Category Archives: Ginger

Spread It Around & Food Gal Contest

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(From top to bottom): Golden Flaxseed Spread, Savory Flaxseed Spread, and Lemony Flaxseed Spread.

Mayo, mustard, and tapenade.

Been there, ate that.

If you’re looking to spice up your sandwiches with new flavor and flair, look no further than Laxmi’s Delights flaxseed spreads.

Made by Bay Area cookbook author Laxmi Hiremath, who wrote “The Dance of Spices” (Wiley), the three organic spreads are made with flaxseed, a plant source high in good-for-you omega-3 fatty acids.

Hiremath sent me a sample to try. There are three flavors: Lemony Flaxseed Spread with Ginger and Honey; Savory Flaxseed Spread with Sun-Dried Tomatoes; and Golden Flaxseed Spread with Dates and Orange Juice.

Hiremath created these bold-tasting spreads to smear on Indian flatbreads. But they also work well on your favorite sandwiches, as stir-fry sauces, marinades for fish, and flavorings for all manner of vegetable dishes.

Organic spreads with bold flavors.

The Lemony Flaxseed Spread is tangy, sweet, and spicy with the bright sunny notes of citrus. The Savory Flaxseed Spread is like Italian meets a little bit of India. Sweet, plump sun-dried tomatoes get an earthy complexity from Indian spices. The Golden Flaxseed Spread is a cross of Middle Eastern and Indian flavors. A little sweet and a little savory, this quite thick sauce has the lovely, deep, concentrated flavors of orange peel and sticky dates.

One tablespoon has 30 to 100 calories, depending on the particular spread. The sun-dried tomato spread has 10 grams of fat, while the other two have just 1 gram each.

Each 7-ounce jar is $9.99. If you’d like to try them, Hiremath has a deal for you: If you order three jars, she’ll waive the cost of shipping, if you mention you read about the spreads on FoodGal.com. Just go to the “contact” page on the Laxmi’s Delights site to order by sending her an email or calling.

Even better, one lucky Food Gal reader also will win the grand prize of three free jars of the spreads (one of each type).

How?

By spreading it on, so to speak.

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Giving Thanks for a Non-Pie Pumpkin Dessert on Thanksgiving

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A pumpkin dessert that's not pie.

I love all things pumpkin — except pie.

Forgive me my idiosyncrasy with this hallowed squash.

Many of you already know I won’t ever turn down pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins or any savory pumpkin dish. But if pumpkin pie comes to the table, I’d just as soon pass. I think I find it just too dense and one-dimensional.

Yet, I still enjoy the autumn taste of pumpkin and I know it rightfully deserves a place on the festive Thanksgiving table.

That’s why I’m always elated when I find a lovely pumpkin dessert recipe that is not pie.

“Crema di Zucca” or “Creamy Pumpkin Custard” stars pumpkin in the form of creamy, smooth individual puddings that get dolloped with whipped cream and boozy golden raisins.

The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, “Dolce Italiano” (W.W. Norton & Co.) by Gina DePalma, pastry chef of Babbo restaurant in New York.

Cream cheese, mascarpone, and egg yolks give the batter luxuriousness and a fluffier texture than pumpkin pie filling. Pulverized crystallized ginger gives it a special little kick.

The golden raisin compote gets its sweet, grown-up taste from orange juice, sugar, butter and rum.

The custards bake in a water bath, then are chilled before serving.

The original recipe calls for chilling the custards for at least four hours, before inverting them onto individual plates. Try as I might after that allotted time, though, I couldn’t get my custards to release from the ramekins.

The custards after being baked, then chilled overnight.

I conferred with DePalma via email, who noted that at the restaurant, they actually chill the custards overnight. She thought that might make them firmer and easier to remove from the ramekins.

So I waited overnight, and tried again. And what do you know — it worked this time. The custards were indeed firmer. I ran the tip of a knife around the edge of each custard, then let the ramekins sit in a bowl of very hot water for a few seconds, as DePalma also had suggested. Then I placed a small plate over a ramekin, turned it over, and gave it one big shake, which helped release the custard onto the plate. Voila!

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Memorable Ginger Cafe

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Lamb with steamed buns -- a dish I would go back for again and again.

For two years — as long as it’s been in existence — I’ve driven past the Ginger Cafe on El Camino Real in Sunnyvale.

Yes, driven right past from the get-go, not stopping at all to collect a mere whiff or a taste.

Yup, me, a bonafide ginger fiend had never stepped foot inside this pan-Pacific Rim eatery.

Go figure.

Fortunately, when owner Tuyen Chung invited me in for dinner last week, I finally atoned for that faux pas.

Good thing, too, because I’d really been missing out.

Chung, who immigrated to the United States as a teen-ager by way of mainland China and Hong Kong, started cooking with his mother at her restaurant more than 25 years ago. In 2004, he opened his first Ginger Cafe in Gilroy. In 2007, he followed suit with the Sunnyvale locale.

The comfortable, well-lighted restaurant, decorated with Asian art work, serves up a mix of Asian street food and classics — often done up with Chung’s inventive, modern takes. For instance, a spectacular platter of lamb sauteed with caramelized onions gets a dusting of grated Parmesan cheese, and is served with pillowy, steamed, clam shell-shaped buns. And boy, does it all work together perfectly.

Crunchy soft-shell crab with irresistible panko bread crumbs.

Fried Fongsa soft-shell crab is fragrant and tinged yellow from cumin. It gets tossed with crispy, chile-tinged Panko crumbs that are dynamite mixed with plain steamed rice. It’s like a traditional Chinese version of salt-and-pepper fried Dungeness crab. But Chung noticed that many Americans don’t like to get their fingers dirty when eating, so he substituted soft-shell crab instead. Eat the shell and all using chopsticks and there’s no mess whatsoever. Genius.

Dumplings filled with shrimp and bok choy.

Shrimp and calamari atop crisp shrimp chips.

Dim sum is served all day. We tried the shrimp-bok choy dumplings, which were delicate, with plump whole shrimp in them.  An appetizer of shrimp and calamari atop fried shrimp crackers is a two-bite treat heady with green onions and fried shallots that would make a great cocktail party snack.

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A Profusion of Pears and Spices

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Autumn pears star in these cheesecake-like bars.

That’s just what you’ll find in these creamy-dreamy “Pear Cream Cheese Bars with Macadamia Nut Crust.”

They’re potent with ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon and coriander — a whole teaspoon of each. Whoa!

The fact that they’re so spice-heavy shouldn’t come as a surprise — not when the recipe comes from a cookbook with the name, “The Spice Kitchen, Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices” (Andrews McMeel) by Sara Engram and Katie Luber with Kimberly Toque. Engram and Luber have their own line of spices. And Toque was an assistant test kitchen chef at Lawry’s.

My friends who sampled the bars found the amount of spice overwhelming. I didn’t mind the pronounced flavor, except that it did make it very hard to actually taste the pears in these treats.

Next time, I think I would cut the amount of spice in half, which is how I’ve adapted the recipe below. Feel free to cut the spice amounts even more if you prefer.

The bars have a great interplay of textures — a crisp, nutty cookie foundation, then an almost cheesecake-like middle, followed by slices of fresh pears, and a quite sweet, thick layer of crunchy streusel on the very top. The flavor is reminiscent of a heady pear spice cake in a whole different guise.

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Soulful Chicken and Dumplings

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Dig into a big bowl of heavenly chicken and dumplings with chanterelles.

Chicken and dumplings is like a big ol’ hug.

Like some hugs, this dish can be awkward and unsatisfying. You know the type of hugs I mean — the ones where you’re not quite sure if you should be giving or getting, and the resulting mash-up of bodies just leaves both parties scratching their heads in “What was that?” Yeah, I’ve had some chicken and dumplings like that — with dry chicken and leaden dumplings, where you take a bite and wonder, “What the heck is this? And why am I eating it?”

Then there are hugs that wrap you in a cocoon of warmth and security, that feel so right you never want to let go. New Orleans Chef John Besh’s “Chanterelles, Chicken, and Dumplings” is that kind of perfect hug.

It’s from his new cookbook, “My New Orleans: The Cookbook” (Andrews McMeel).

It’s a modern, slightly spiffed up version of this classic down-home dish that will comfort you even if you need no comforting at all.

Skinless, boneless chicken thighs are brined for an hour to ensure they’re extra juicy, so plan accordingly when making the dish.

Lovely chanterelles add a magical touch to this dish.

The chicken pieces cook on the stove-top in a broth infused with aromatic ginger, garlic, shallots, thyme and sage. A big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes adds a touch of heat that really helps warm your bones on a chilly evening. Golden chanterelle mushrooms and peas (I used frozen at this time of year) add color and depth. A knob of butter adds richness (Hey, it’s a Southern dish, after all).
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