Recipe - Fresh Ginger Muffins

2 ounce Unpeeled ginger root
Three fourths cup Sugar
2 tablespoon Lemon zest
with some white pith
3 tablespoon Sugar
8 tablespoon Butter; room temperature
2 Eggs
1 cup Buttermilk
2 cup Allpurpose flour
One half teaspoon Salt
Three fourths teaspoon Baking soda

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 375F. Grease the muffin tins. Cut the unpeeled ginger
until it is in tiny pieces; or hand chop into fine pieces. (You should have
One fourth cup; it is better to have too much ginger than too little.) Put the
ginger and One fourth cup sugar in a small skillet or pan and cook over medium
heat until the sugar has melted and the mixture is hot. Don't walk away
from the panthis cooking takes only a couple of minutes. Remove from the
stove and let the ginger mixture cool. Put the lemon zest and 3 tablespoons
sugar in the food processor and process until the lemon peel is in small
bits; or chop the lemon zest and pith by hand and then add the sugar. Add
the lemon mixture to the ginger mixture. Stir and set aside. Put the butter
in a mixing bowl and beat a second or two, add the remaining One half cup sugar,
and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the buttermilk and
mix until blended. Add the flour, salt and baking soda. Beat until smooth.
Add the gingerlemon mixture and mix well. Spoon the batter into the muffin
tins so that each cup is Three fourths full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini