Ginger-- I cannot get enough of it.
The discovery of The Ginger People was just the vessel a ginger addict like myself needed to further fuel my addiction and mid-afternoon cravings.
They were there for me when I had the flu last winter; those strong, little, spicy ginger candies: Gin Gin was just the thing I needed for my permanently dry throat.
And I fell in love with their pickled sushi ginger.
We know how good for you ginger is. The many health benefits is almost endless. Here are a few here, and here and here....here, here.
You get the idea. I eat ginger for anti-inflammatory reasons, for my arthritis, and also because it just tastes so good.
I'm also trying to get my hubby to eat more veggies, and if the plate is done right, colorful enough and has enough flavor he will.
We call this dish my ginger chicken stir fry. We eat it at least once a week. It's so easy and so tasty, trust me you will never use Chinese take out if you give this a go.
Hubby claims to hate ginger, but he loves it; its in this dish. Don't tell him LOL. If I mince up the ginger small enough he won't find it.
Making this dish takes literally 15 minutes. The hardest part? Chopping up the chicken.
Add in any veggies you like. If you use raw broccoli, just give it a cook 1 minute boil to take the "raw edge" off.
In the past I've added in: cashews, red onions, squash, cauliflower, kale--the list is endless. And you don't have to use meat, use tofu to make it vegetarian! Just crisp up the tofu and add it in last, so it doesn't get soggy.
Leftovers are the best. It's been sitting happily with the ginger and that sauce all night long. Yum!
ginger chicken stir fry
print recipe
4 chicken breasts, chopped into 1 or 2-inch pieces
4 cups +/- broccoli heads
1 cup of grated carrots
1 medium red onion, diced
5 TB of pickled ginger (use more or less)
1/4 cup of Trader Joe's Island Soyaki sauce
olive oil for frying up chicken
(use any veggies you want)
I doubt you'll need salt, but a hint of pepper is needed.
If using raw broccoli, give it a quick 1-2 minute boil to take raw edge off.
In a large pan, heat up the olive oil and cook chicken throughly.
At the last 2 minutes of chicken cooking add in the onions, and cook.
Add in the ginger and soyaki sauce; get it to a boil.
Add in the broccoli and carrots.
Stir until everything is nice and coated and heated through.
Add in some black pepper, if desired.
Serve over rice or as is.
Should serve 4 people.
10/22/12
ginger chicken stir fry
9/23/12
pumpkin-walnut snack cake (lightened up)
Have you, like me, go to Starbucks, see all the edible goodies behind the glass and think "oh that cake was too sweet, that one was too dry, the one I like the most is just too fattening....?
Do you do this?
I do.
And as much as I love their blueberry snack cake or is it called blueberry loaf?
It's just too sweet and always slightly under-baked.
And then their pumpkin loaf is just too dry and bland.
Don't get me started on how bread-like their croissants are.
Definitely not a real croissant, just bread shaped like a croissant.
There are days when I bring my own cake or snack with me when I go to Starbucks. Now that it's Fall I wanted to do a lighter version of a pumpkin snack cake. Flavorful and with texture, but not too heavy or too sweet. I think you'll like this one and it keeps great too.
Keep in mind that I do not like a lot of pumpkin pie spice, so if you do want to make this, you might want to add more; mine is on the low-end of spice flavor scale.
Taste-test the batter and see how you like it before you bake it.
I also used a Pumpkin Via for that hint of espresso in the cake--quite tasty. Up to you if you want to add this in. If you don't add it in then maybe double the amount of pumpkin spices.
7/18/12
ground beef gyros (quick and easy)
[First, I'd like to say congrats to the winners of the "The Cookie Dough Lovers Cookbook" #25 Barbara and #69 Ellen. Congrats to you both, please email me your shipping address.]
It's no surprise the recent heatwave in the northeast has left me with no desire to bake anything. I'm sure a lot of you are in the same boat.
Laziness comes with a hefty dose in the extreme heat and humidity.
I look for the easiest ways to make something delish, even if it is in "baby" steps.
The baby steps with these gyros?
Chop up veggies in the morning, buy or make the tzatziki sauce in the afternoon (I choose the latter in this heatwave), make gyros meatballs at night. Not so bad right?
And by the way, if you're looking for a good recipe for tzatziki?
Head over to Kalyn's Kitchen, not only does she has a good recipe, but she also included links for variations of tzatziki.
And if you have fussy eaters in the house?
This is a great way to get them to eat their veggies.
Works on my hubby. I just hide them in the sauce.
ground beef gyros
print recipe
1 pound ground beef (I used 85% lean)
½ cup minced sweet onion
1- 2 TB fresh oregano
3- 4 TB fresh chopped parsley (I used a bit more)
pinch of cumin
a couple dashes of salt & pepper
Cook notes:
You could add in a touch of mint if you wanted: ½ - 1 TB minced fresh mint.
It gives it a nice flavor without a minty taste.
I used a lot of parsley in these meatballs as I wanted a nice hearty earthy flavor to pair with the grilling flavor.
If you use really lean meat, make sure to fry these in a bit of oil or the meatballs dry up. One pound should make about 20-25 meatballs, depending on size.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Form meatballs and fry in pan or on grill. Grill gives a nice flavor.
Serve in warm naan or flat breads. Then top with your favorite toppings.
Serve with:
Tzatziki sauce
Tahini sauce
Crumbled feta
Kalmata olives
Chopped cukes, red onions, lettuce, peppers, etc..
4/15/12
double chocolate-coconut cookies
There are days when I do not want to wait for the darn butter to come to room temp. I just want to melt it, throw it in some double chocolate cookie dough, bake, and devour!
This post is the result of one of those days.
I just love a chocolate cookie that an overload of chocolate--like give me a chocolate overload buzz kind of cookie. Add that to my constant craving for coconut and we have the birth of this cookie.
A thick, dense, very chocolatey cookie with a hint of coconut flavor in the background, plus the crunch texture of the toasted coconut. Tasty indeed.
And the best part? The dough is a snap to put together. Love quick and easy cookies. Read the recipe, you'll see.
double chocolate-coconut cookies
print recipe
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 ts baking soda
¾ TB baking powder
4 and ½ TB double dutch cocoa powder
½ ts sea salt
1 and ½ sticks (12 TB) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup + 1 TB light brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
½ ts pure vanilla extract
¾ - 1 cup toasted coconut
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Cook notes: make sure to let the melted butter cool a bit. When you are ready to use the butter give it a good stir to incorporate the butter solids and fats back together. You could use semisweet chips in this, but they might be too sweet. I love to use ice cream scoopers to make the perfect, round size cookies. I adore large cookies so I used a regular sized ice cream scoop. If you want smaller size cookies, use a smaller ice cream scoop but remember to reduce the baking time a few less minutes! I like to chill my dough before baking—makes a more uniformed cookie. It will be hard to tell when the cookies are done because they are so dark, but you’re looking for crisp edges and non-jiggly cookie tops. I used a regular size cookie scoop, you can use a smaller one but you have to watch the baking times.
Whisk all the dry ingredients together; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, either by hand or using a mixer (I don’t have a mixer so I did this by hand) mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined. Add in the egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract, mix well. Then add in the dry mixture, mix until just combined, do not overmix. Next FOLD in the chocolate chips and toasted coconut. Cover bowl and let chill in fridge at least an hour or longer.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees, line four cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Using an normal (not small) ice cream scoop, and making sure to compact the dough in the scooper as much as possible, scoop out on baking sheets about 1 & ½ inches apart.
Bake about 11-15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. You’ll know the cookies are done by crisp edges and slightly puffy middles. Don’t try and take them off the cookie sheets, they will just break.
Should make about 15-18 large, if using a smaller scoop then you’ll have a few more.
3/6/12
spicy pb cookies (flour less)
Have you ever made peanut butter cookies with peanut flour? I didn't either, and I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty peanut flour is. Actually I prefer it over regular flour for many baking items: cakes, cookies, muffins, etc.. But then I heard that Trader Joe's isn't making the peanut flour anymore? Is this true? That was a quick fad. I have to find another good source for peanut flour. Anyone have recommendations?
Warning: these pb cookies are GOOD. I made about 12 cookies, ate 6, then ate 3 more, then finally someone else finished them off--all in a matter of hours. You've been warned.
I'm sure you recognize these cookies from another post? The first time I made these cookies (almost flour less pb cookies, everyone raved about them and they became the hit of the web). Now with these cookies, they are completely flour less, so those with gluten allergies can rejoice. And if you don't like the heat in the cookies, you can easily swap out the cayenne for coriander. The addition of coriander is wonderful, like a small flavor boost, that makes people go "hmm, what is that taste...I can't quite put my finger on it but I love it". I've made them both ways: with heat and with coriander; can't decide which I prefer I as I love them both. The peanut flavor is so deep and intense with the peanut flour.
spicy peanut butter cookies (flourless)
print recipe
1 cup all-natural chunky or all natural smooth peanut butter (not oily pb)
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temp
1 ts baking soda
3 TB peanut flour
¾ - 1 ts cayenne OR ¾ ts (more or less) coriander
1 ts sea salt
Bittersweet chocolate chips, about ½ cup, optional
Cook notes:
This recipe makes a small batch (about 12-15), if you want more, just double all the ingredients. Please use your own judgment when using the amount of cayenne or coriander. I used bittersweet chocolate, but you could use milk or semi-sweet—keep in mind, I felt the cookies tasted off using milk chocolate. The cookies have to sit in fridge for at least an hour to come together; don’t let them sit in fridge overnight as they become very dry. This is a dry cookie, and will a tiny bit hard to roll. Also they are delicate and tend to break apart if you make them big. So try not to make the dough balls bigger than a tablespoon size. Using chocolate is optional. If you do use the chocolate chips, keep in mind I found it easiest to make a well in the cookie dough ball, place in a couple chips, and when done baking, take a chop stick or other pointy tool to swirl around the warm chocolate chips.
In a small bowl add the peanut flour, baking soda, cayenne, and salt and mix, set aside.
In a small bowl crack egg open and beat.
In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined.
Add egg to the cookie mixture, mix well.
Add in the flour mixture, by sprinkling it over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till just combined.
Cover bowl and let it sit in fridge for about an hour. Do not let this sit overnight as the dough becomes very dry!
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Roll into tablespoon (or smaller) sized balls and place on non-stick cookie sheets or greased cookie sheets. With your finger or end of spatula, make a small well in middle of cookie dough. This is where you will place a couple chocolate chips in. If you don’t want to add chocolate then just flatten dough ball a bit and using a fork make a cross-cross pattern, optional of course.
Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. These cook up very fast, so I really wouldn’t go past the 10-12 minute mark.
Using the end of a chop stick or other fine pointy tip, swirl it around the chocolate chips to smooth out the warm chips. This should also get the chocolate a bit glossier too.
Cool on a baking sheet for a while.
The cookies are fragile and tend to break.
Should make about 12-15 cookies (small batch). If you want more, just double all the ingredients.
2/1/12
The best sloppy joe's
Are you a BBQ sauce junkie? I am. Some of the best BBQ sauce I've ever had in my life. I've made 1001 uses for it. The best part? It's all ingredients you can understand and are familiar with. And has real maple syrup in it! Maple syrup is one of the best ingredients for chili's, BBQ sauce, glazes for grilling, etc....
the best sloppy joes
print recipe
Note: found this BBQ sauce at whole foods and am in love with it.
It’s very tangy, sweet and not too salty. Has a list of ingredients that you can understand; very versatile with almost any dish.
You can use chicken or even grilled tofu works really well in this dish. Feel free to use any veggies you desire.
1 lb of meat (hamburg, chicken or tofu chunks), cooked/fried/baked/etc.
3 or more bell peppers, sautéed
1 large onion, sautéed
½ bottle (or more) of the Butternut mountain BBQ sauce
Toasted onion buns
Fry up or grill up the meat of your choice; sauté the veggies. Then mix all together in a pot with the sauce; heat up and serve over toasted buns.
Leftovers are amazing on salads!
1/5/12
coconut clusters
Do you have a favorite homemade candy shop? I do. It's gross really how much money I dropped at the last visit. And the people that work there 'almost' know me by name. Sad. Let's blame it on winter and winter time makes people eat more carbs. Sounds right. Stage Stop Candy in Dennisport, MA makes the best peanut butter logs and coconut clusters--oh of course many other things, but those two are the main reasons I go there (and the occasional sea salted Tahitian vanilla caramel).
AND congrats to the winners of the Sweets on a Stick Cookbook giveaway. Tree #8, Janet Rudolph #59 and Cake Duchess #66. Please email me your address so we can get these books out to you. CONGRATS!
Also, Jen of Duluth, GA (#62) you were the winner of the Nescafe Piccolo Giveaway. You still haven't contacted me and only have a few more days left before I choose another winner on Monday Jan 9, 2012. Please email me ASAP Jen!
coconut clusters
print recipe
7 ounces of toasted coconut*
11.5 ounces of high quality milk chocolate (you could try dark chocolate)
A pinch or two of sea salt
Cook notes:
*Toast your coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet in a 250 degree oven for about 15-25 minutes. You will have to toss the coconut around on the baking sheet a couple times during cooking; this prevents uneven browning. You know the coconut is done when the coconut is a very light golden brown—this is when to take it out of the oven. The coconut gets dark fast! So watch it at the 15 minute mark.
I used mini cupcake pans to make even, round clusters. Use whatever mold you like, just make sure you use liners or non stick spray or even silicone molds since the chocolate might stick to the pan.
If it does stick all you need to do is put the pan in a larger pan of warm/hot water for a few seconds to a minute. This should loosen the bottom a bit and you will be able to lift them out. Do not let it sit in the water too long as they will melt. If you want to decorate tops of clusters with toasted coconut then save a little on the sides.
To make clusters, take cooled toasted coconut and mix with about 11.5 ounces of melted/tempered milk chocolate. Sprinkle a couple small pinches of sea salt. Mix well, then transfer to your molds. Push them down into molds to make even and get out the air. This would be the time to sprinkle the tops of the clusters with the saved toasted coconut, if desired. I did a few, not all. Let cool/harden at room temp then finish setting up in fridge.
Should make about 15 mini cupcake sized clusters. Stores for about a week in air-tight container.
1/2/12
quick and easy chocolate-gingerbread
As in very quick and easy. As in the fastest quick bread I've ever made 'quick & easy'.
But saw these photos sitting in the archives and said "why not post it--someone out there will dig it".
Remember what I did with the gingerbread mix last year? The gingerbread cupcakes with white chocolate ganache frosting? Tres fab.
Did you also know that I made a batch of waffles with this box mix too? Pretty good. No photos on that one. If you do try it, use fresh whipped cream, not syrup--you already knew that didn't you?
Easy peasy. Follow box directions, pour in 1/2 the batter into greased loaf pan, put down as much or as little chocolate as you like, then pour remaining batter on top and bake according to box directions.
12/27/11
quick and easy chocolate chip cookies
If you're like me you hate waiting for the butter to come to room temp to make chocolate chip cookies. You want them now, not in a few hours because by then the craving for the cookies will be gone--well, maybe for some of you.
So you turn to the melted butter version of chocolate chip cookies and turns out they always turn out to be flat: thin and crispy. Which is fine, but I don't always like thin & crispy. I lean more towards the side of thick and chewy with a nice crisp outside.
After a few experiments using a basic cookie recipe from america's test kitchen or cooks county whatever they call themselves today--I found a good one using melted butter that resulted in giant, thick, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside chocolate chip cookies. It's really all about the right ratio of baking powder to flour to salt and butter. haha. But all that does make a difference if you break it down. Less flour less chewy, more butter more crisp/flakiness, and of course using good quality chocolate helps too as well as using the right kind of chocolate. If you used milk chocolate the cookie might be too sweet, so using a bittersweet won't overpower the chocolate thus making the dough flavor shine through. You all know this already..... just get to the cookie recipe already!
Use an ice cream scooper for all cookie doughs. Makes the cookies nice and round and even. Use any size really, just watch the baking times if you use smaller scoops.
Baking times matter! Of course this is dependent on various ovens, but keep an eye on your cookies after the 10 minute mark. They burn up fast.
quick & easy chocolate chip cookies
based on America’s Test Kitchen
print recipe
2 cups plus 2 TB all-purpose flour
1/2 ts baking soda
¾ TB baking powder
¾ ts sea salt
1 and ½ sticks (12 TB) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
2 ts pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Cook notes: make sure to let the melted butter cool a bit (about 15 minutes before using). When you are ready to use the butter give it a good stir to incorporate the butter solids and fats back together.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line about 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper. I found that using milk chocolate chips were just too sweet with this dough. Using bittersweet or semi was just right. Always make sure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh; when they go stale they result in thin tasteless cookies. I love to use ice cream scoopers to make the perfect, round size cookies. I adore large cookies so I used a regular sized ice cream scoop. If you want smaller size cookies, use a smaller ice cream scoop but remember to reduce the baking time a few less minutes!
Whisk all the dry ingredients together; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, either by hand or using a mixer (I don’t have a mixer so I did this by hand) mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined. Add in the egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract, mix well. Then add in the dry mixture, mix until just combined, do not overmix. Next FOLD in the chocolate chips (if you want to add in nuts go ahead—about 1 cup).
Using an ice cream scoop, and making sure to compact the dough in the scooper as much as possible, scoop out on baking sheets about 1 & ½ inches apart.
Bake about 11-14 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. You’ll know the cookies are done by light golden brown edges and slightly puffy middles. As soon as they turn golden brown, in a matter of minutes they turn dark, so take them out, plus they do continue to bake once out of the oven. Don’t try and take them off the cookie sheets, they will just break. Should make about 15-18 large, if using a smaller scoop then you’ll have a few more.
12/12/11
PMS Christmas Bark: Part 1, 2, & 3
Jokingly on facebook I stated to my friends that years ago I created a Christmas bark that can easily be given as a gift and double as a PMS bark. The agreement was overwhelming by all my female friends; a bark made of salty, sweet, sticky, chewy and a hint of crispy--how could anyone, let alone a female disagree? I mean it covers all the four food groups that females tend to crave while going through PMS. Right?
Part 2 was a whole other kind of creation made to satisfy those wanting milk chocolate instead of white chocolate.
So here is PMS Chrismtas Bark Part 2, or Cheez It Bark. Made with again Cheez It's with a hard caramel middle, covered in milk chocolate then a nice sprinkling of salty pecans.
And now we have a Part 3. The peanut butter and bacon chocolate bark. Bacon of course is a very important food group when creating a PMS bark? So why not.
Part 3 is very easy to make. Just roll out the dough onto a baking sheet. Originally this was done with cookies--my almost flourless peanut butter cookies with chocolate. This dough makes the perfect bark.
As soon as it comes out of the oven place cooked strips of bacon on the top. Gently pushing them in.
When the cookie layer has cooled then drizzle with bittersweet chocolate. You can use whatever chocolate you like; I found that bittersweet was just the right balance as the semi and milk chocolates were just too sweet and overpowered the bacon and peanut butter flavors. Can't have that can we?
peanut butter & bacon chocolate bark
print recipe
1 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter (natural peanut butter works best just not too oily)
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
½ ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
2 TB flour
1 ts sea salt
5-7 strips of cooked bacon, in strips or in small chunks
6-8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
Cook notes: this dough cooks very fast. It may not look like its done at the 10 or 11 minute mark but it is. Since there is almost no flour in there it cooks very fast. The next time I make this I will drizzle way less chocolate. In my opinion I put too much chocolate on there and it drowned out the peanut butter flavor. I highly doubt this freezes well. Natural peanut butter is best for this, just not one that's too oily.
In a small bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined.
Crack egg open in a small bowl and beat. Add egg to the cookie mixture, mix well.
Next sprinkle the flour mixture over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till combined. Cover bowl and let it sit in fridge for about an hour or more.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place a parchment sheet on jelly roll pan. Place dough on sheet and spread it out. It will not spread out the whole size of the jelly roll pan only about halfway
If dough is sticky, just wet your finger tips.
Bake for 10-11 minutes, until very lightly browned. As soon as you remove it from the oven, place the strips of bacon on top and gently push down/in. Let cool at least 2 hours at room temperature.
When cooled drizzle with the melted bittersweet chocolate. Let chocolate harden and slice into squares.
Makes about 12-15 bars depending on how you cut them.
And finally the winner of the Nescafe Dolce Piccolo giveaway is Jen of Duluth, GA who was the lucky number 62. Please contact me Jen with your mailing address. Congrats Jen!
