The Goddess is in apple pie mode these days.  She likes to reduce apple cider to add to the apples to really give an apple-y blast!  She’s very explosive, you know!  This vinaigrette was born from that reduction.  This is drop dead easy, which is good, because The Goddess is pretty brain-dead these days.  This requires you to reduce apple cider.  Pour 3 cups of the cider into a skillet.  Boil the cider down to 1/2 cup.  Add 2 cups of additional cider and boil until reduced to 3/4 cup.  Add the remaining cup and reduce until you have about 1 cup remaining.  Cool it slightly, then pour the reduction into the blender container, along with the garlic, shallots and all the other good stuff.The key is to make certain the peppercorns, and I used mixed peppercorns, are broken down into manageable pieces.  If you want the shallots and garlic to be noticeable, then whirl them into the mixture after you add the oils.

When I tasted the mixture, after I whirled it all up, and found I needed to “boost” the apple flavor, so I added frozen apple juice concentrate.  I found that I didn’t really need to add the maple syrup.  It is a great addition, and one that The Latin Lover embraces fully, as he prefers a sweeter dressing.  Options, folks…it’s up to you and your taste buds.

How are you going to use this lovely little elixir, you ask?  It’s delicious on a nice tossed salad with some apple slices and candied almonds.  It’s great on slaw, too.  For the bleu cheese lovers among us, whirl some crumbled bleu cheese into the finished dressing.  Very yummy!I drizzled it over sautéed Brussels sprouts, along with some bacon and bleu cheese…yeah.  It was delicious.  I suspect it would be equally delicious drizzled over green beans, roasted broccoli, roasted sweet potato wedges, in a shot glass, with a bourbon chaser…but, I digress.

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