Ginger--Juice It!

Ginger... everyone's favorite underground rhizome. It's chock full of vitamins/nutritive benefits and has this lovely tendency to make things (sweet dishes, savory dishes, boozy beverages, not-so-boozy beverages, scented candles—you name it) more deliciously robust, fragrant, spicy, and all-around awesome. Even as a perennial ginger junkie, I especially love the root's warming qualities as we ease into cooler weather. One of my favorite ways to infuse recipes with intense gingery goodness is by adding a splash of ginger juice. This is a nifty trick I recently picked up from a bartender that has completely revolutionized the way I ginge-out.

Just grab yourself a hunk of ginger root, peel it, grate it, wrap those gratings in cheese cloth, and squeeze (over a vessel of some sort)—voila! You've got yourself some ginger juice. You can wring quite a bit of liquid out of a small piece of ginger. But do be warned, the juice is incredibly potent. Use it gingerly—a little bit goes a long way.So you have juice, now what? Here are just a few thoughts to get you going:

• Use it to spice up smoothies or cocktails.
• DIY ginger soda or syrup.
• Replace part of your cooking liquid with g-juice when preparing rice.
• Whip out better butter cream. Ginger-flavored frosting makes a stellar finishing touch on a wide variety autumn baked goods (cue pumpkin/chai/apple spice everything).
• Experiment! And be sure to let us know how it goes. Snap a picture and tag us on Twitter (@Cooking_Light) and/or Instagram (@cookinglight).