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Tag: Ginger

Cocktail Syrups

Cocktail Syrups

Cocktail Syrups

 

Fennel-Orange Cocktail Syrup

 

4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons grated orange zest, plus 1 cup fresh juice (from 4 oranges)

1/4 cup fennel seeds

8 star-anise pods

Orange peel, cut into long strips, for bottling (optional)

 

Combine sugar, orange juice, fennel seeds, star anise, and 3 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, stirring until sugar is dissolved (if it begins to boil, reduce heat — boiling will make the syrup cloudy). Remove from heat; stir in orange zest. Let steep 1 hour. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large liquid-measuring cup; discard solids. Refrigerate until completely cool, 1 hour. Pour into gift bottles, adding orange peel, if desired. Syrup can be stored in bottles, refrigerated, up to 1 month.

 

 

Hibiscus Ginger Syrup

 

4 cups sugar

24 whole cloves (1 teaspoon)

1 cup julienned fresh ginger (from a 4-ounce piece)

1 ounce dried hibiscus leaves (about 3/4 cup)

 

Combine sugar, cloves, ginger, and 4 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, stirring until sugar is dissolved (if it begins to boil, reduce heat — boiling will make the syrup cloudy). Remove from heat; let steep 10 minutes. Stir in hibiscus leaves; let steep another 35 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large liquid-measuring cup; discard solids. Refrigerate until completely cool, 1 hour. Pour into gift bottles. Syrup can be stored in bottles, refrigerated, up to 1 month.

 

 

Spicy Cinnamon Syrup

4 cups sugar

24 cardamom pods, crushed (1 tablespoon)

4 cinnamon sticks

2 vanilla beans, halved crosswise

Pinch of cayenne pepper

 

Combine sugar, cardamom, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Split vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape out seeds; add seeds and beans to sugar mixture with 4 cups water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, stirring until sugar is dissolved (if it begins to boil, reduce heat — boiling will make the syrup cloudy). Remove from heat; add cayenne. Let steep 1 hour.  Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large liquid-measuring cup; discard cardamom pods but reserve cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans. Refrigerate until completely cool, 1 hour. Pour into gift bottles; divide reserved vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks among bottles. Syrup can be stored in bottles, refrigerated, up to 1 month.

 

 

Ginger Simple Syrup

 

1 cup sugar

1 piece (about 10 inches long and 4 ounces; or use several small pieces) peeled fresh ginger, cut into very thin rounds

 

Put sugar and 1 cup water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add ginger; bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes. Pour syrup through a fine sieve into an airtight container; discard ginger.  Refrigerate for up to a month.

Ginger Vinegar

Ginger Vinegar

Ginger Vinegar

 

150 gram ginger root

150 gram sugar

1 quart filtered water

 

Add 2 cups of filtered water to a jar with a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of grated or finely minced ginger. Mix everything together and cover the jar with a cloth, held in place with a rubber band, to keep bugs and dust out. Leave to rest at room temperature for 24 hours. The next day, add in another tablespoon of sugar and another tablespoon of ginger. (You can also add in a little water if you ever see that the mixture is too overrun with ginger.) Once again, mix everything together and cover it with a cloth. Leave it undisturbed for another 24 hours. Repeat the previous step each day until you get an active ginger bug. You can tell that your ginger bug is active and ready when you start to see bubbles forming at the top and a white precipitate falling to the bottom. (This normally takes around 4-8 days.) Overhead view of ginger, sugar and water turning bubbly. (An actively forming ginger bug) Once the ginger bug is ready, you can make sodas with it by mixing it with juice or mixes of water, flavoring, and sugar syrup and doing a second ferment in airtight bottles to build up carbonation. To make vinegar, add the rest of the ginger, sugar, and water and stop feeding the ginger bug. Cover it with a cloth and allow it to ferment for several weeks. Over the next weeks, it will become more acidic and less sweet. It should also begin to form a cellulose mass on the surface. This is the vinegar mother.  Once you are happy with the flavor and acidity of the vinegar, filter out the solids and bottle the ginger. It can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge.

Ginger-Honey Pork Tenderloin

Ginger-Honey Pork Tenderloin

Ginger-Honey Pork Tenderloin

 

3 T. sour cream

2 tsp. grated ginger

2 T. honey

4 tsp. salt

4 pounds (2-4 pieces) pork tenderloin

1 T. extra-virgin olive oil

 

Preheat oven to 400°F if you are planning to eat now. Combine the sour cream, ginger, honey, and salt in a bowl. Coat the pork tenderloin in the ginger-honey mixture. Place an oven-safe pan on the stove on medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil to the pan, then the tenderloin. Cook for 6 minutes, turning every few minutes so that each side browns. Move the skillet into the oven and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the internal temperature has reached 145 °F. The cook time really depends on the thickness of the meat, so start checking early if you are cooking a smaller cut. Remove from the oven and let the tenderloin rest for at least 3 minutes before carving.

Chinese Take-Out Chili Crisp Casserole

Chinese Take-Out Chili Crisp Casserole

Chinese Take-Out Chili Crisp Casserole

 

3 cup chicken broth

¼ cup black bean garlic sauce

2 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon sambal oelek

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

8 ounce lap cheong (Chinese sausage) (optional), sliced

1 pound ground pork

5 – 6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated (about 1 cup total)

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 – 3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup Shaoxing cooking wine, dry sherry, or chicken stock

6 cup coarsely chopped Napa cabbage

3 cup cooked jasmine rice

1 5-6 ounce container crunchy chow mein noodles

1 tablespoon chili crisp (stir to make sure to get a nice mix of chili and oil)

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. For sauce: In a 4-cup measuring cup whisk together broth, garlic sauce, cornstarch, honey, sambal oelek, and sesame oil. In a 4- to 6-qt. pot cook sausage (if using) over medium-high 2 minutes or until sausage is browned, some of the fat is rendered out, and the edges are dark. (There is a lot of sugar in Chinese sausage so be careful not to burn it.) Add ground pork and season with a pinch salt and a couple turns of black pepper. Cook 4 to 5 minutes or until pork is no longer pink and any liquid is cooked off. Add scallion whites, ginger, and garlic; cook 1 minute. Deglaze pot with wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid is gone. Stir sauce and add to pot. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in cabbage and rice. Transfer to a greased 13×9-inch baking dish. Cover; bake 25 minutes or until bubbly and hot. In a bowl toss crunchy noodles with chili crisp until fully coated. Uncover casserole and top evenly with noodles. Bake 10 minutes more or until noodles are toasted and a shade darker. Remove from oven; sprinkle with scallion greens. Makes 8 servings.

Lemongrass Ginger Syrup

Lemongrass Ginger Syrup

Lemongrass Ginger Syrup

Great way to make use / preserve ginger. Use for marinades, to sweeten tea or other beverages, or mix with sparkling water and lemon juice for a homemade ginger ale.

570 grams fresh ginger

3 stalks lemongrass

2 C. water

6 C. granulated sugar

 

Thoroughly wash the ginger. You don’t need to peel it, but break off any hanging pieces as dirt sometimes gets trapped between nodes. Roughly chop the ginger and lemongrass and add it to a food processor along with the lemongrass and 2 C. of water. Process until the mixture is pureed, scraping down the sides a few times with a spatula. Line a 2 C. liquid measuring C. with multiple layers of cheese cloth, or a single layer of fine-mesh muslin and scoop the ginger mixture onto the cheese cloth; you’ll probably need to do this in batches. Gather up the edges of the cloth and twist the edges towards the bulge of ginger to wring out as much liquid as you can. Discard the pulp and repeat until you’ve squeezed out all the ginger juice. You should now have 4 C. of liquid. If you don’t have 4 C., the ginger you used may have not been fresh, but just add water to make 4 C.. Add the ginger juice to a large pot along with 6 C. of sugar. Heat the mixture over medium heat to a full simmer. It has a tendency to boil over, so keep a constant eye on it and lower the temperature if it looks like it’s going to boil over. The impurities that made the juice cloudy will float to the top as foam, so use a fine mesh skimmer or spoon to remove the foam from the syrup and discard. After the foam stops forming and the syrup is clear, your ginger syrup is done. You can pour the hot syrup into sterilized glass bottles, or let it cool and transfer it to a suitable container. Stored in the fridge it will last for 6 months.