Lemon Drop Martini

Time for Giz to run away from the cold of Toronto and spend some time in warmer climes. I do have to admit, though, that the winter this year has been extremely moderate so really not too much to complain about. As in past years, we have some fun with mixology while we're on vacation. The good news is that the Betty Ford Center is only minutes away. Last year's drink of choice was an Appletini . This year we checked the Food Network and found a Lemon Drop Martini. Tart and sweet, let me just put a caveat on this drink - go slow and savour. It has an incidious kick to it, but oh so yummy.


Ingredients

1 ½ ounces vodka
½ ounce triple sec (you could use Cointreau)
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
4 -5 ice cubes superfine sugar, for the martini glass rim lemon twists

Directions

Chill martini glasses in freezer for at least 10 minutes prior to serving.
Place Vodka, Triple Sec, lemon juice and sugar into a cocktail shaker with 4-5 ice cubes and shake vigorously for 30 seconds.
Run the lemon twist around the edge of the chilled martini glass and dunk in a small amount of sugar for a coated rim.
Pour the strained martini into the chilled glasses and serve.

Winter Fancy Food Show

Thank you to everyone who participated in our contest last week.  I drew names from a hat...                    

and LeighAnn won!

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Now, let me tell you about my recent trip to San Francisco....

If you follow me on Twitter, @EqualOppKitchen, you probably saw some of these pictures. While I was in San Francisco, I attended the Fancy Food Show.  The show was massive, with over 1300 exhibitors from more than 35 countries.

The show was a feast for all of the senses.  Common foods were antipasto items, cheese, olive oil, cookies/cakes and various drinks or powders to add to drinks.  But, the selection was remarkable.

Canada was well-represented at the show, with an entire pavilion area devoted to Canadian exhibitors.

Here are some products that I found particularly interesting:

These products come from a Canadian company, La Ferme Martinette.  They have a great selection of maple products that can be ordered online.  We made good use of some of these products for pancake brunch today.

This Mozzarella Cheesemaking Kit seems like a really approachable first step to homemade fresh mozzarella cheese.

I wish Kugel Co's sweet kugel were available in Ottawa.  Every now and then I get kugel cravings.  Maybe it's time I bite the bullet and make some of my mom's recipe.

I'm kind of a sucker for interesting syrups.  Blackberry Patch has quite the selection.  I was particularly taken with the Sweet Potato syrup.  Not something I ever expected to see, but apparently it's a versatile syrup.

I was thrilled to get a couple of Tahitian Gold samples.  Vanilla is one of my favourite smells and ingredients.  I've already had some of the vanilla sugar sprinkled on strawberries.  I think I'm going to order a bunch of vanilla to be sent to Giz while she's in Palm Springs because it's quite expensive to buy in the stores here.

I also really like the idea of pairing wine and cookies.  Wine & cheese or wine & chocolate is great, but I think it would be a lot of fun to have a group of girlfriends over to talk about our favourite wine and cookie pairings.

I was also quite taken with these clear packaging options for baked goods.   Makes me want to bake cupcakes and candy apples, just so that I can give them away in cute packaging.   I think they would be great for made-by-hand wedding giveaways.   

I think I'll stop there for now.  But stay tuned for more fancy food posts and travel posts about the rest of our trip!

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club - Double Ginger Pumpkin Flan

Here we are in the dead of winter and thus far we've had it relatively easy. Toronto's had a smattering of snow but not the 6 ft drifts I remember from my childhood. I'm not sure whether I should be happy or concerned.

This month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club is focusing on winter comfort food. For me, desserts are always comforting so I decided to try my hand at a Double Ginger Pumpkin Flan I used a flan pan that was probably too big for the volume of this flan so I carefully spooned it into dessert dishes. It sure didn't take away from the taste. I've included the nutritional breakdown to emphasize that we can always have dessert.



If you don't have individual ramekins, use custard cups or a 1 1/2-quart baking dish, which will require an additional 15 to 20 minutes in the oven.

Ingredients

Caramel:

Cooking spray
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Flan:
1/3 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. To prepare caramel, lightly coat 6 (6-ounce) ramekins with cooking spray. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook 4 minutes or until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook, without stirring, 6 minutes or until mixture turns golden around outside edges. Divide evenly into prepared ramekins. Set aside.

3. To prepare flan, combine 1/3 cup sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in pumpkin and next 3 ingredients (through cinnamon). Combine milk, half-and-half, and fresh ginger. Heat milk mixture over medium-high heat in a heavy saucepan to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Gradually add half of hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan. Reduce heat, and cook to 160°, stirring constantly with a whisk . Remove from heat. Strain through a sieve over a large bowl; discard solids.

4. Divide milk mixture evenly among prepared ramekins. Place cups in a 13 x 9–inch baking pan; add hot water to pan to a depth of 1-inch. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cups from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Chill at least 8 hours.

5. Carefully loosen edges of custards with a knife. Invert ramekins onto plates. Drizzle any remaining caramel over custards.

Val from More Than Burnt Toast prepared Carmelized Onion, Gruyere and Bacon Spread.
Jerry of Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants! has a Tuscan White Bean Soup
Sandi of The Whistestop Cafe Cooking arrived with Macaroni and Cheese with Smoked Gouda and Spinach
Roz from La Bella Vista prepared Sirloin Steak with Mushroom Sauce with Chive Garlic Potatoes



Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
Calories: 224
Calories from fat: 31%
Fat: 7.6g
Saturated fat: 3.6g
Monounsaturated fat: 2.9g
Polyunsaturated fat: 0.8g
Protein: 5.1g
Carbohydrate: 34.9g
Fiber: 1.3g
Cholesterol: 215mg
Iron: 1.2mg
Sodium: 39mg
Calcium: 106mg