Ginger/Red

Dinner this week you guys. WHOA. Ginger might quickly be moving its way up my list of favourite spices.

Amy was back in town this week so we let her pick the theme and she did not disappoint. Her idea was for everyone to bring a dish either containing ginger as a spice or being a ginger/red colour. These might be some of the best dishes we’ve ever had at FND; I know I probably say that all the time, but it seriously seems like our dinners get better week after week.

Our dinner was filled with lots of laughter, story-telling, cooking, exclamations about how delicious everything tasted, and we ended the evening listening to Mary and Christina play their guitars and sing some songs. FNDs never fail to be the best night’s of the week. {Have you guys seen the Olympics “forgotten” sport, ski ballet? It’s amazing and they should bring it back}

Now to the food. I don’t even know where to start, everything was mouthwateringly delicious. Amy is gluten-free, so our challenge this week was making dishes free of gluten. We killed that challenge. Mary and Amy made some ginger chicken with a side of ginger-sesame green beans. You all have to try making your chicken this way, you won’t be disappointed. Taylor made the absolute best potstickers I have ever had. I don’t want to eat them any other way. Christina got creative and made some wonderful sweet and savoury crepe roll-ups, and I made some gingerbread macarons with lemon-ginger buttercream. I’ve made macarons for the last two dinners and will probably make them again next week. I think it’s safe to say I have a problem.

Here are the recipes. Try them out, you’ll love them!

Ginger Chicken: 

Via

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds boneless chicken thighs
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. sake
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. finely grated ginger
• 1 tsp. vegetable oil
• Chopped scallions and sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions:

1. Cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces. In a bowl, whisk the soy sauce, sake, honey, and ginger together, then add the chicken. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat a frying pan over medium heat until hot. Add the oil then swirl to coat. Fry the chicken in batches. You want to get a nice brown crust, so it’s important that the chicken is in a single layer and has some space between each piece. Because there is sugar in the marinade if your pan is too hot it will burn. If the pan is too cool, water will leach out of the chicken and it won’t brown. Adjust the heat accordingly.
3. When the chicken is browned on one side, flip it over and brown the other side. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Once all your chicken is browned, use a paper towel to wipe out any extra oil, then add the remaining marinade to the pan along with 2 tablespoons of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat, and then return all the chicken to the pan. Stir, until the liquid has mostly evaporated and the chicken has a nice shiny coating of sauce.
4. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds and serve over rice.

 

Gingery Gluten-Free Potstickers:

Via

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)
• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour, plus more for rolling dough
• 1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
• 3/4 tsp. salt, divided
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 tbsp. cold water
• 3/4 pound ground pork
• 3 green onions, minced
• 1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
• 2 tsp. gluten-free soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil, divided

Directions:

1. To make the dough, stir together the tapioca, millet flour, sweet rice flour, xanthan gum, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Add the just-boiled water and stir with a fork to combine. Add the cold water and mix well until a dough starts to form. Use your hands to knead the dough together a few times–you can do this right in the bowl–and then form the dough into two balls. Transfer the dough to a large resealable bag until ready to use, up to several hours.
2. In a second bowl, combine the raw pork, green onions, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Mix well to combine.
3. To form the dumplings, dust your hands, the counter, and a baking sheet with sweet rice flour. Roll one piece of the dough into a long rope, about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 14 pieces and put them back into the resealable bag. Repeat with the other ball of dough for a total of 28 pieces. The dough will dry out quickly; make sure it stays covered.
4. Keep plenty of sweet rice flour nearby (up to 1/2 cup) for dusting the counter and the rolling pin to prevent the dough from sticking. Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten the dough into a circle with the heel of your hand. Using a small rolling pin–a small dowel works best–roll the dough into a 3- to 31/2-inch circle, turning the dough periodically to prevent sticking. (Alternately, put the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and roll it into a circle.) Transfer the dumpling wrappers to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. (If you run out of space on the baking sheet, make a second layer separated by plastic wrap.)
5. Dust a dinner plate with sweet rice flour. Spoon a scant tablespoon of filling into the center of each wrapper. Dip two fingers in a small bowl of water and run them around half the circumference of each circle. (This is so the wet side can stick to the dry side.) Life the sides, forming a half-moon shape around the filling; keep the bottom flat against your hand or the counter. Pinch the dough together at the top and then form two or three pleats along each side; press to seal. (Alternatively, if you have a dumpling press, use it to form and seal the dumpling.) Transfer the dumplings to the prepared plate. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to cook, up to 4 hours ahead.
6. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Add half the dumplings to the pan and cook until browned on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Holding the pan lid in one hand (to control splattering), add 1/3 cup water to the pan and immediately cover it. Lower the heat to low and steam the dumplings until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the lid and raise the heat to medium. Cook until the water evaporates and the bottoms of the dumplings are well browned, about 2 minutes longer. Repeat with the remaining dumplings and oil. Serve hot with a dipping sauce or a bowl of gluten-free soy sauce.

 

Crepes — Sweet & Savoury

Ingredients:

• Crepes (homemade or store-bought)
• 1 avocado, mashed
• 1 tomato, diced
• Whipped cream
• Strawberry jam

Directions:

1. Slice crepes into strips about 1-inch wide. Fill half with the avocado/tomatoes and roll up, using a toothpick to secure.
2. Roll and fill the other half with whipped cream (using a piping bag is easiest). Top with strawberry jam.

 

 

 

Gingerbread Macarons with Lemon Ginger Buttercream: 

Macarons Via
Filling Via

Ingredients:

Macarons: 

• 3 egg whites, room temperature (VERY IMPORTANT, for best results leave egg whites out overnight to “age”)
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Brown food colouring (I didn’t use this, but if you want to, feel free)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup almond flour (If you don’t want to buy this, you can put almonds in a food processor and grind to a fine powder)
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Lemon Ginger Buttercream: 

• 3 egg yolks
• 5 tbsp. sugar
• 3oz. corn syrup
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1-2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• Zest of one lemon
• Splash of lemon juice

Directions:

Macarons: 

1. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until foamy. Add salt, cream of tartar, & white granulated sugar for 8 to 10 minutes. Whip until they form a stiff peak that stands straight up. Add food coloring & mix until desired shade.
2. Sift the powdered sugar & almond flour. It’s okay if some almond pieces don’t sift through, just toss them in the garbage. You want a really fine powder to create a smooth top to your cookies. Add the spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg) & mix together with the dry ingredients.
3. Add the dry ingredients half at a time to the whipped egg whites. Fold with a spatula a total of 65 to 75 turns. Under-mixing can cause lumpy cracked cookies. Over-mixing will create flat cookies that have no feet. Go for just enough turns to not see dry powder, but it should be close to 65 to 75 turns.
4. Transfer batter to a pastry bag. Pipe out 1″ rounds (think the size of a quarter) onto parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheets (using silicone mats is preferred.) Tap the pan hard, 2 to 3 times, to release any air bubbles, which prevents the tops from cracking. Allow them to sit out for 20 to 30 minutes or even up to 1 hour to dry out & be tacky to the touch. This helps develop the feet. When they are dried out they can’t spread outwards, & will be forced to rise upward when they bake, creating the feet.
5. Bake at 300°F for 20 minutes. Do NOT under-bake even if they look done or they will stick to your tray.

Lemon Ginger Buttercream: 

1. Beat the egg yolks until fluffy. Bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil, and immediately remove from heat.
2. Pour over the egg yolks and beat at high speed until fully cooled.
3. Add the butter, a pat at a time, until fully incorporated. Finally add the ginger and lemon, to taste.
4. Pipe filling on bottom side of macaron and sandwich together (carefully, they are fragile!)

 

Happy eating, everyone!

 

Tagged: baking, cooking, crepes, food, friday night dinner, friends, fun, ginger, ginger chicken, gingerbread macarons, macarons, potstickers, sweet rice flour