weekly_food_challenge | Entries tagged with herbs & spices: ginger

Mood: cheerful

This is suitable for towel day because it's great for putting in tupperware to be stashed in your hitchhiking sack alongside your bottle of Old Janx Spirit to be warmed in a petrol station microwave at 3am, and also because it's the kind of orange you normally only see in 80's BBC scifi special effects.

It's suitable for vegetarians and has a reasonable amount of protein :)

You will need:

A slow cooker;
A chopping board and knife;
an orange zester (or the fine side of a box grater);
Some form of whizzer: I used a stick blender;
Optionally, a juicer, although I used my hands;
6 carrots;
6 oranges;
An onion;
100g red lentils
600ml veg stock;
1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/4 an inch of fresh turmeric (1/2 tsp ground if you can't get fresh) for colour, and about an inch of fresh ginger;
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Roughly chop the onions, ginger, carrots and chuck them in the slow cooker.
Juice and zest the oranges directly into the slow cooker.
Add all your other ingredients and switch it on to low.
Come back in 8 hours and whizz it up till smooth.
Eat straight away, or store in tupperware; freezes well.

If you want to fancy this up for a starter or something, serve with a blob of extra thick cream or natural yoghurt and fresh chopped coriander leaves on top of it, and buttered, fresh baked crusty bread.

el_staplador

Ingredients
for the cookies
125g butter
100g sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
225g plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder

for the filling
100g stoned dates
50g sugar
75ml water

Equipment
2 baking sheets
saucepan
hob
wooden spoon
sieve
table knife
sharp knife
wire rack

Method

Preheat the oven to 190degC. Grease the baking sheets.

Put the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter melts. Stir until smooth. Sift the flour, ginger and baking powder into the mixture and mix to form a dough.

Roll the dough into small balls and arrange on the baking sheets. Flatten slightly with a knife. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Cool on the wire rack.

While the cookies are cooling, chop the dates and place them in a pan with the sugar and water. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and cook gently for about 15 minutes until the mixture reduces to a thick, jam-like paste. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Use to sandwich the cookies together in pairs.

These are actually a bit sweet to my taste, and I think I'd experiment with reducing the sugar in the cookie mixture in future. Maybe in the date mixture, too.

miss_s_b

You do need to think in advance to prep this, but the actual cook time is very small indeed, which is great for if you're hungry.

You will need:

- 3 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
- 2 teaspoons red chili powder
- 1 350ml tub of natural yoghurt
- 3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 kilo chicken mini fillets or similar - reasonably sized bit but not huge.
- a big glass dish, preferably one with a lid
- 1 tsp powdered cumin seeds, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp powdered cloves and 2 tsp powdered cardamom, all mixed together.
- grated cheese of your choice - I like a good cheddar but obvs there are probably more authentic ones you could use
- salad of your choice

Method:

- mix the first five ingredients into a goo
- rub the goo into the chicken mini fillets with your hands
- roll the engooed fillets in the spice mix
- place them in the glass dish and leave them to marinate overnight - so probably best to do this after you've eaten on the previous evening if that makes sense. If your big glass dish doesn't have a lid just cover with clingfilm.
- after marination, grill the chicken bits until golden brown and cooked through, then plate up with the salad and sprinkle a small amount of cheese on top of the chicken so that it melts (don't overdo it, you want a delicate lattice, not a thick wodge).

el_staplador

This is a recipe from one of those fundraising cookbooks where the members of a particular community contribute recipes and the resulting collection is printed and sold - in this case, a choir adjacent to the choir that I used to sing in.

This is not, in fact, a pie, nor does it contain any beeswax or bee products. The name comes from the appearance of the icing. It's pleasant and dead easy.

Ingredients

for the shortcake
4oz butter
2oz caster sugar (we didn't have any, so I used granulated)
5oz plain flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder
1 level teaspoon ground ginger

for the icing
4 level tablespoonfuls icing sugar
2oz butter
1 level teaspoon ground ginger
3 level teaspoons golden syrup

Equipment
Mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Weighing scales
Sieve
Teaspoon and tablespoon for measuring
Oven
Hob
Baking tray (I used a round sandwich tin, 7" or so across - a square shape would make it easier to cut into regular pieces)
Saucepan

Method

1. Beat the sugar into the butter. Sift in the flour, baking powder and ginger and mix well.
2. Press into a tin and bake in a moderate oven (190degC or so) for 30 minutes, until pale brown.
3. While the shortcake is cooling, melt the icing ingredients gently together in a saucepan. Pour over the shortcake. (It's less messy to do this while the cake is still in the tin, but it's then more messy to get it out of the tin. Take your pick)
4. Allow to cool.

( Picture under cut )

moetushie

Save money! Improve your curries! Make your own garlic and ginger paste!

There's no recipe, just take an amount of roughly chopped fresh ginger (you don't have to peel it if you don't want to -- just wash thoroughly -- it's extra fiber, it's fine), and the same amount of fresh, peeled garlic cloves into a food processor (or robust blender) with just enough water to lubricate things and let it rip, until you have a moderately thick paste. You can also make this in a mortar and pestle (like my grandma used to do) -- you'd definitely tone your arms with this method. I commend you.

Anyway, I usually go for 1/2 cup of each with 1-2 tbsp water to begin with. It keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks. If you don't think you'll be able to use it up in that time, it also freezes well. You can throw it in soups or curries, as you like.

Ways to use garlic-ginger paste:

- As mentioned above, in curries. I usually throw a tablespoon or two in when sauteing onions. Garlic, ginger and onions is basically the Indian culinary trinity, after all.
- Add toasted spices in it for an instant curry paste. Cumin's good. Coriander. Black pepper. Cinnamon. Cardamon. Whatever strikes your fancy.
- Thicken and flavor soups. I like to put a dab in my miso soups, or in dal.
- Makes a great addition to a marinade.
- Combined with honey, makes a powerful facial cleaner. No, I am ...fully kidding. Though I've an aunt who drinks ginger and hot lemon water along with breakfast and swears by it. I've had it and it is certainly .... cleansing is a good way to describe it. Uh.

Anyway, hope this was at least mildly helpful! You can, of course, find premade garlic-ginger paste at your local Indian grocery, but why buy when you can make it yourself, with ingredients you can recognize?

miss_s_b

Mood: cheerful

You will need:

- a lover, friend, colleague or acquaintance with which to share this
- a knife and chopping board
- a muddler*
- a largish cobbler cocktail shaker (or a British pint glass** and a Hawthorne strainer)
- something for stirring with***
- two hiball/collins glasses
- a lime
- a lump of fresh ginger approx 2 inches long
- large ice cubes
- spiced rum
- something with which to measure the rum
- a standard sized (330ml) can of Old Jamaica Fiery Ginger Beer****

Chop your lime into quarters and your ginger into 8 quarter inch thick slices.
Put two quarters of the lime and six slices of fresh ginger in the bottom of the cocktail shaker/pint glass and muddle vigorously, saving the two prettiest slices of ginger and quarters of lime for garnish.
Add 165ml of Spiced rum and the can of ginger beer to your shaker and stir gently.
Fill your two collins glasses with large ice cubes.
Strain the drink into the glasses.
Garnish with the remaining lime quarters and ginger slices, one of each per glass.

This is a sort of variant on a Moscow Mule or a Dark 'n' Stormy, but spiced rum works well better than vodka or bog standard dark rum, and also I am not going to get sued by overly litigious makers of bog standard dark rum for posting the recipe. Suggestions for names gratefully received; I tend to call it a Spiced Rum Mule because I am unimaginative ;)

* or a rolling pin, or whatever else you can grab for muddling
** please note that an American pint glass, at a mere 473ml, will not be big enough to hold the 495ml of liquid here, never mind that plus the lime and ginger and space for stirring. You need a proper 568ml British pint for this.
*** a cocktail spoon is nice but not obligatory: in a pinch you can use the knife you used to chop the lime and the ginger.
**** or other very gingery brand - Idris used to be good but I've not seen that for ages. It needs to be a properly fiery one.

tree_and_leaf

I love this recipe. It's cheap, it's really filling, and it tastes wonderful. What's more, with the exception of the garlic, ginger and onion, they're all non-perishable ingredients, and as I usually have garlic and onion about the house, with the substitution of dried powdered ginger for fresh, it is a marvellous emergency dinner. If I had to feed a friend unexpectedly, this is what I would turn to.

(It's better with fresh ginger, though).

The original recipe is Anna Jones - it was in a Guardian start of academic year student special - but I've tweaked it a bit (the original one is here, if you're interested).

Quantities: it will serve five to six if you serve with rice and cheese. It reheats well: leftovers are good turned into nachos, enchiladas, or burritos.

Note: you can use other grains than bulgar wheat - pearl barley might be nice, as might quinoa. Steer clear of cous cous, though, it will cook too quickly and disintegrate into mush. You can also use different kinds of beans - I have a possibly irrational aversion to kidney beans, but if you like them, chuck some in - and lentils, though I'd advise against red as again, they cook too quickly. Puy work well, though. Go with what you have in the store cupboard!

Equipment needed:
A chopping board
A kitchen knife
A wooden spoon or similar to stir
A measuring jug
A large saucepan or small stock pot

If you are using cheese, then you either need a grater or a bag of pre-grated cheese.

Ingredients:
Oil for frying
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
An inch-long piece of ginger, peeled and grated, or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp chilli powder (or 1/2 tsp if you don't like heat)
1/2 tsp cumin (ground or bashed seeds)
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
2 × 400g tins of peeled plum tomatoes
150g green lentils, soaked
150g bulgur wheat
2 sqs dark chocolate, or 1/2 tsp cocoa if you're making it vegan
400g tin of black beans
1 litre vegetable stock (I like the Marigold Bouillon powder)
Salt and black pepper

Optional extra: cheese to serve

Before you start cooking: soak lentils according to the directions on the packet.

Peel and finely chop your onion, and gently fry until it's soft and translucent (this will take at least ten minutes). In the meantime, peel the garlic, smash it with your knife, and then chop it, and peel and grate the ginger. Drain the beans and the lentils.

Once the onion is done, add the tomatoes - bash the fruits with your spoon a bit to encourage them to break up - and then tip in the lentils, wheat, and beans. Add the chocolate and spices, stirring well until the chocolate is melted.

Now add about half the stock, and simmer for twenty minutes or until the lentils and wheat are cooked. Top up the liquid as you go - you may not need all the stock. Should you need more, it's fine to just add plain water.

Serve with rice, or with tortillas, or however you like your chilli! I like it with grated cheese, but obviously omit this or use your favourite cheese substitute if you are a vegan or dairy-free.

miss_s_b

Mood: argharghargh stupid elections

Your challenge this week is to make something with ginger in. A curry, or parkin, or ginger bikkits? Up to you!

miss_s_b

This one is for when you've overindulged the night before. It contains vital fluids, sugars, and some protein. You can take a paracetamol with it too if you like ;)

You will need:

- one hungover human
- half a pint of milk
- a bananananananana
- some powdered ginger OR some finely grated fresh ginger root*
- some honey
- a blender

Method:

- peel the banananananananana and break it up into chunks then drop it in the blender
- add a teaspoon of honey
- add ginger to taste (ginger is good for settling poorly tums)
- pour in the half-pint of milk
- put the lid on and blend till smooth - although you can easily do this with a stick blender if you don't have a big one.
- cringe as the noise of the blender penetrates your delicate skull to its core and swear never to drink again.

Serve with doggie cuddles, a duvet, and a feeling of regret.

* I have one of these little spanish saucer things which makes grating ginger and/or garlic to a fine paste really easy, but I know not everyone has one

norfolkian

Mood: satisfied

Ok, so I interpreted the challenge pretty loosely this week. I didn't get any new appliances for Christmas and I couldn't think of any recipes or cookbooks that I had that came with an appliance (in hindsight I could have used one that came with our breadmaker, but I've made bread in the breadmaker lots of times and wanted to do something different). So, I used this Abel & Cole Veg Box Companion book which came as a free gift back when I was getting Abel & Cole veg boxes for a time. I don't get the veg boxes anymore, but there are some good recipes in here (and I hadn't looked at this book for ages, so this challenge was a good prompt to use a little used cookbook and cook something a bit different!).

My recipe was based on a recipe in the book called Roots Manoeuvre Curry (recipe is also on their website). You can use all sorts of different root veg in this, but here's what I did. (NB, I have a small electric fan-assisted oven - you may need to adjust temps/timings for your particular oven). :)

Serves 2 - 3

Ingredients
Rapeseed oil
2 large parsnips, chopped (2-3cm chunks)
3 medium carrots, chopped (as above)
1 small swede/turnip/rutabaga, chopped (as above)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced using a garlic press
1 tsp frozen chopped ginger
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tsp ground turmeric
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 400g tin coconut milk
A couple of handfuls of broccoli florets
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 200C.
2. Meanwhile add the root veg to a large roasting tin, along with a drizzle of oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Give it all a good mix. Put it in the oven and roast for 35 mins.
3. While the veg is roasting, heat a little oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for about five to ten minutes until starting to soften. Add the chilli, garlic and ginger and cook for a couple more minutes.
4. Add the spices to the pan, stir well and cook for another minute.
5. Pour in the tomatoes and the coconut milk, stir well, bring briefly to the boil and then turn down to a simmer. Let it simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.
6. Once the root veg has roasted for 35 minutes, take the roasting tin out the oven and carefully pour the sauce over the veg [I say carefully because I managed to burn one of my fingers on the handle of my roasting tin and splash some of the sauce up the wall when I was doing this]. Add in the broccoli florets.
7. Turn the oven down to 180C, return the roasting tin to the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
8. Squeeze in the lime juice at the end of cooking.

I served mine with long grain rice. It was yummy.

Root vegetable curry in a roasting tin

moetushie

Mood: cheerful

There's a bag of carrots in my fridge that's been on my mind since before Christmas. Sadly, I don't have anything rich or celebratory that needs to be used up -- but I do have this bag of carrots. And you know the old saying - if you have carrots, make carrot cake. And add some ginger and cinnamon in it for some seasonal flair~

This particular recipe is sugar-free and healthy-ish.

( Recipe below. )

el_staplador

('peer-nitch-ki' - Polish gingerbread hearts). This is one of the in-laws' family recipes, and, like many family recipes, it's somewhat idiosyncratic. I reproduce the recipe as we received it, complete with measurements in two different systems (three if you count teaspoons) and frankly terrifying instructions, under the cut, but here's what I think you should actually do:

Ingredients
1kg strong white flour
400g clear honey
225g butter, diced
225g granulated sugar
3 large eggs, gently beaten
2 heaped teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice

Equipment
Deep mixing bowl
Sturdy table knife
Bowl and kettle
Saucepan
Something to beat the eggs in
Teaspoon
Large pastry board (or use the work surface if that's what you usually do)
Rolling pin
Heart-shaped cutter
Baking sheets
Oven

Method

Preheat oven to 170degC.

Place the flour into a bowl and make a well. Stand the jar of honey in a bowl of hot water to warm the honey a little. This makes it easier to tip it into a pan and heat (carefully!) until it boils.

Pour the boiling honey into the flour and stir with the blade of a knife. When it's reasonably well mixed, add the butter and keep stirring. Then add the sugar, still stirring, followed by the eggs and the bicarb. Finally, add the spices and mix again.

It is at this point that I consider that you are safe to tip the whole lot out onto a board. There will be some residual heat, but at least you won't be frantically chasing dribbles of boiling honey across a flat surface. Draw it all together and knead for 10 minutes or so until smooth. Cut a piece off to see if little bubbles are beginning to form; if they aren't, knead for a little longer.

Roll out to about 1cm thickness (I have to do it slightly thinner due to the limitations of the cutter, but do it too thin and they don't rise properly) and cut out with a heart-shaped cutter. Place on a baking tray, leaving about 1cm between them, and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

They rise rather than spread, and should end up slightly convex.

What I actually did was scale the quantities down by 15% to allow for the fact that the jar of honey was 340g - all except the eggs. This of course made for a less stiff dough, which was considerably easier to knead, so I might continue to do that in future. Even with reduced quantities, I ended up with well over 50 of the things. Fortunately they keep very well.

Also I think I accidentally used caster sugar, which doesn't seem to have made a huge amount of difference.

( Boiling honey! )

miss_s_b

Mood: accomplished

OK, so, I had 800g of Rhubarb, a bottle of champagne we got free at Christmas, and a jar of Opies' stem ginger in syrup to kill. This is what I did:

Firstly, cut the rhubarb into 1cm chunks, and threw it in a big pan with 300g sugar, 600ml water, and all the syrup from the jar of stem ginger. Bring it to the boil and then let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the rhubarb lumps are tender and the liquid is pink and rhubarby. You now have some nice tender rhubarb chunks and a lot of pink, sweet, rhubarb-with-a-hint-of-gingery liquid, and can move on to the actual recipes:
( Rhubarb Fizz Jellies )
( Rhubarb and Ginger Muffins )
( Rhubarb Bucks' Fizz/Mimosas - with picture )
( Rhubarb Gin Cocktail )

So there we go, four nice easy recipes to use up some store cupboard staples. I think I might have to send some of the muffins to school with daughter, though...

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Weekly Food Challenge

A challenge for cooks every Wednesday

Entries tagged with herbs & spices: ginger

Challenge #44: Extremely Orange Warming Soup

Challenge 43: baked - ginger and date sandwich cookies

Challenge #42: Iftar - Amritsari-style Chicken, roughly as served in my local south Asian restaurant

Challenge 41: ginger - Beeswax Pie

CHALLENGE #41: GINGER - GARLIC & GINGER PASTE

Challenge #41: Ginger - another cocktail recipe #SorryNotSorry

Ginger challenge - Vegetarian/ Vegan Chilli

Challenge #41: ginger

Jennie's Delicate Stomach Breakfast Milkshake for Challenge #39: bananananananananas

Challenge 27: Appliance cookbook - root vegetable curry

Challenge # 26: Ginger-Carrot Cake

Anything but turkey: pierniczki

Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubarb - 4 recipes for challenge 17

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