This is the long-awaited ginger version of the English cream scones that I made a couple years back.

In the original version, I swapped out the heavy cream for half-and-half. This time, I stepped it all they way down to whole milk. They were still plenty rich! So I don't think the "cream" part of these cream scones is really necessary. Honestly, they'd probably be fine with slightly less butter too. I made a double batch and used ~240g of butter this time around, but I'd be tempted to try it with slightly less -- maybe 200g -- next time.
I also swapped out the egg wash and sugar topping with a light lemon glaze. Mostly because I didn't want to burn a whole egg just to brush a handfull of scones, but also because I thought the lemon would go nicely with the ginger. I'm very happy with how it worked out!

Photo goes here.

Ginger Scones

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Scones

• 4 c. (~500g) soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 6 Tbsp. sugar
• 5 tsp. baking powder
• 200g salted butter, cold
• 1 c. crystallized ginger, chopped
• 2 c. milk

Glaze

• 1/2 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/2-1 tsp. lemon zest
• 3-4 tsp. milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Combine the flour and sugar and sift in the baking powder. Mix well.
3. Cut in the butter.
4. Mix in the ginger.
5. Pour in the milk and stir until just combined.
6. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and fold/knead very briefly (3-4 strokes), until dough holds together.
7. Pat into a flat sheet about 3cm thick.
8. Use a floured glass or biscuit cutter to cut out scones of desired size (5-8cm works well).
9. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-20 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, gather up the scraps, briefly knead/fold together, and cut out more scones.
11. Combine the sugar and lemon zest for the glaze.
12. Stir in milk until desired consistency is achieved.
13. Once scones are cooked through and nicely brown on top, remove from oven and brush liberally with glaze.

It's feijoa season again! So I'm taking the opportunity to try to tick off a few more recipes.

This sponge was very unusual. It starts with making an Italian meringue! You then beat the egg yolks into your marshmallow-y meringue, followed by the dry ingredients. It also contains a somewhat alarming amount of ginger. And uses mostly corn starch (cornflour), rather than regular white (wheat) flour, as the main component of the dry ingredients.

I've made a lot of cakes that incorporate beaten egg whites. And a few that incorporate a French (uncooked) meringue. And I've seen icing and pie recipes that call for cooked meringues (like Swiss or Italian). But I've never seen a cake that uses a cooked meringue before. It was unusual, but did seem to work quite well. The Italian meringe was very stable and took the egg yolks nicely without a noticeable loss of volume. And the resulting sponge was very very light. Reiver noted that it had a very slight graininess to it, but I'm not sure whether that was down to the meringue, the cornflour, the ginger, or something else entirely.

The original recipe calls for splitting the sponge and filling it with whipped cream and feijoas. And, while there's nothing wrong with this approach, it does mean that you need to eat the whole cake fairly promptly. So, as an alternative, Reiver suggested that we just cut and top individual wedges of sponge to make it easier to enjoy over the course of a few days.

Photo goes here.

Ginger Sponge with Feijoas and Cream

Slightly adapted from NZ Women's Weekly

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, separated
• 6 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 7 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 Tbsp. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 5-6 tsp. ground ginger, divided
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 300mL heavy (35%) cream
• 1-2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 2 c. feijoa flesh, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line the bottom of a 23cm (9") springform pan with baking paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan!
2. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
3. Beat in the egg yolks.
4. Sift in the cornstarch, flour, 4-5 tsp. of the ginger, and the baking powder and gently fold to combine.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and drop onto counter or floor once or twice (to help prevent it from sinking in the middle, apparently).
8. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes.
9. Run a knife or spatula around the sides of the tin, then remove the sides.
10. Turn cake onto a cooling rack and carefully remove the bottom of the pan and peel off the baking paper. Allow to cool completely.
11. Add the icing sugar and the remaining ginger to the cream and beat until stiff.
12. Either split the cake and fill it with the cream and chopped feijoas, dusting the top with icing sugar as desired, or top individual slices with cream and fruit.

Dum Gobhi (Cauliflower Curry)

Here's another one from the NZ backlog. It's a fairly straight-forward vegetable curry. And while it won't stand as a meal on its own, it does make a great side dish.

Dum Gobhi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. shredded fresh coconut (or 1/2 c. dried coconut, rehydrated)
• 1/4 c. raw cashew nuts
• 1 Tbsp. white poppyseeds
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2-3 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. ginger paste
• 1 1/2 c. water, divided
• 450g cauliflower florets

Directions

1. Combine coconut, cashews, poppyseeds, coriander, cumin, salt, turmeric, chilies, and cinnamon in a blender and purée.
2. Heat oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and ginger and stir-fry until light brown (5-7 minutes).
4. Add the coconut paste and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add 1/2 c. of the water and deglaze the pan.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it turns yellowish-brown and oil starts to separate from the sauce (~15 minutes).
7. Add remaining 1 c. of water and the cauliflower.
8. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is fork tender (25-30 minutes).

Khichdas/khichdras are thick legume-and-grain porridges. This one contains wheat, rice, pigeon peas, and yellow split peas. They also generally contain beef, goat, or both. This one just contains a relatively small amount of beef, but I think that goat would also be excellent in it (either instead or as well).

This was one of those almost "too simple" recipes that made me a little nervous. Because while it contains a lot of legumes and grains, it doesn't have that much in the way of seasonings. It's mostly just cumin. Cumin, ginger, and garlic. And a little cilantro and coriander. But that's not a whole lot to hang your curry on! No asafetida. Not even any turmeric! But, honestly, it was still great! Even with the limited spices. And the beef came out ultra-tender!

While I won't go so far as to say this is a new "favourite", it was very good. It may not be as tasty as some of the other curries in the book, but it has an impressive tastiness-to-effort ratio! And it's also very cheap to make. The most expensive ingredient is the beef. And you only need half a kilo of that. And cheap stewing beef works just fine. So you don't need to spend a lot of money on the meat for it. And, other than that, it's dried legumes, rice, and wheat! All very affordable ingredients. And it makes a huge amount. So it's a great dish for feeding a hungry crowd.

Khichda

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. cracked wheat
• 6 c. water
• 1/2 c. skinned split pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 1/2 c. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 1/2 c. long-grain rice¹
• 500g stewing beef
• 1/2 c. chile-ginger paste²
• 2 Tbsp. dhania-jeera masala
• 1-2 tsp. black cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds³ (optional)
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/4 c. ghee
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rinse and drain the wheat thoroughly.
2. Add it to the water and allow to stand at room temperature for 6-8 hours.
3. Add the wheat and its soaking water to a slow cooker or InstantPot.
4. Add the pigeon peas, yellow peas, rice, beef, chile-ginger paste, masala, black cumin (and additional regular cumin, if using), and 1 tsp. of the salt.
5. Either slow cook on "low" for 6-8 hours or pressure cook on "high" for 1 hour. If pressure cooking, allow for a 15-minute natural release. When the khichda is done, the grains should be very soft and the beef extremely tender. The consistency should be similar to congee/jook.
6. Once the porridge is ready, heat the ghee over medium-high heat.
7. Add the cumin and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
8. Reduce heat to medium, add the garlic, and cook for a minute or two.
9. Add the garlic-y ghee and the remaining 1 tsp. of salt to the khichda and stir to mix.
10. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ Iyer calls for long-grain white rice specifically. I reasoned that, given how long it cooks for, there's no reason why I couldn't use brown rice instead. So I tossed 1/2 c. of brown basmati into my khichda. It worked great! Would definitely do it that way again in future. ^Back
2 I use chile-ginger paste rarely enough that I don't bother keeping it on hand. For this recipe I just tossed 1/2 c. of store-bought ginger paste into the blender with 6 fresh green finger chilies and gave that a whiz. It did the job and saved me trying to find room for another jar in the fridge. ^Back
3 I find black cumin quite strong and don't like excessive amounts of it. Neither does TF. So when recipes call for blak cumin, I tend to scale it back a bit. For this one, I cut the black cumin back to 1 tsp. and then added an extra tsp. of regular cumin to compensate. ^Back

Gosht Kebab aur Pudhinay ki Chutney (Beef Kebabs with Mint Chutney)

We've made most of the beef curries in the book at this point. But this one in the appetizer section caught my eye. It's really meant to be made on skewers and grilled (on the barbecue), but I chose to leave mine loose and cook it under the broiler indoors. Definitely not as flavourful, but it was very easy!

Gosht Kebab aur Pudhinay ki Chutney

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

Kebabs

• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 6-8 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies
• 6-7 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 450g stewing beef
• 1 tsp. ground Deggi chilies (or 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne + 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Sauce

• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 c. firmly packed fresh mint
• 1/4 c. firmly packed fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, green chilies, garlic, and ginger paste and a blender and purée.
2. Pour the yogurt mixture over the beef.
3. Add the ground chilies, salt, turmeric, and ground cloves and stir to combine.
4. Cover and chill for at least one hour (or as long as overnight).
5. Add the water, mint, cilantro, sugar, salt, tamarind, and chilies to the blender and purée.
6. If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for an hour or two before cooking.
7. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill or oven broiler to high heat.
8. Pour into a small pot and keep warm while beef cooks.
9. Lightly oil the grates of the grill or broiling pan.
10. If using skewers, thread the beef (with all of its marinade) onto the skewers and arrange them on the grill over direct heat (or on the broiler pan ~5cm under the element).
11. Grill until medium-rare (~6-10 minutes), turning once or twice.
12. Serve the skewered meat topped with the mint sauce.

This is a nice refreshing stir-fry with a generous amount of vegetables in it. The original recipe was somewhat more fiddly about how the vegetables are cut; I've simplified it (here and as cooked) with no ill effects.

Beef & Basil Stir-Fry with Summer Vegetables

From Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 165)

Ingredients

• ¼ C soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1+1 Tbsp canola oil
• 500g thinly sliced steak, cut into ~3cm pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp ginger paste
• 2 zucchini or 1 yellow squash, cut into 1cm matchsticks or half-moons
• 2 carrots, cut into 5mm discs
• 125g sugar snap peas, trimmed and halved
• ¼ C fresh Thai basil leaves

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, shaoxing wine, honey, and cornstarch. Buffer.
2. Season the beef with salt and pepper.
3. Heat the first tablespoon of oil in a wok over high heat.
4. Add the steak and stir-fry until seared on all sides but still rare inside, ~3 minutes. Remove and buffer.
5. Add the remaining oil, the ginger, and the garlic, and stir-fry until fragrant, 30-60s.
6. Add the zucchini, carrots, and peas and stir-fry for 4 minutes.
7. Add the steak and the sauce and continue stir-frying until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.
8. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil leaves.

As written in the original recipe, this is meant to be more of a syrup. Made with pineapple juice and strained smooth. I chose to make it as a chunky sauce using chopped fruit rather than juices and skipping the straining.

Pineapple-Cranberry Sauce

Adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 300g sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 340g fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 pineapple, trimmed and chopped
• 1 Tbsp. grated ginger (or ginger paste)

Directions

1. Combine the sugar and water and bring to a vigorous simmer.
2. Shake the pan a few times to mix and continue cooking until a light caramel forms (~8 minutes).
3. Carefully add the cranberries and pinapple to the pot and stir to combine.
4. Caramel will harden. Continue cooking until caramel softens and dissolves and cranberries begin to break down.
5. Stir in the ginger and cook for another minute or two.
6. Serve over waffles or pancakes.

陕西臊子面 (Shaanxi Saozi Mian)

The name of this dish literally translates as "Shaanxi sauce noodles". The final product is a delicious lightly spicy, savoury, and sour noodle soup. Full of pork belly, fried tofu puffs, carrots, potatoes, wood ear fungus, and lily blossoms. But the first step is making the intensely flavourful meat sauce. Once the concoction is complete, you make the rest of the soup and then add the sauce, which then gets ladelled over freshly cooked noodles and topped with thin ribbons of omelette and a mix of garlic chives and green onions. The finished product is incredibly delicious and satisfying. This one is definitely a keeper!

Hanzi: 陕西臊子面
Pinyin: Shǎnxī sàozǐ miàn
English: Shaanxi sauce noodles

陕西臊子面

Slightly adapted from The Woks of Life

Ingredients

Meat Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 star anise
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 Tbsp. minced ginger or ginger paste
• 450g pork belly, cut into 5mm dice
• 2 Tbsp. 老干妈 (Laoganma)¹
• 1/4 c. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)
• 1/2 c. black vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp. five-spice powder
• 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 2 tsp. sugar

Soup

• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 Tbsp. minced ginger or ginger paste
• 1/2-3/4 c. diced carrots
• ~1 c. diced potatoes
• 20g dried wood ear fungus, rehydrated
• 5-6g dried lily blossoms, rehydrated
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 6-8 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 8 fried soy puffs, quartered

Toppings

• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 4 tsp. water
• 2 large eggs
• 1-2 tsp. oil
• 450g dried spaghettini or other thin wheat noodles
• 1/3-1/2 c. chopped garlic chives
• 1-2 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-low heat.
2. Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, and bay leaves and cook, stirring occasionally, until oil is infused (2-3 minutes).
3. Add the ginger and pork belly, increase heat to medium, and cook until meat is opaque.
4. Add the Laoganma (or chiles and salt, if using) and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Add the Shaoxing wine, vinegar, five-spice powder, soy sauce, and sugar and bring to a boil.
6. Lower heat slightly and cook until sauce is slightly reduced (6-8 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside.
7. Heat the oil for the soup over medium heat.
8. Add the ginger and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
9. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
10. Drain and chop the wood ear fungus and the lily blossoms and add them to the pot with the vegetables.
11. Add the oyster sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes.
12. Add the stock, soy puffs, and the meat sauce prepared earlier and bring to a boil.
13. Simmer for 10 minutes.
14. Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch with the water and then beat in the eggs.
15. Heat the remaining oil over medium heat.
16. Pour in the egg mixture and cook until eggs have set.
17. Carefully flip and cook for ~30 seconds on the other side.
18. Remove omelette from pan and cut into ribbons. Set aside.
19. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and cook the noodles according to package directions. Pasta should be fairly al dente and not too soft.
20. Drain noodles and portion out into bowls.
21. Ladel a generous quantity of the soup over the noodles.
22. Top soup with some omelette ribbons, garlic chives, and green onions and serve immediately.

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¹ The original recipe called for 1/4 c. of oil (rather than just 2 Tbsp.) here + 2 Tbsp. Sichuan chile flakes and 1 tsp. of salt. I didn't have any Sichuan chile flakes and didn't want to try to go out and get yet another variety of chiles, so I reduced the oil, omitted the salt, and swapped out the chile flakes for the same amount of 老干妈. This gave me the heat, salt, and extra oil all in one. And, I must say, I'm quite happy with the results. Would definitely be happy to go that route again! ^Back

Aaron & Claire describe this as "easy" and "so simple", and as a "15-minute" recipe. I submit that this is only the case if you don't count any of the time needed to prep the sauces and the ingredients; once the mise-en-place is done, yes, it comes together very quickly and easily, but the mise-en-place is a lot! I can't argue with the results, though; it's delicious.

Compared to the original recipe, this uses more carrot, and consistently chooses shaoxing wine over mirin where the choice is given, but is otherwise unaltered.

Beef & Onion Stir-Fry

Aaron and Claire

Ingredients

• Marinade
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp white pepper, ground
• Sauce
• 5 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp chicken stock powder
• ½ tsp dark soy sauce
• Stir-Fry
• 500g chuck flap tail, steak, or similar beef, cut into thin strips
• 1+1 tbsp neutral oil, divided
• 2 large yellow onions, sliced
• 4 green onions, sliced, whites and greens divided
• 3 tbsp garlic paste
• 2 tsp ginger paste
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Directions

1. Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Add the beef and toss thoroughly to coat. Marinate in the fridge for at least ten minutes.
3. Whisk together all sauce ingredients and set aside.
4. Do all mise-en-place before proceeding.
5. Heat the wok and add 1 tbsp of oil.
6. Add the beef in its marinade and stir-fry until comfortably seared all over. Remove and buffer.
7. Add the other tbsp of oil.
8. Add the onions and let them sit for 1-2 minutes until they start to char and soften.
9. Add garlic, ginger, and green onion whites. Stir-fry until fragrant, <1 minute.
10. Add beef, carrots, and sauce. Stir-fry until slightly thickened and heated through, 1-2 minutes.
11. Remove from heat and toss with sesame oil and green onion greens.
12. Serve over rice.

Cochin Jhinga (Kerala Shrimp Curry)

I made this tasty shrimp curry on Easter to go with the fish and dal when we had Reiver's parents over for dinner. The kahawai was definitely the standout of the night, but the shrimp seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed as well.

Photo goes here.

Cochin Jhinga

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1/2 c. chopped shallots
• 10 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, jalapeño, or serrano chiles, halved lengthwise
• 200mL diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. vinegar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies¹
• 500g peeled and deveined shrimp
• 3 slices of fresh ginger² (each 6x2.5x0.3cm), julienned

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the shallots, curry leaves, and chilies and sauté for 2 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, salt, and ground chilies and bring to a boil.
4. Add the shrimp and stir to coat.
5. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and poach, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are cooked through (~5 minutes).
6. Sprinkle with the ginger and serve.

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¹ As I was trying to make this curry extra mild, I used only half of a fresh jalape&ntile;o with its seeds removed and 1/2 tsp. of Kashmiri chiles. This produced a flavourful curry and, more importantly, everyone was happy with the spice level. That said, if I were making it again, in a situation where the spice level didn't matter, I would probably put 1 fresh chile and a whole teaspoon of ground chiles in. ^Back
2 I didn't have any fresh ginger on hand when making this, so I ended up just tossing a few Tbsp. of ginger paste into the sauce. Obviously, that is not ideal and produces a different effect, but the overall result was still quite tasty so I'm not upset about that! ^Back

Reiver needed to take a plate to the office the other day. So, of course, I viewed this as an idea opportunity to try out yet another feijoa recipe.

These were lovely little socnes. And because the jam was just a "quick jam" thickened with chia seeds, it didn't require the normal amount of sugar and came out not-too-sweet and deliciously fruity! The low-sugar nature of it means that the jam won't keep the way a traditional jam will. But as long as you eat it relatively quickly, it makes for a delicious (and relatively healthy) way to use up a few feijoas.

Photo goes here.

Feijoa-Ginger Scones with Quick Feijoa-Strawberry Jam

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

Scones

• 375g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 2 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. ginger
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 50g butter
• 3-4 feijoas
• 3/4 c. buttermilk
• 0-2 Tbsp. milk

Jam

• 250g feijoa pulp
• 1 c. frozen strawberries
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Scones

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and ginger.
3. Add sugar and stir to mix.
4. Cut in the butter.
5. Scoop and chop the feijoas.
6. Stir in the feijoas and the buttermilk.
7. Mix to form a shaggy dough. If the dough won't quite come together, add a little milk until it does.
8. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a disc ~2-3cm thick.
9. Fold the dough into quarters and press flat again.
10. Use a biscuit cutter of your preferred size to cut out your scones and place them on a baking sheet.
11. Combine the scraps, press flat, and cut out a few more scones. Repeat until you can't make any more scones.
12. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until cooked through and just starting to colour on the outside (~15 minutes).

Jam

1. Combine the feijoas, strawberries, and maple syrup and cook over medium heat until very soft.
2. Remove from heat, purée, and stir in the chia seeds and vanilla.
3. Pour into a jar and allow to cool.

Assembly

1. Split scones and serve topped with whipped cream and jam.

This is billed as "Asian-style chicken soup" in the cookbook. But, looking at it, it's basically a simplified pho. You start with chicken stock and enrich it with green onions, ginger, fish sauce, cloves, star anise, and chile and then poach a couple of chicken breasts and some bok choy in it. The chicken then gets sliced and placed in a bowl with some rice noodles which the broth then gets ladeled over. Cilantro, green onions, basil, bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, sliced chilies¹, hoisin sauce, and lime wedges are passed at the table for people to adjust their soup to their taste.

I had a chicken carcass on hand, so I just made my chicken stock from scratch. I didn't measure my stock. I just added enough water to cover the carcass and added some carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, dried mushrooms, a dried chile, and a splash of soy sauce. I would have put some celery if we'd had any, but we didn't so I just rolled without it. Because I was making my own stock from scratch and without any added salt (except what was in the soy sauce) I didn't add the water called for in the recipe. (Besides, I think I probably had more than the requisite 8 c. of stock anyway.) If you're using commercial stock though, you'll probably want to add the water to avoid an excessively salty final broth.

Chicken Pho

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 8 c. chicken stock
• 2 c. water
• 1 bunch green onions, divided
• 5cm fresh ginger (or 1 Tbsp. ginger paste)
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 whole star anise
• ~500g skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 4 heads baby bok choy, chopped
• ~200g dry rice noodles
• fresh Thai chilies, thinly sliced
• fresh cilantro
• Thai basil
• bean sprouts
• peanuts, toasted and chopped
• lime wedges
• hoisin sauce

Directions

1. Combine the stock and water and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Reserve one of the green onions and set aside for later. Cut the remaining green onions into thirds and add them to the pot.
3. Add the ginger, fish sauce, sugar, cloves, and star anise to the pot as well.
4. Add the chicken, reduce to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through.
5. Strain the broth and return to the pot.
6. Return to a simmer, add the bok choy, and cook until tender.
7. Meanwhile, slice the chicken breasts and cook the rice noodles according to package directions.
8. Place some noodles in each bowl and put a few slices of chicken breast on top.
9. Ladel some broth and bok choy over the noodles.
10. Chop the reserved green onion.
11. Put the chilies, cilantro, basil, bean sprouts, peanuts, and lime wedges on a plate and pass at the table for people to dress their soup as they see fit.
12. Drizzle with hoisin if desired.

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¹ Omitted this time since Reiver can't eat them. ^Back

This was meant to be a mapo tofu variant, but the author had already taken a few liberties with the recipe and then I took a few more, so it's not quite mapo tofu anymore. It is, however, completely delicious! Strong recommend.

Braised Tofu with Ground Beef

Adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. soy sauce (pref. mix of light and dark)
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, divided
• 250g ground beef
• 300g tofu
• 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. Laoganma (老干妈)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 3 Tbsp. minced green onion, divided
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

1. Combine the soy sauce, wine, and 2 tsp. of the sesame oil and mix well.
2. Add the beef and stir to combine. Set aside.
3. If using soft tofu, boil it in lightly salted water for 5 minutes, then drain, pat dry, and press between paper towels for at least 30 minutes.
4. Cut the tofu into 1cm (~1/2") cubes. Set aside.
5. Combine the chicken stock, Laoganma, sugar, cornstarch, white pepper, and the remaining 1 tsp. of sesame oil and mix well.
6. Heat a wok over medium-high heat.
7. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat.
8. Add the beef with its marinade and stir-fry until just cooked through.
9. Add 2 Tbsp. of the green onion, the garlic, and the ginger and stir-fry for another minute or two.
10. Add the sauce to the wok and cook for a minute or two until slightly thickened.
11. Add the tofu and gently stir to coat.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for ~10 minutes.
13. Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbsp. green onion and serve with rice and veggies of your choice.

I really liked the pears with this pudding. And the coconut was nice. Although I didn't feel it came through as strongly as I would have liked. The pudding was also very thick. I ended up thinning mine out with milk before eating it. It was good though. We all enjoyed it. I just wonder if it might be improved by using slightly more liquid or less rice during the preparation. That said, adding the milk after the fact also worked fine, so it wasn't a big deal either way. Although, now that I think about it... we also ran out of pears well before we ran out of pudding, so maybe less rice would be the way to go. That way there'd be a better pudding-to-pear ratio and the pudding would hopefully have a somewhat looser consistency. Something to try for next time.

Coconut Rice Pudding with Gingered Pears

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kate Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1 c. basmati rice¹
• 1 c. half-and-half (10% MF), divided
• 3 c. milk
• 1 (~440mL) can coconut milk
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 1/2 c. unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
• 2 pears, peeled and chopped
• 1"/2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Directions

1. Combine rice, 1/2 c. of the half-and-half, milk, coconut milk, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is very tender (~30 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and spread coconut out on a lined baking sheet.
4. Toast coconut in oven until golden (3-5 minutes). Set aside to cool.
5. Toss pears with ginger and brown sugar and set aside for at least 20 minutes to macerate.
6. Stir remaining 1/2 c. of the half-and-half into the pudding.
7. Serve topped with pears and toasted coconut.

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¹ The original recipe called for 1 1/2 c. of rice, but, as noted above, this seemed like a bit too much, so I've scaled it back here. ^Back

Gingered Rhubarb Crisp

I don't tend to do a lot with rhubarb. I enjoy the odd strawberry-rhubarb pie. But I don't think I've ever made one myself. I usually just get them ready-made from shops and restaurants. And, other than that, my rhubarb experience is very limited. But I know that TF enjoys various rhubarb-based confections as an occasional treat. And I do now have a bunch of recipes that call for it. And she also loves ginger. So, when rhubarb came into season this spring, I decided to give it a try. (I then failed to write it up for half a year, but that's beside the point.)

Gingered Rhubarb Crsip

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 680g rhubarb, cut into 1cm pieces
• 1 large orange
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2.5cm (1") piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. rolled oats
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Combine rhubarb with 1 tsp. orange zest, 1/3 c. orange juice, and the (granulated) sugar in a 23cm (9") square baking tin.
3. In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
4. Add the butter and stir until evenly mixed.
5. Sprinkle the oat mixture over the rhubarb.
6. Bake at 190°C (375°F) until topping is golden and juices are thick (30-40 minutes).
7. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
8. Serve as-is or with vanilla ice cream.

Lemongrass Chicken Stir-Fry

I think I probably would have liked this Vietnamese-inspired stir-fry a bit more with some veggies in it. I think some thinly sliced carrot would have been a nice addition. But it was still very tasty as-is. The marinade and sauce were both excellent. I just would have liked to have had a little veg incorporated into it. That said, I do appreciate how easily it came together. So I'm not complaining.

Lemongrass Chicken Stiry-Fry

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Marinade

• 2 shallots, quartered
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chile
• 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. corn (or other neutral) oil
• 2-3 Tbsp. water

Sauce

• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Stir-Fry

• 680g skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 Tbsp. corn or peanut (or other high smoke point) oil, divided
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced on bias (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Thai basil

Directions

1. Combine shallots, garlic, ginger paste, chile, lemongrass, salt, and oil in a blender or food processor and purée. Add as much of the water as needed to blend the mixture.
2. Add the marinade to the chicken and toss to combine. Cover and chill for 1-24 hours.
3. Combine the soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, and pepper and mix well. Set aside.
4. Heat a wok over medium-high heat.
5. Drizzle in 1/2 Tbsp. of the oil.
6. Add the onion and stir-fry until softened (2-3 minutes). Transfer to a plate and set aside.
7. Drizzle in another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
8. Add the carrot (if using).
9. Stir-fry until just cooked (2-3 minutes). Transfer to plate and set aside.
10. Drizzle in the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil.
11. Add the chicken, a few pieces at a time, and stir-fry until cooked through (5-6 minutes).
12. Add the sauce and return the veggies to the wok and stir-fry until sauce thickens (1-2 minutes).
13. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

Lemon-Ginger Pavlova with Strawberries and Sour Cream

It wouldn't have occured to me to mix sour cream into my lemon curd if the recipe hadn't called for it. I've seen recipes for lemon mousseline that have you fold whipped cream into lemon curd. So, I guess this isn't that different from a sweet mousseline. It just never really occurred to me to use sour cream instead. Honestly, I barely remember that mousseline is a thing most of the time!

All that being said... the sour cream, lemon, ginger, and strawberry combo worked really well! I think it would've been even nicer if I'd been able to get my hands on some of the tiny, intensely-flavoured alpine strawberries that were recommended by the recipe authors, but the regular grocery store strawberries were just fine (if somewhat less punchy).

I'm still kind of torn as to whether I preferred this pav or the apricot one. TF preferred this one. Reiver preferred the apricot one. I was expecting to like this one better, and it was very good, but I think the apricots may have come out slightly ahead for me. That said, it was a near enough thing that I think which one I like best really just comes down to how I'm feeling on the day. They are both excellent and I wouldn't turn either one down!

Lemon-Ginger Pavolva with Strawberries and Sour Cream

Slightly adapted from Delicious.com.au

Ingredients

Meringue

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 tsp. vinegar
• 200g sugar
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Lemon-Ginger Curd

• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 140g sugar
• 80g unsalted butter
• zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 2 tsp. ground ginger

Assembly

• 250mL sour cream
• 450g fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 6-8 slices candied ginger, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F) and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
2. Combine egg whites and vinegar and whisk on increasing speeds until foamy.
3. Continue increasing speed gradually to high while adding the sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time.
4. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form.
5. Sprinkle over the cornstarch and mix in. Do not overmix!
6. Scoop the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet and shape as desired.
7. Place in oven, immediately reduce heat to 120°C (250°F), and bake for 1 hour.
8. Turn oven off and leave pavlova in warm oven to cool for at least two hours or as long as overnight.
9. Meanwhile, combine the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar over low heat.
10. Cook, whisking constantly, for 8-10 minutes.
11. Mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and ginger.
12. Add the butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time, while continuing to whisk and cook over low heat.
13. Once thickened, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
14. Once cooled, stir the sour cream into the lemon curd.
15. Transfer the pavolva to a serving platter and spoon on the lemon curd mixture.
16. Top with the strawberries and candied ginger and serve.

After making a large batch of stew, we needed more vegetables to go with the leftovers. Symbol located this in Vegetable of the Day and it was delicious! Prep was a bit tedious simply because we had a huge number of tiny carrots, so peeling them took forever, but I think it would go a lot faster with regular-sized carrots, and there's no arguing with the results - everyone loved them.

Photo goes here.

Honey-Ginger Roasted Carrots

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 66)

Ingredients

• 500g carrots or "baby carrots"
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh mint
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Peel the carrots and cut them into ~5cm lengths. Halve or quarter the thicker segments to produce a roughly uniform carrot size. If using pre-peeled "baby carrots", you can ues them as-is.
2. Melt the butter in a large bowl.
3. Whisk in the honey, ginger, salt and pepper, and mint.
4. Add the carrots and toss until well coated.
5. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and cook at 400°F until fork-tender, 40-45 minutes.
6. Stir in lemon juice, optionally garnish with additional mint, and serve.

Haleem (Minty Beef with Cracked Wheat and Lentils)

This was a while ago. Do I remember any details of the meal? I do not, except that it was tasty.

The recipe as written calls for cracked wheat and a lengthy pre-soak period. We made it with extra coarse bulgur and skipped the pre-soak, with good results. Note that even if you're making it with bulgur, there's still a long marination phase for the meat -- start early!

Haleem

660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer (p. 175)

Ingredients

• 450g stewing beef
• 30mL ginger paste
• 1mL garlic paste
• 120mL moong dal (skinned split green lentils)
• 120mL masoor dal (skinned split brown lentils)
• 120mL extra coarse bulgur
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 60mL canola oil
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 8-10 fresh green Thai chilis, stems removed, bisected lengthwise
• 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1½ tsp Kashmiri garam masala
• 120mL finely chopped fresh mint
• 120mL finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine beef, ginger paste, and garlic paste in a bowl. Toss until coated, then refrigerate, covered, for 6-8 hours.
2. Rinse the lentils, if needed.
3. In a large saucepan, combine the lentils (drained), bulgur, and 1L water.
4. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat. Skim off foam.
5. Stir in turmeric, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils and bulgur are tender, 20-25 minutes. Set aside.
6. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat.
7. Add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cardamom pods. Cook until they crackle and the cinnamon swells, ~30 seconds.
8. Add chilis and onion. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until the onion has released its liquid and begins to brown, 15-20 minutes.
9. Uncover and stir-fry until the onion is reddish-brown with purple highlights, 5-10 minutes.
10. Add the beef cubes and marinade. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, until the meat browns, 12-15 minutes.
11. Add 240mL water and the garam masala and bring to a boil.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until fork-tender, 15-20 minutes.
13. Add the lentil-bulgur mix and their liquid. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the flavours mingle, 10-15 minutes.
14. Remove from heat, stir in the mint and cilantro, and serve.

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I'd seen this recipe for salmon cakes as I was flipping through my cookbooks before. So when I saw a package of discount salmon off-cuts at the grocery store, I figured they'd be perfect for this. You can, of course, use a salmon fillet or something (as the recipe indicates). But, since you're going to be grinding it up anyway, I don't see any compelling reason not to use scraps and smaller pieces if that's what you have available.

These patties worked out quite well and were nice served over rice with a little soy sauce. Not a favourite for me, I think, but good nonetheless. I think they'd go particularly well with some braised bok choy, but stir-fried mixed veggies, steamed broccoli, or just about any other vegetable side will also work.

Salmon Cakes

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic (optional)
• 450g salmon fillet (or salmon scraps), chopped
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tsp. fish sauce
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted
• soy sauce, to serve
• sriracha or sambal olek, to serve
• lime wedges, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the ginger, green onions, and garlic in a food processor (or blender with "chop" setting). Process until finely chopped.
2. Sprinkle the salmon with the cornstarch and add it to the food processor along with the egg white, fish sauce, and salt. Process until coarsely ground. Do not over-process!
3. Divide the mixture into 4-8 equal portions (depending on how large you want your patties/cakes) and shape each into a disc.
4. If desired, cover and chill for 10-15 minutes to firm the patties up slightly.
5. Heat the oil over medium heat.
6. Add the patties and cook until browned on both sides and cooked through (~3 minutes per side).
7. Remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Serve over rice and top with soy sauce and hot sauce, passing lime wedges at the table.