Thyme Out

While I was baking this gingerbread, my neighbor from across the hall knocked on my door and wanted to know what smelled so good. And, it tastes even better than it smells.

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons Smith & Truslow organic Ginger Spice Blend

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8 inch baking pan.
2. Cream together butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in molasses, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and Smith & Truslow Ginger Spice Blend.
5. Stir flour mixture into wet batter in small batches being careful not to overbeat.
6. Bake 30-45 minutes in a preheated oven. Toothpick test the center of the cake to determine if it is done.

A few weeks ago, I stopped in the Little Raven Vinyards Wine Shop to pick up a bottle of wine for a friends birthday dinner.  It was my first visit, but definitely will not be my last. The unpretentious wisdom of their in-house sommelier makes exploring their diverse collection of undiscovered wines fun and educational. If your a local, give them a visit at 1590 Little Raven, near commons park. If you aren’t local, you can still share their wisdom by signing up for “The Grape Vine”, their weekly e-newsletter. It’s filled with great recipes and information on wine and food pairings. The recipe below was in this weeks newsletter—just in “thyme” for Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients

• peel and juice of 1 medium orange
• peel and juice of 1/2 medium lemon
• 3 cups ruby port*
• 1 package (12 ounces) fresh cranberries, washed
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 3 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon organic ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon (or apple pie spice blend)
• 2 Tablespoons orange liqueur

Directions

1. Julienne the orange lemon peels. In a small saucepan, heat the juices and 1/2 cup of the port. Over medium-high heat, cook the peels until tender, about 10 minutes. Reserve.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, onion, 2 cups of the port, ginger, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Over medium-high heat, cook until the relish thickens, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup port, the orange liqueur, and the reserved orange and lemon peel mixture. Cool. Transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate, covered until needed. This will keep up to one week, so it can be prepared ahead of time.

Recipe adapted from Wolfgang Puck’s Adventure in the Kitchen (New York: Random House), 1991.