Pear Vodka: Magical with Rosemary

Two for Tuesdays! Brandy and Emily worked together to provide you the perfect cocktail and appetizer for any chilly evening in front of the fire.

We hope you love it. 

Pear and rosemary are the perfect winter combination of flavors. The pears hang ripe from the trees and are just begging to be picked. Usually they find their home in pear crisp or maybe a warm batch of pear sauce. It's just like apple sauce but made with pears.

Rosemary usually finds its home in roasted potatoes and maybe a chicken or two. Like Christina's Lemon Rosemary Chicken Recipe, perhaps? Or even in this Rosemary Roasted Garlic Bread Recipe from Kate. But this winter? This winter I decided that Pear and Rosemary are a match made in heaven.

What could be better than a cocktail made from fresh sweet homemade pear puree and woody rosemary? I know I say all of my cocktail recipes are great, but I really mean it. If you're looking for the perfect cold weather drink, this pear vodka cocktail is it!

I made fresh pear puree because we had a fruit bowl full of fresh pears. There was no way I was going to let them go to waste. If you really wanted to make things easy you could always go with store bought pear nectar. Either one will be delicious, but the texture will be a little different if you use nectar instead of puree. The nectar will be thick and smooth while the puree will have a little more texture since we are pureeing down fresh pears.

The other great thing about this drink is the rosemary simple syrup. It obviously goes fantastically in this drink but it's also a wonderful way to jazz up a plain Jane gin and tonic. It adds a nice level of woodsy flavor and brings out the herbs and spices in the gin. How is that ever a bad thing?

You've got to make this pear vodka cocktail for your next Fall get-together, and serve Emily's Butternut Squash Tartines. Celebrate Autumn with our perfect Two for Tuesdays pairing!

Pear Vodka Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Rosemary Simple Syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 12 sprigs fresh rosemary

For the Pear Puree:

• 1 pear
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

For the Rosemary Pear Vodka Cocktail:

• 3 ounces pear puree
• 2 ounces rosemary simple syrup
• 2 ounces vodka
• sparkling seltzer water
• sprigs fresh rosemary, for garnish

Directions

For the Rosemary Simple Syrup:

1. In a medium sized saucepan bring water to a boil. Stir in sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved add in rosemary and remove from heat.
2. Let stand for an hour, remove rosemary and let mixture cool completely. When not using the mixture keep stored in the refrigerator. 

For the Pear Puree:

1. Add ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend till smooth.
2. Strain through a mesh strainer and store in the refrigerator. 

For the Rosemary Pear Cocktail:

1. In a cocktail shaker add ice, pear puree, rosemary simple syrup and vodka. Shake until cold.
2. Pour into an ice filled tall cocktail glass. Fill to the top with sparkling water. 

Source: Inspired by Martha Stewart

via Food Fanatic http://www.foodfanatic.com/2013/10/pear-vodka-magical-with-rosemary/

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 3564685