How To Use Up Crystallized Ginger: Fiery Ginger Ale Concentrate

I use crystallized ginger occasionally, but I admit that I have a box that probably should have been used awhile ago. The stuff in the picture is a pain to chop because it's insanely sticky which is why when Penzey's started selling ginger in convenient little bits I just switched, leaving the stuff from Reed's quietly aging, rather than making its way into delicious muffins . Alton Brown to the rescue, for this recipe the big chunks only need a rough chop instead of muffin sized bits.

I see you leftover ginger, there's more ginger syrup in the future.

Making ginger ale syrup from scratch is easy. This is a dump everything in the pot, boil, strain, chill operation. Mix with some seltzer and voila, homemade ginger ale.

Ahh, refreshing.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Will It Get Made Again? Yes. Aside from using up more of the leftover ginger I'm tempted to play with the spices and toss in some star anise to go with the ginger and cinnamon. This also tastes like it would make a fantastic cocktail mixer; Alton recommends vodka, I'll probably mix it with some fruity liqueur...

(Sort of) No-Can Tomato Soup

I jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon this year to try pressure cooking. The other main lure of cookers like the Instant Pot is that as multi-cookers they flip functions easily, so anything that starts out with saute step can be done in the same pot. I love watching things convert into one pot dishes. So with a soup like this, you start by sauteing the onions and garlic, then switch functions to turn on the pressure cooking feature.
This is the creamiest non-dairy tomato soup I've made. It's definitely a step up over commercial soups and fills that classic tomato soup craving. I paired it with a grilled cheese sandwich for the full nostalgic experience.

After being blasted with the pressure cook and setting and blended, creamy and delicious.

Note: There are cans of ingredients in this, so the name is... ironic.

Number of cans needed for "No-Can" soup: 2 

Difficulty Level: Easy*
Will It Get Made Again? Already has, and will again.

*This one requires more special equipment than average. You need both a pressure cooker and an immersion blender for it.

Totally Panini-Pressed Dinner

August had a big European vacation for me (first visits to Finland & Denmark!) during which time I wasn't doing a lot of cooking. My original plan to make a few things in my friend's kitchen in Copenhagen fell by the wayside. No regrets. Nonetheless I was happy to be reunited with my fully equipped kitchen and American style mega-marts by the time I got back. 

One of the pieces of equipment in my kitchen is grill press/griddle/waffle maker combo device that is called for if you want to make Alton's Totally Panini-Pressed Dinner. This is basically what happens if you take a stir fry concept and put it on a panini press. Using the press to cook bacon is actually really great.

Faster than baking bacon for flat strips.

The ingredient list is bacon, red onion, mushrooms & spinach with a bit of sauce at the end. You just cycle the ingredients through the grill press.

Until everything is tossed together...

Voila

Difficulty Level: Easy

Will It Get Made Again? Probably not. It's not complicated but I'm not in love. Unlike the Black Beans/Brown Rice that have turned into a staple in my house. I may cook bacon on the press again though.

Red, Red Wine (Sangria)

Ever since I first made sangria I've never understood why more people don't make it themselves. It's so, so easy and the homemade stuff pretty much always tastes better than anything I've ever bought from a restaurant.
For Alton's EveryDayCook version he opts to pre-soak the fruit mix in brandy, which seemed especially appropriate for Wisconsin.

I'm prepared to call this Wisco Sangria, just like Wisco Old Fashioneds are made with brandy.

Once your fruit is sufficiently booze soaked the final step is to just pour everything together in a pitcher big enough to hold it all. That's it. We ended up with something everyone agreed was delicious and one friend described as "dangerously smooth".

Wine & Game Night, Cheers

Difficulty Level: Easy
Will it Get Made Again? This is a case where Alton Brown is competing with Alton Brown. My favorite sangria recipe is his Cheerwine Sangria* and I'm more likely to repeat that one again than make this instead.

*If you are looking for Cheerwine the most reliable source I've found in multiple states is Cost Plus World Market.