain into into a large measuring cup. Ideally this makes about 4 cups. If it is less, decrease the sugar, lemon juice and zest by the percentage less, i.e if you have 3 cups, use 3/4 tablespoon lemon juice, etc. If it makes more, increase the sugar, lemon juice and zest.

Combine the sugar and about one-quarter of the pureed fruit in a medium saucepan. Turn heat to medium and cook until the sugar has dissolved, stirring occasionally, about 2-3 minutes. Stir into the remaining fruit and mix in the lemon juice and blood orange zest. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Pour into freezer-safe container and seal lid. Check and stir every hour or so, to prevent the sorbet from becoming too crystallized/to make it smooth. When it is very chunky but not completely frozen, blend sorbet again to make uniform. Pour back into container, seal, and freeze until use.

Photo cour testy of JayChef-amazing food photographer