Cranberry-Applesauce with Candied Ginger

For Cran-Applesauce:
1 12 oz bag cranberries
1 lb apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1 cup sugar (taste, and add more if necessary)
1 cup apple cider
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 cinnamon stick
1/3 cup (about 2 ounces) minced crystallized ginger

Combine apples, cranberries, sugar, apple cider, cinnamon stick, and lemon zest in medium sauce pot.

Cook over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes until apples have softened and cranberries burst open, stirring frequently.

Discard the cinnamon stick & add more sugar to taste if too tart. Stir in chopped candied ginger.

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

Ginger & Lemon Martini

So, I have been experimenting with my new, oh-so-cool lemon and ginger-infused vodka. I decided to combine a bunch of my favorite ingredients and see what happened. Dee-lish-us!

I played around with the quantities, and settled on this (adjust according to your preferences):

2 ounces ginger and lemon-infused vodka
4 ounces ginger beer
1 splash lemon juice
1 generous splash Angostina bitters
1 lemon wedge
Sugar
Ice

To be all sophisticated (remember, I am 26, a big girl now!) I used a large martini glass for this drink.

Pour vodka, lemon juice and bitters into cocktail shaker filled with crushed ice. Shake vigorously.

Run lemon wedge over martini glass's rim. Press rim into sugar on plate.

Pour contents of cocktail shaker into martini glass. Top with ginger beer and garnish with lemon wedge!

Ginger and Lemon-Infused Vodka

I had a ginger and lemondrop martini almost 4 years ago at a Cuban restaurant in San Francisco. I haven't seen it in any other restaurants or bars and thus was inspired to make my own infused vodka. In a few days, I will post the martini recipe & photo! Very excited to taste how it turns out.

Ingredients:
3 lemons
1 small piece fresh ginger
A decent vodka (anything at the level of absolut or better is fine)
1 large glass container with lid (original vodka bottle is okay)

Wash lemons very well and dry with a paper towel. Cut off peel and remove white pith entirely, as this will become bitter in the vodka.

Peel ginger and cut into a few chunks.

Place ginger and lemon peel in container. Fill with vodka and cover.

Store in a dark place at room temperature, inverting the infusion several times every few days.

Strain and pour into decanter or bottle.