When I was in WI last week, Masako shared some Ginger People Ginger Chews with me, and I have to say that I am absolutely smitten with them. They are so dang tasty that I am probably going to order some directly from their website. Here is the link if you want to check them out:

http://www.gingerpeople.com/ginger-chews/original-ginger-chews-3.html

They have the consistency of… a caramel? But the best part is the taste – a wonderful sweet-spicy flavor that is totally addictive (if you like ginger flavored things). I can’t wait to get more!

Sorry it’s been a while since any recipes have gone up! It’s been a crazy (but good) month of July, full of family visits and vacation. Hopefully, the schedule will be a bit calmer here in August.

So, I think that the next few recipes will focus on the garden harvest. Our little garden has been churning out a good amount of produce lately, yielding a strong crop of sugar snap peas, green beans, and zucchini. Tomatoes will be on the horizon soon, and some spaghetti squash too… which will be super tasty. But, here is an adaptation of a filipino noodle dish called “pancit”, which is similar to a lo mein you’d find at a Chinese restaurant. Enjoy!

Garden Goodness Pancit

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg chicken breast, cubed into bite size pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 med to large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ginger powder
2 med to large zucchini, cut into chunks
~1 lb fresh green beans
~1/2 lb sugar snap peas
1/4 – 1/2 cup water
1 pkg “pancit canton” noodles, or 3 packs of Ramen noodles (the squares)
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Saute onions for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 more minutes, stirring constantly so garlic doesn’t burn. Add chicken and stir frequently, cooking for another 3-4 minutes. Add veggies and ginger powder. Stir well, turn heat down to medium low, then cover and cook for about 8-10 min until chicken and veggies are cooked through. If dish is drying out, add some of the water. More liquid should be produced after you put the cover on, since it’s catching the steam.

After cooking veggies and chicken, add noodles and mix (it will be hard at first because noodles are crunchy). Cook until noodles are soft, adding liquid if needed – though not too much or else it’ll be soupy. Enjoy!

Lugaw (loo-gaw) is a chicken and rice porridge type of dish that is a staple in Filipino households. Whenever I start to feel under the weather, or when the winter chill just won’t go away, I turn to lugaw for warmth and comfort. MMMMMM!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4-5 big cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (sometimes I used the dried cracked ginger from Penzeys Spices)
1 pkg chicken thighs, drumsticks, or wings (segment the wings if needed)
6 cups water
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 tsp salt, more to taste
1 tsp ground white pepper (can substitute ground black pepper if you don’t have white)

Optional toppings:
finely sliced green onion
pepper
lemon juice
patis (fish sauce – careful, this is strong and pungent stuff!)

Directions:
Heat oil in large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, cook 3-4 min until soft. Add garlic and ginger, cook 2 minutes. Season chicken with a light dusting of salt and pepper on all sides, add to pan and brown on all sides.

Add water, stir pot, and deglaze bottom as you can. Bring to boil. Add uncooked rice, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Stir, bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 2 – 2.5 hours, stirring to make sure rice doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn (or at least not too much). Taste before serving to adjust seasoning w/salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot, topped with green onion, more pepper, 1 tbsp lemon and 1 tsp patis (if you dare!). MMMMMM.

This makes about 4 dinner sized servings.

I hope it’s ok with Alice (and if it’s not, A, just delete this post!) but I thought I’d share her gingerbread cookie recipe and include in the Wedding Gift Recipe Series. I cut and pasted the recipe text from her personal blog.

Gingerbread cookies
from the Moosewood Dessert Book, p. 184
but modified to fit my equipment and temperament

Makes 24-36 cookies

A=
2.5 c white flour
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
pinch cayenne pepper (less if you have kids with sensitive palates )

B=
1/2 c butter
1/2 c sugar

C=
1 egg
1/2 c unsulphered molasses

Sift together A in a bowl. In a separate bowl, like the one you use in your KitchenAid mixer, cream together B until light. Beat in C. Stir in A. If you’re using a KitchenAid, mix the heck out of it until it looks homogeneous – this will involve scraping off the beater a bunch of times. If you’re not using a mixer, using floured hands, push dough from sides to middle to forma ball that holds together. Cut dough in half; place one half on top of the other and push down. Repeat 3-4 times until all flour mixture is incorporated and dough forms a ball. (Easier to use the KitchenAid.) Wrap dough in plastic, and chill 30 min. (If you’re in a hurry, put the dough into a ziploc, form a rough cylinder. When you take the cylinder out of the fridge/freezer, you can slice the cookies.)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4″ thick. Using cookie cutters or the rim of a glass, cut out the cookies. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to baking sheets. Bake 10-12 min until set and lightly browned at edges. Cool on rack and serve.

Prep time: 20 min
Baking time: 10-12 min/batch
Chilling time: 30 min.

I’ve been ill. A big January cold to welcome in the new year, and my birthday (of course). I had heard that tea with honey was better for coughs than cough syrup, and so drank through my entire herbal tea collection in the space of a week. Desperate for an alternative that didn’t involve me going to the store, I called my sister who not only sent me a big huge food basket (with green tea in it!) but recommended making a tea from slices of fresh ginger.

Literally all you do: 3-4 slices of fresh ginger (a couple mms thick) in a cup with boiling water.

Take out the ginger when you’re tired of waiting.

Add honey.

It was MAAAAAAHvelous, and I now highly recommend it. Hope you’re healthy where you are!