So Ina's Indonesian ginger chicken is a keeper. I forgot to take pictures after plating as usual. I made a pan full of breasts instead of whole chickens. My sweetie sucked the bones clean and then asked if there was anymore chicken because the sauce was so yummy. He never usually eats two pieces of chicken. I am now drinking my dessert. He saw me taking pictures of the gingerbread cookie martini and said "Oh dessert?" I got a picture before he grabbed it out of my hand. Ginger is good :->

Well we are getting ready to head out the door for the concert but wanted to post my picture that we had for late lunch/dinner with family. I went with Salmon and the marinade that Sharon posted. It was wonderful. The wine really made a big difference. Not too powerful but a lovely taste. I used a red Merlot that I had in the house. I did as Sharon said and decided on baking it in the marinade sauce and used that to put over Asian vegetables that I steamed. It really was nice. Thank you Sharon for sharing this recipe with me and my family as we truly enjoyed it and I will be using again. And thank you too Marilyn for the original recipe.

Lpink, sorry there's no pan size given. I think that's how the recipe was.
I make it in a 10-inch round pan; a 9-inch square pan is close to the same size.

Just finished dinner. Sorry no pics, no digital camera. The tagine was delicious and gorgeous. Great Moroccan flavors! I didn't use the garbanzo beans because I'm garbanzoed out right now, but they were kinda missed. I also didn't add the couscous because I am not a couscous fan.

I served it with roasted pepper/eggplant baked pasta. That was good although when I went to get out my feta is was all moldy, so I had to make it with parmesean--it wasn't as middle eastern as I had envisioned.

Didn't make the salad with the ginger vinagrette, but have all the ingredients so will probably make it later this weekend.

I highly recommend the tagine if you like Moroccan style flavors. I like cinnamon and raisins with my savory dishes. If the vinagrette turns out as good as everything else, this has potential to be a great party menu.

Ruthanna, your Spicy Maple Walnuts look yummy. I'm anxious to make some. Sorry your other plans didn't work out...how dare those guy's!!!!

Joan, nice to find a keeper recipe. I'll have to look at the recipe and try it.

Dixie, I'm not a big salmon eater but with that sauce I think I'd like it. Sharon always posts such good recipes.

Here's what I made ~~ Ginger Garlic Shrimp Pasta
It doesn't take long to cook, so you want to have all the prep done before you heat up the pan...

Before I added the cooked pasta

A quick pic before I dug into it. It was really good with lots of garlic and ginger. Yes, I cleaned my plate.

Ginger Garlic Shrimp Pasta

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. minced ginger
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
340 gr. shrimp (I used a 12 oz pkg of raw frozen shrimp)
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. Parsley
1/4 tbsp. Basil
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp. butter
225 grams Egg Noodle or Angel Hair Pasta (1/2 lb)

Heat oil in pan for 15 seconds.
Add ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes.
Turn shrimp and add the tomatoes and one-half of the Parsley and Basil for one minute.
Add the chicken stock and cook until the volume is reduced to half.
Add butter and cook until melted.
Add the remainder of the Parsley and the cooked hot pasta.
Mix well and serve

I made a dessert featuring ginger also. Ginger Pear Fruit Gratin with Cream Cheese Topping.

I had canned Ginger Pears last summer and was inspired to use them when I was looking through The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball.
You can use any canned or fully ripe fresh fruit.
Put 2 cups of cut up fruit in a broiler proof gratin dish.

Topping:
2 Tbsp fresh goat cheese
2 Tbsp cream cheese
2 Tbsp half-and-half
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp sugar

Combine and spoon over fruit.

Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of brown sugar over the topping.

Broil for 5-6 min or until the cheese starts to brown.
Serve immediately. Serves 4

My note, I used all cream cheese and went heavy on the brown sugar.
This was easy, fast and tasted excellent. Good way to use canned fruit. I'll try it with fresh soon as good fresh is available.

Nancy

I started early, I'd made some ginger cookies for dessert, but I made them last night, so a couple of cookies and coffee were breakfast before I went to the farm:

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When I got home, I started supper. I had the pork loin chops in the pan browning when I realized I'd forgotten to stop at the store for a pear. Should I stop now and walk up? Nah.....I substituted a Granny Smith Apple. I didn't have dry white wine so I used Moscato and I didn't have scallions so I used red onions. LOL Is it even the same recipe now? I don't know, but it was good:

I had brown rice on the side, it was really good with the sauce from the chops. And more of these for dessert:

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Mmmmm. I love ginger.

Annie

Sorry my presentations and camera are not the best

Anyone want to guess what the 'fingers' are made from?

The Ginger Chicken salad pictures didn't turn out!!!!

Here is what I cooked. If anyone wants the recipe I'll post it tomorrow. Too much sake tonight, lol.

Cantonese Spare Ribs with Oven Baked Egg Rolls

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Jessy, are those parsnips?
Everything looks so good. I didn't get to participate because I have been sick for two weeks and our mardi gras party was last night. Hopefully, next time.
Lisa

Everything looks and sounds so good.

Thanks for the Cookalong idea, Nancy. I have enjoyed trying some new ginger recipes and have a pile of them to make later. I look forward to future ingredients.

Everyone's meals look yummy!

I made the Hot and Sour Lo Mein. It was good but not as good as I recalled it being. Next time I will reduce the sesame oil and up the hot chile paste as I had to sprinkle on some chile pepper flakes to get the kick I was looking for.

Thanks Nancy this is fun, can't wait for the next ingredient.

Ruthanna I wouldn't mind having that recipe for "Indian Scrambled Eggs with Fragrant Rice and Minted Tomato Sauce." I have lots of mint left over from summer, and I am on a kick of experimenting with Indian recipes.

Roll with the punches..... I had planned a Ginger Feast for last night, but then our oldest son announced that as he was going hiking nearby this weekend, he'd like to stay overnight with us (and of course have a free dinner!!!) Hmmm.... as chicken salad isn't his favorite, we decided to go out to eat last night and I'll make the ginger chicken salad this afternoon!

So.... we started the AM with ginger scones for breakfast. They were good, but not as good as my standard recipe. Though I think I'll try swapping out some of the dried fruit in my regular recipe for the crystallized ginger.

Then we loaded up the horses and headed for a 3,000 acre wildlife management area about an 60 miles from home. After a lovely 9 mile ride (we're slowly getting back in shape after a 9 month layoff and Joe's new hip 10 weeks ago), Joe set up the lunch table....

Friday night we had a cold sesame chicken noodle dish that was sort of a "pad thaish" ginger/peanut chicken dish. Very good and there was enough chicken leftover that I made delicious wraps before leaving home with the chicken, some spinach, and a few hot and sweet pickles. For a drink we had a knockoff of Emerils gingerale which involved steeping ginger slices in boiling water, straining and then mixing with Truvia (imitation sugar) and sparkling water.... good but a little too sweet.

Here's our view from the table

We had a relaxing afternoon and Joe says to let everyone know that he really enjoyed "ginger day"! So did I and I'll report in to the WFD thread about wether we like the chicken salad. And since I still have a big hunk of ginger left, I imagine I'll have more ginger dishes in my future!
Grace

Grace, I wanna have lunch with YOU and that palamino horse you have tied to the trailer!

I agree, Jessica, those look like parsnips to me. I love parsnips, I don't know why I don't eat them more often.

Annie

Oh Nancy - that shrimp dish looks heavenly. And I think I have some canned peaches, so may make your dessert to go with our chicken today.

Mental note to self: don't forget to take pix!

Annie - please mail me some of those ginger cookies. I could use one right now...

Jessy - parsnips?

Yup roasted parnsips, to get that finger look for 'whats old and wrinkled and smells like ginger'. Anyone catch the wedding ring from a bit of green onion? Thats a soy/sake/ginger sauce.

gbsim, all I can say is *thud*! Can I go with next time?

Annie and he's a Morgan too, so I think I'd better keep an eye on him or he might disappear to Michigan??

Grace

I didn't take pictures because I wasn't organized enough, and probably chose the wrong recipe to make considering I was starting after I got home from work. Then I discovered I didn't have one of the ingredients I thought I had, so I had to wait for DH to stop and get it on his way home from work. Sigh. But I made Ruthanna's Firecracker Red Beans, and they were delicious! I did think ahead enough to soak the beans over night and get them in the slow cooker yesterday morning, so they were done by the time I got home from work. Thanks, Ruthanna, for a new recipe and a new way to make beans. DH really liked them, and so did I. In addition to the beans, I made a double batch of the rice I'm going to use for the squash dish I'm making today to take with us on our trip, so we had the brown rice and some simple cooked spinach on the side. I figured that with the beans being heavily seasoned, a simple side dish was in order.

This has been fun.

Sally

I am marinating the pork tenderloin right now. We are also having a spinach, orange, onion salad with ginger honey dressing. Dessert will be gingered pears and ginger cookies. Is that ginger enough for you??
I won't have the pictures posted by 6:00 since we are eating at 6:00, so don't worry about me being in the drawing for the next ingredient.
This is my first virtual meal!

Glad you enjoyed them, Sally. The recipe is from Mollie Jatzen's "Vegetable Heaven" and her other bean recipes in the book are great. Here's one I make a lot and I forgot that it has ginger in it too.

BLACK BEANS IN MANGO SAUCE

1 1/ 2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups minced red onion
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 3-inch jalapeno chile, seeded and minced
1 1/2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp. salt
About 6 cups cooked black beans (or 3 15-ounce cans, rinsed and drained)
6 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 large ripe mangoes, peeled and minced
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet. Add 1 3/4 cups of the onion, and the garlic, chile, ginger, cumin seeds, and salt. Saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and add the beans and about half the lime juice. Cook for about 5 minutes more until the beans are heated through and then transfer to a bowl.

Stir in the remaining lime juice and about half of the chopped mangoes directly into the hot beans, mashing the mangoes a little as you stir. Grind in some black pepper, then cove and let stand for about 15 minutes to let the sauce develop.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or even cold, topped with the remaining red onion and mango, and some minced parsley or cilantro, if desired.

Good served with plain cooked white or brown rice.

Lpink, Ill add that recipe to this thread as soon as I get it typed out. Its a long one.

Since our brunch plans went kaput, I ended up making some poached butterflied shrimp. DH loves any type of seafood cooked in this broth. I added more broth to the bowl after I took the picture.

HOT & SOUR POACHING BROTH

1 quart chicken broth
1/4 cup honey
3 Tbs. tomato paste
2 1/2 Tbs. cider vinegar
12 quarter-size slices peeled fresh ginger, cut into thin strips
1/4 tsp. hot sauce

Bring all ingredients to a boil; then lower heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Add shrimp or fish and simmer with the lid on until nearly done. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for about 2 or 3 minutes. You can add julienned vegetables to the broth (I used snow peas and white mushrooms) and sprinkle the seafood with soy sauce and refrigerate to marinate about 1/2 hour before cooking. Garnish with chopped scallions including the green parts and fresh parsley or cilantro before serving. Add minced garlic to the broth when poaching mussels.

Alrighty - Sunday dinner is now over. The chicken was very moist and tasty. I made rice pilaf and sauteed some green beans in sesame oil and added fresh garlic & lemon zest and sesame seeds. Just a simple chicken dinner, but very good.

Here are the pics of the Asian Plum-Glazed Roasted chicken (before & after cooking):

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Doesn't it all look so good! Love those shrimp dishes and Ann's halibut. I also shop at Thrifty's when I'm on Vancouver Island, as does my daughter there.
Looks like a nice simple ginger sauce for the fish.

I went with what I know we both love....the recipe I made to copycat a dish I had in a restaurant in Canada last summer. Teriyaki Chicken Tenders with Stir Fried Vegetables over Rice, the recipe I posted on the first ginger thread, but using Marilyn's Gourmet sauce which is so similar to a teriyaki sauce. We both enjoyed it again and Wolf said he could eat it every day. The flavours just go so well together. So I had to do mine today (Sunday) because we were out on Saturday. Here it is:

There's a bit of everything left over so tomorrow we'll have it as a late supper.

SharonCb

The best laid plans...

We were all set for our ginger dinner, but were called into emergency babysitting duty. I didn't think Chicken with Spicy Cashew-Ginger Sauce would be a real big hit with the two-year-old granddaughter. The chicken got turned into Chicken with Rice, and we'll have to save the Spicy Cashew-Ginger Sauce for another day :-(

Just to clarify something....

Everyone who has posted to either ginger thread #1 or this thread will be in the drawing. Pictures of dinner, not required!
The only change I've made along the way is to extend the qualifying time to midnight, so that everyone has time to post.

Please check this thread Monday...you may be the one that needs to name the next focus ingredient! :)

Nancy

I only made a half-recipe of the sauce and rice and the only change I made was to use less salt than in the recipe. The sauce was very good not as spicy as I thought it would be. I ended up using it to top microwaved spaghetti squash and it would be perfect with eggplant. The rice looked so pretty with the red lentils. If you use the grey lentils, I think youd have to precook them instead of just the boiling water soak. (Lpink, Elias Market has the best price on red lentils.) It sounds like a lot of ingredients but once I had everything chopped up and measured out, it was easy to make.

INDIAN SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH FRAGRANT RICE AND MINTED TOMATO SAUCE

MINTED TOMATO SAUCE
2 Tbs. butter
4 cups coarsely chopped onions
4 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp. tumeric
1 ¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 (20 oz.) can crushed tomatoes (2 1/3 cups)
¼ cup chopped fresh mint (omit mint if fresh is not available)

FRAGRANT RICE
½ cup red lentils
¼ cup butter
1 ½ cups chopped onions
1 ½ tsp. curry powder (I used Penzeys Maharajah blend)
2 ¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp.pepper
1 ½ cups white rice
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 ¼ cups water

SCRAMBLED EGGS
16 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 ½ tsp. sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
½ lb. butter
2 ¼ tsp. minced fresh ginger
½ cup sliced scallions

MINTED TOMATO SAUCE
Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and curry powder and saute until the onions are tender. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, tumeric , and salt and cook 2 minutes. Add the pepper, crushed tomatoes, and mint. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very thick. Set aside.

FRAGRANT RICE
Pour boiling water over the lentils to cover by an inch and let soak 15-30 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and saute until tender. Stir in the curry powder, salt and pepper. Add the rice and saute 2-3 minutes. Add the lemon juice and water, cover, and cook about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add the reserved lentils, stir and cover tightly. Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve (or cool and reheat later).

SCRAMBLED EGGS
Have the tomato sauce hot. Combine the eggs with the seasonings. Cut the cream cheese in bits into the eggs. Melt the butter in a 12" skillet (or use two 9" skillets). Add the ginger and saute 1 minute. Add the eggs and cook until barely set. At the last minute, stir in the scallions. Serve at once accompanied by the sauce and rice.

Note from Frog/Commissary Cookbook: A beautiful dishrich, fragrant, gently spicy, a medley of textures and seasoningsin itself a reason to invite friends in for brunch. On Sundays at The Commissary, we often serve the dish arranged in a long casserole to resemble a brilliant striped flag with the vibrantly red sauce separating the golden eggs from the lentil-dotted rice. If you prefer, make the sauce and rice ahead of time and reheat them before serving.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. there are some delicious looking meals here!

My measly little contribution is a plate of gingersnaps!

I hate to post pix. I am NOT a photographer. Besides, the food did not look that great, but it tasted awesome. I invented the dressing for the salad, and Roger loved it better than any dressing I have ever made. He said, It's even better than store bought dressing. Duh..Snort.
So here are my carpy pictures. Truly folks, the food tasted awesome. Just doesn't look great.

[IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b189/sheshebop/Ginger%20Challenge/007.jpg[/IMG]

We had surprise company stop by on their snowmobiles yesterday afternoon up here at the lake. Nice, but their visit came during the time I had alloted for unpacking & figuring out how to use my new camera. When they left I was running late for preparing dinner, so I'm sorry to say I have no pics to post.

I chose something from Fine Cooking Volume 2. It's beautifully photographed on Page 232. I'll see if I can scan & post it later when I'm home.

The recipe was great. I'm glad we did this ginger dinner that prompted me to try it out.

Peanut-Crusted Tilapia with Frizzled Ginger & Scallions

Serves 2

1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 med. scallions, cut lengthwise into fine matchsticks (about 1/4 cup)
One 2 x 1/4-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks (about 1/4 cup)
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1/2 cup salted peanuts, finely chopped
2 skinless tilapia fillets (about 4 oz. each)
4 teaspoons seasoned rice vinegar, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

In a 10-12" heavy, nonstick skillet, heat oil over med-high heat till hot. Add the scallions and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until just golden, w/ some green still visible on the scallions, 2-4 minutes.

Remove the skillet from heat and with a slotted spooon, transfer the vegetables to paper towels to drain (leave oil in the skillet). Toss ginger & scallions lightly w/ salt.

Line up 3 wide, shallow dishes. put flour in the 1st, beat egg in the 2nd, put the peanuts in 3rd. Season tilapia w/ salt. Dredge one fillet in the flour. Shake off excess. Dip fillet in the egg, then coat it w/ peanuts. Set on plate & repeat w/ second fillet.

Reheat the oil in the skillet over med-high heat. Add fillets & cook till golden on each side and flesh is opaque & cooked through, 3-4 mins. per side (reduce heat if they brown too fast).

Place the tilapia on dinner plates, sprinkle w/ the rice vinegar & pepper to taste, top w/ the frizzled vegetables and serve immediately.

** My Note** I doubled the recipe and served w/ basmati rice and carrot coins w/ butter & parsley.

I will definitely make this dinner again!

Sherry, your dinner photos look great! Not carpy at all.

Everything and I mean everything really does look great! As I said earlier, we really enjoyed our meal last night and I'm looking forward to trying a few of these others.

I think this will be a great way for everyone to try out some new and maybe not so new interesting ways to use a certain spice or ingredient.

Thanks Nancy for organizing it!

Finished making dinner and then company showed up, so I will post pictures tomorrow.

For dinner I made Pork tenderloin medallions with chinese ginger and lemon sauce, green beans with walnut-miso sauce,and pineapple and shrimp fried rice. The whole meal was fantastic, with not a spoonful leftover. Will definately be making all three again.

Loved seeing what everyone else made, your meals look fantastic!

Shelley S.

Everyone's dishes look lovely. I made a butternut squash/ginger bisque for my new dish. I wasn't very pleased with it, though my dh liked it well enough. I thought it was way too thick for me. Next time I will double all ingredients except the butternut. This was fun!
Judi

I hope everyone had even half as much fun as I did.

I just drew the name for the next cookalong...

Joanm....are you watching? You're it!

Please choose the next ingredient focus...just post it here ASAP and I'll set up the new thread.

Our next cookalong weekend will be February 14th

Nancy

I'm here. Now I just have to decide if I want to be perverse or choose the obvious ingredient. Hhhmmmm.

Give me a minute to decide.

Take your time....no pressure :)

Here's my photo of my dinner as promised along with the recipes.

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(these looked gross but were soooo good)!
Green Beans With Walnut-Miso Sauce
Yield 4 servings

Time 20 minutes

Adapted from Yumiko Kano

Summary
Light (white) miso is the mildest you can find, but the darker misos work well here also.

Ingredients
Salt
10 ounces green beans, strings removed
1 inch-long piece ginger
2 tablespoons light (sweet) miso
1/2 cup shelled walnut meats
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce, or to taste

Method
1. Bring pot of water to a boil and salt it; blanch beans in water until they are bright green and just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water, then drain again. Place in a serving bowl.
2. Grate ginger over bowl, then place in small fine strainer and press out juice, about a teaspoon. Combine ginger juice with miso, walnuts, 2 tablespoons water and soy sauce in blender and blend until smooth, stopping machine and scraping down sides if necessary. (You may add a little water or soy sauce if mixture is too thick.)
3. Toss beans in sauce, and serve at room temperature.

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Chinese Ginger and Lemon Sauce

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut crosswise into (1/2-inch-thick) slices
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preparation
Combine first 3 ingredients, and rub evenly over pork.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan, and cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove pork from pan, and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium. Add 2 tablespoons onions, ginger, and garlic to pan; cook 2 minutes or until fragrant, stirring constantly. Combine sherry and next 5 ingredients (through soy sauce) in a small bowl. Add sherry mixture to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes or until pork is done. Remove pork from pan using a slotted spoon, reserving liquid in pan.

Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add cornstarch mixture to pan, and bring to a boil. Cook 30 seconds or until slightly thickened. Serve over pork. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup green onions.

Yield
4 servings

Pineapple Fried Rice

Although most are familiar with Pad Thai (a savory rice noodle dish, lightly fried with scrambled eggs, vegetables and sprinkled with ground peanuts), pineapple fried rice ranks up there as one of the signature dishes of Thailand. Piling the rice high in a hollowed out pineapple shell brings a festive atmosphere to the simplest meal. Fried rice is also a wonderful way to use leftover steamed rice. But, please, don't use canned pineapple...........it's just not the same!

Serves 4

2 1/2 cups cooked Jasmine or long grain rice (cooled & fluffed with a fork)
1-2 tablespoons oil
1 cup fresh shrimp (or as many as you like)
100g chopped fresh pineapple
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 cloves of garlic, cut finely
2 spring onions, chopped finely
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (or as needed)

Put the oil in a wok or large frying pan and fry the garlic with the shrimp over medium high heat. Then add spring onion and 1 cup of the cooked rice. Mix well. Add the remaining rice and stir well. Add fish sauce and pineapple and mix gently until all ingredients have been fried together. When ready to serve, fill the pineapple shell with the rice and garnish with coriander leaves.

The CuliThe Culinary Chase's Note: I usually end up adding more fish sauce (about 1 tablespoon more) as I find it adds the right kind of saltiness to offset the sweetness of the pineapple

Thanks Nancy, this was fun!

Shelley S.

So many wonderful ways to use Ginger.

There are a number of recipes I want to try. Joanm's Indonesian Chicken, Trsinc's oven baked egg rolls, Sharon's Hot and Sour Lo Mein, Annie's cookies, Ruthanna's soup and Indian Scrambled Eggs with Fragrant Rice, Sherry's Pork (your pictures are not crappy),just to mention a few and so many more.

Nancy, thank you so much for organizing this.

Ann

OK. I talked it over with a few co-workers and we decided not to go with the obvious (chocolate) since many people would receive that as a gift.

So now even though it is Valentines day I am going to pick my favorite ingredient in hopes of gathering some yummy recipes.

The next cookalong ingredient is... GARLIC

Garlic on Valentines Day!!! you are evil!!! LOL

PS Thank goodness you didn't do chocolate......we would all probably have had that in there somewhere anyhow!

Shelly...great dinner, I can't wait to make the Pineapple Fried Rice.

My pleasure Ann. I've really been having fun.

Sharon, my thought exactly!

oops...I meant to add the link for the next thread

trsinc, Could you please post your recipe for oven baked egg rolls?

And while you're at it, trsinc, the ribs too please!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to participate. This thread is killing me - everything looks SO good! So much to try from these two threads!

Nancy,
I hope you pop on here again.... I forgot to say THANKS for organizing the cookalongs!!!!!!!

Grace

My pleasure Grace, so glad you enjoy.

I don't usually write out formal recipes, so please let me know if anything is unclear.

********************************************************************************************

My egg roll filling differs every time, but I did pay attention to how much of what I used when I made the ones above. I usually add left over shredded pork or chicken and omit the mushrooms. Here goes:

BAKED EGG ROLLS

Pre-made (store bought) egg roll wrappers
2/3 of a large head of cabbage - shredded
2 carrots - shredded
2 large cans of sliced mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 one inch piece of fresh ginger, minced (it could have used more)
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Hot pepper flakes to taste

Shred cabbage and carrots in food processor. Saute ginger and garlic in cooking oil. Add cabbage, carrots, hot pepper flakes and mushrooms and cook until tender. Add soy and sesame oil. Set aside to cool with pan tilted, or cool in a colander so that any liquid can drain off.

Brush one side of egg roll wrapper with oil of choice (peanut, corn, canola, light olive). Flip wrapper over with the un-oiled side up. Fill and roll. Place seem side down on cookie sheet. Bake in a 450 degree oven until golden and crispy. Turn them a few times so that all sides touch the pan at some point.

This made 17 egg rolls. They do come out crispy but the wrapper is flaky, kind of like philo but not so fragile.

*********************************************************

The recipe for the ribs was from Saveur, but I changed it a bit. I didn't like the sound of their cooking method and I don't think it would have worked right. I didn't change the marinade ingredients (except for omitting scallions) and we really enjoyed the flavor. I'll put the link for the original below.

CANTONESE SPARERIBS

These Cantonese ribs marry honey's sweetness and the mellow bite of ginger with complex spices and succulent pork. The Chinese use a sand pot to slow-cook ribs; look for one in your local Asian specialty store.

3 lbs. baby back pork ribs
2 tbsp. corn oil
1 1⁄2 tbsp. ginger, peeled and mashed into a paste
2 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste
3 tbsp. Chinese rice wine
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. five-spice powder
3 tbsp. honey
4 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 tsp. cornstarch

Saute ginger and garlic in oil until fragrant. Combine the rest of the ingredients - excluding the corn starch - and add the garlic and ginger to this as well. Marinate ribs in this mixture for 2 hours, turning ribs after one hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove ribs from marinade and place in a baking dish with sides. Bake uncovered until fork tender, turning a few times. The ribs will exude a lot of liquid.

While ribs are cooking, boil the marinade vigorously for 20 minutes and reduce a little. Add cornstarch and cook down to a thick syrup consistency. Taste at this point. If it is too sweet add a little more cider vinegar (I did).

When ribs are done, move them to a different pan or pour off any liquid that is in the baking dish. Spoon sauce over the ribs and pop back into the oven for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is sticky and shiny.

I'm tagging along here to report back on that Gingered Rice and Apple Stuffed Squash recipe I wanted to try. I posted the recipe on the first Ginger thread. Well, it has potential, but my effort was a failure. It's a long story, but the gist of it was that the squash I chose just never would cook. I baked it much longer than the recipe called for, but ran out of time. I tried to put the whole dish together according to directions, but in the end, it was difficult to eat because the squash just wasn't cooked enough, and was tough. The flavor was good, and I may try it again with a smaller squash ( I chose a large butternut squash). The other disappointment was that it was an ugly dish. All that being said,, I'm going to work on this and tweak it, to try to make it look better and be easier to eat. It certainly was tasty.

Sally

Thanks for posting, Trsinc :- )

A follow up note from me that the Ginger Chicken Salad that I posted up earlier in this thread was awesome!! I wound up making a day later so didn't do pics on the thread. I roasted the chicken instead of broiling it as the recipe called for. Also added a little more lime juice. 1/2 the recipe was adequate to serve 4 as a main dish. Very tasty!!