Ginger

About Ginger

Because we don’t live in Hawaii (sigh), ginger grown locally needs to be harvested young. This means that this ginger is less fibrous and has no tough outer skin, which means no peeling! It also means that it is more perishable. Young ginger root can be stored in the refrigerator for 10 days in a waxed paper bag or sealed container or you can freeze it for several months. Another way you can preserve your ginger is by juicing it.

When using the frozen ginger, take it out and grate it frozen, do not allow it to thaw and put any unused portions back into the freezer. Grating the ginger just before it is needed in your cooking, enables you to brush the frozen gratings off your cutting board and none is wasted!

Don’t normally use ginger in your cooking? Here’s a few ways to try it out.

Recipes

Ginger Stout Cake

ginger-cake

from The New York Times

Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Yield: 12 servings

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 125 grams raw (Demerara) sugar (1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup stout
  • 1 cup molasses
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 340 grams all-purpose flour (2 cups)
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 210 grams dark brown sugar, lightly packed (1 cup)
  • 200 grams granulated sugar (1 cup)
  • ¾ cup safflower oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt pan well with the softened butter. Coat the entire pan with raw sugar so that it sticks to the butter. Turn the pan over to dump out any excess sugar.

Add the stout and molasses to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat. Carefully whisk in the baking soda and let cool to room temperature. Be careful as the stout mixture will bubble up.

Sift together the flour, ground spices, pepper and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the fresh ginger, eggs, vanilla extract, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed for five minutes.

Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the oil. Mix for another 5 minutes. Slowly add the stout mixture and mix for another 5 minutes.

Carefully add the dry ingredients in two parts, mixing well in between each addition.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes and then flip upside down to release while still warm. Let cool completely.

Steak with Ginger Butter Sauce

ginger-steak

from The New York Times

Cooking Time: 10 min

Yield: 4 servings

  • 1 to 1 ½ pounds boneless top blade, sirloin or rib-eye, cut into 2 or
  • 4 steaks 3/4 inch thick or less
  • 1 ½ tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the steaks, and cook until nicely browned, 1 or 2 minutes. Turn, and brown the second side, another minute or two. Remove the skillet from the heat and the steaks to a plate.

When the skillet has cooled enough so that no smoke is rising, return it to medium heat. Add butter, and when it melts, add ginger. About 30 seconds later, add soy sauce and stir to blend. Return steaks to the skillet, along with any accumulated juices. Turn heat to medium, and cook the steaks a total of 4 minutes, turning 3 or 4 times. (If pan juices dry out, add a couple of tablespoons of water.) At this point, they will be medium-rare; cook a little longer if you like, and serve, with pan juices spooned over.

Spicy Ginger Pork Noodles with Bok Choy

ginger-noodles

from The New York Times

Cooking Time: 45 min

Yield: 4 servings

  • 12 ounces baby bok choy (3 or 4 small heads)
  • 1 ounce ginger root (1 fat 2-inch-thick knob)
  • Kosher salt
  • 8 ounces rice noodles, not too thin
  • 2 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
  • 1 pound lean ground pork
  • ¼ cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • ½ cup thinly sliced scallions
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 fresh Thai or habanero chile, seeded if desired, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sesame oil, more for drizzling
  • Cilantro or torn basil, for serving
  • Black vinegar, for serving

Trim bok choy and separate dark green tops from white stems; leave tops whole and thinly slice stems. Peel ginger and finely chop half of it. Slice remaining ginger into thin matchsticks.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook according to package instructions. Drain and run under cool water; drain again.

Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook, breaking up with a fork, until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar. Use a slotted spoon to transfer meat to a bowl.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Stir in half the scallions, the finely chopped ginger, the garlic and the chile. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bok choy stems and a pinch of salt. Cook until bok choy is almost tender, about 2 minutes. Toss in leaves and return pork to skillet.

Toss noodles, remaining 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar into the pan. Cook until just warmed through.

Transfer to a large bowl and toss with remaining scallions, sesame seeds, sesame oil and herbs. In a small bowl, combine ginger matchsticks with just enough black vinegar to cover. Serve ginger mixture alongside noodles as a garnish.

Ginger Fried Rice

ginger-fried-rice

from The New York Times

Cooking Time: 30 min

Yield: 4 servings

  • ½ cup peanut oil
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • Salt
  • 2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and dried
  • 4 cups day-old cooked rice, preferably jasmine, at room temperature
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 4 teaspoons soy sauce

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup peanut oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and salt lightly.

Reduce heat under skillet to medium-low and add 2 tablespoons peanut oil and leeks. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not browned. Season lightly with salt.

Raise heat to medium and add rice. Cook, stirring well, until heated through. Season to taste with salt.

In a nonstick skillet, fry eggs in remaining peanut oil, sunny-side-up, until edges are set but yolk is still runny.

Divide rice among four dishes. Top each with an egg and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Sprinkle crisped garlic and ginger over everything and serve.

Cold Noodles with Miso, Lime and Ginger

cold-noodles-with-miso-lime-and-ginger

from Smitten Kitchen

Yield: 4 servings

  • 8 ounces buckwheat noodles
  • A mixture of raw vegetables of your choice (such as carrots, cucumbers, radishes or daikon)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons miso (red is recommend; white would be just fine)
  • 1 2-inch piece ginger, finely grated
  • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne, or to taste
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice (from about 1 lime), plus lime wedges for serving

Cook the noodles in well-salted water until tender but firm for the time recommended on your package of noodles. What, your package is only in Japanese, like mine? Most are cooked between 5 and 8 minutes, so test at 5 and add more minutes if needed.

Meanwhile, grate, julienne or thinly slice vegetables of your choice.

Drain noodles and run cold water over them to cool. Drain again, shaking out excess water.

Make the dressing by whisking the smaller amount of miso plus the remaining sauce ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust to make sweeter (with more sugar) or more intense and salty (with the last tablespoon of miso) if desired.

Divide noodles among four bowls; toss each with a tablespoon of the sauce, plus more to taste. Top with vegetables and extra droplets of sauce. Serve with lime wedges.

The leftovers won’t keep well with the sauce on. It’s best to keep it in one container and the noodles and vegetables in another, combining when needed, if you have extras.

Ginger Pork Meatballs with Coconut Broth

ginger-meatballs

from Shutter Bean

Yield: 6 servings

For Meatballs:

  • 2 pounds ground pork
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons grated ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

for the broth:

  • 1 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 fresh red Thai chiles, slit but kept intact, plus thinly sliced chiles for serving
  • 1 stalk fresh lemongrass, outer leaves removed and stalk cut into 1 inch lengths
  • finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • sugar
  • kosher salt
  • thinly sliced mint, for serving
  • cilantro, for serving
  • steamed jasmine rice, for serving

Make the meatballs:

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Form the mixture into 40 1 1/2 inch meatballs and arrange them on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake until the meatballs are golden brown and just cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the broth:

In a large saucepan, combine the coconut milk, stock, ginger, garlic, slit chiles, lemongrass, lime zest and juice, fish sauce, and turmeric. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and season with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat so the broth is simmering. Discard the lemongrass.

Add the meatballs to the broth and simmer until cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes. Season the broth with more sugar, salt and lime juice if necessary. Serve with sliced herbs and thai chiles, lime wedges and rice.

Pickled Ginger

how-to-make-pickled-ginger

from The Pioneer Woman

Cooking Time: 2 hours

Yield: 2 cups

  • 8 ounces, weight Fresh Ginger Root, Peeled
  • 1 cup Rice Vinegar
  • 3/4 cups Granulated Sugar
  • 1/4 cup Water
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Salt

Peel the ginger and slice into paper-thin strips with a mandoline slicer. Pack the ginger strips into a container with a tight lid, or multiple containers.

Pour the vinegar, sugar, water and salt into a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then immediately pour the liquid over the ginger strips. Place the lid on the container and place in the refrigerator.

Refrigerate the pickled ginger for at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days. The longer the better!

Ginger Beer

ginger-beer

from The Roasted Root

Cooking Time: 2 hours

Yield: 2 cups

  • 9 cups spring or well water
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar*
  • ¼ cup fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice**
  • 1 cup cane sugar
  • 1 teaspoon active dry yeast***

Add the cream of tartar, lemon juice and fresh ginger to a large pot along with 4 cups of the water. Bring it to a full boil.

Turn the heat down to medium, add the sugar and stir until all of the sugar is dissolved.

Add the rest of the (cold) water to the pot and allow it to cool to around 75 degrees F (23 degrees C).

Add the yeast, stir and cover the pot with a kitchen towel.

Place pot in a dark place for 3 hours.

Using a fine strainer, strain the liquid into a pitcher to remove all the bits of ginger.

Pour the brew into one clean 2-liter plastic bottle ( or 2 1-liter bottles) but do not fill up the bottle all the way because the fermentation will yield carbon dioxide, causing gases to build in the bottle.

Place the bottles in a dark, warm room for 2 to 3 days (two days if you want a sweeter ginger beer, and 3 days if you prefer a drier ginger beer).

One to three times a day, carefully loosen the caps to relieve some of the pressure (without opening the bottles all the way). Be very careful in this process and do not point the bottles at anyone’s (or your own face).

Once the ginger beer has finished brewing, store it in the refrigerator to chill. This will also slow the fermentation process.

Pour in a glass and enjoy as is, or add a splash of rum and lime juice for a Dark n’ Stormy.

Candied Ginger

candied-ginger

from America’s Test Kitchen

Garlic

Garlic Scapes

Have a Question?

email Lacey@warnerfarm.com
or call 413-665-8331

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23 S. Main Street
Sunderland, MA 01375

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