CHASING GINGER TAIL

Ginger ale never tasted so damn innapproprate!

I’m the first to admit that I’ve had relations with a fire crotch. Actually more than one. More than…uh, never mind! I may have a problem. All I see is red. I probably should see a shrink about this. The red menace of the Cold War ain’t got nothing on my compulsion for banging red heads. Maybe it’s something primal like I was a bull killed by a matador in a past life. Ole my ass! At least now I get that red instead of being teased and tormented before being slaughtered for the crowd’s delight. This refreshing and aprodsiac bombshell hits the spot and lures those gingers right in. Be warned that it’s a bitch cleaning up all the red hairs gingers leave behind.

Total time: approximately 15 minutes
Projected cost: $9 (minus vodka)
Eating Buddy: just the stuffed

Ingredients
1. 2 shots of vanilla vodka (per drink)
2. 1 liter of club soda
3. 2 cups of raw cane sugar
4. 1 massive knob of ginger
5. 2 handfuls of mint leaves
6. 1 lime quartered

Step 1
First peel the ginger, and then cut it into thin round slices. Boil 2 cups of water in a stockpot on high heat, combining it with the sugar, ginger slices and half the mint leaves. Turn the heat down low and simmer to cook out all the flavor (approx 15 min). Allow the pot to cool and the ginger to steep (approx 30 min)

Step 2
Pour the liquid through a sieve into a big bowl. Use the sieve to squeeze out the flavor from each piece of ginger before discarding all the chunks. You can either refrigerate and keep for later or throw in some ice to bring the temperature down. When you serve it, pour in the club soda, squeeze in the limejuice and throw the remaining mint leaves in the bowl.

Step 3
When you are ready to get down, fill each glass with ice, pour in 2 shots of vanilla vodka and fill the glass to the brim with your homemade ginger ale. Serve it up knowing that if this can’t get you laid than you should consider a career as a eunuch.

Ginger & Serrano Steamed Roughy

This is one of our favorite quick meals, not to mention healthy. If you don’t have one already, pick yourself up a bamboo steamer – it’s the best $20 you’ll ever spend.

We use frozen orange roughy for this, but any fresh or frozen fish would work (the recipe originally called for snapper, we’ve tried tilapia as well). If you do use frozen fish, put it in the fridge the night before so it is good and thawed before you steam it.

Ginger and Serrano Steamed Roughy

Makes 2 servings.

INGREDIENTS
2 orange roughy filets
1 tablespoon medium-dry Sherry
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 piece fresh ginger, cut into matchsticks
1 scallion, cut into thin strips
2 serrano chiles, cut into thin strips
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
Assorted greens, such as spinach, kale, or bok choy.

DIRECTIONS
Arrange a bamboo steamer on top of a large saucepan and add enough water to fill pan about 1/3 of the way. Bring water to a boil. Spray bottom of steamer lightly with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Fill top layer of steamer with greens and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Score skin of fish in several places. Stir together Sherry and salt in a small bowl, then rub mixture onto both sides of fish, leaving skin side up.

Heat vegetable oil in a small skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté ginger, scallion, and chiles, stirring, until fragrant but not browned, about 30 seconds, and spoon over fish. Carefully transfer fish to bottom layer of steamer and cover tightly, then steam until fish is just cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes. Carefully remove from steamer and sprinkle fish with sesame oil. Serve fish on a bed of jasmine rice and steamed greens.

Mixed Salad with Ginger Lime Cilantro Dressing

This was a side to our main meal, but due to a little mishap with the salt (ALWAYS taste before adding more salt!), the salad ended up being the best (and only edible) part of the meal. Who’da thunk?

Mixed Salad with Ginger Lime Cilantro Dressing

INGREDIENTS
Mixed greens
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Cucumber, sliced and halved

Dressing:
1 lime, juiced
2 Tbs peanut oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp fire oil (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS
Combine all dressing ingredients in bowl. Whisk well until combined. Drizzle over greens and salad.

Roasted Shrimp, Asparagus, and Mushrooms with Ginger and Green Onion

This one was good. Quick and easy, and downright delicious. We tend to cook a lot of things sautéed on the stovetop, so roasting was a nice change of pace. Plus, Taylor loves it because he can get all of the dishes done before we even start eating. What a concept!

The recipe called for Oyster mushrooms. Which we couldn’t find. And would probably have been expensive if we had. So we used crimini instead. Portobello or even shiitake mushrooms would be delicious as well!

For the shrimp, if your shells don’t stay intact easily or you can’t get under the shells, it works just fine if you simply smother the naked shrimp with the onion mixture. Make it easy on yourself. :)

Roasted Shrimp and Mushrooms with Ginger and Green Onion

Makes 2 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
10 uncooked deveined large shrimp, shells left intact
4 ounces oyster or crimini mushrooms
1/2 lb asparagus

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 500°F. Mix canola oil, onions, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, ginger, and sesame oil in medium bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Pull off legs from shrimp. Rub most of onion mixture under shells of shrimp. Arrange shrimp in single layer on large baking sheet. Add mushrooms to remaining onion mixture in bowl; toss to coat. Arrange on same baking sheet.

Spread out asparagus on another baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in the oven at the same time as shrimp and mushrooms, or 3-4 minutes before if your asparagus is thick.

Roast shrimp until opaque in center and mushrooms until tender, about 7 minutes. Divide between 2 plates.

Ginger-Chocolate Pot de Creme

As a chef, desserts aren’t my thing. Most chefs will tell you the job of the pastry chef is too exact. Ingredients are weighed out and measured very precisely, temperatures are controlled very stringently, to be honest, it seems more like science class than actual cooking. When it comes to defection, you see many more pastry chefs crossing the line to the savory side, and being successful, than savory chefs walking around with a sugar thermometer in their sleeve pocket.

That being said, it is of the utmost importance that savory chefs have a couple of slam dunk desserts in their back pocket for any given emergency. If that means physically carrying around a recipe with you just in case, then so be it, at least you are prepared.

Ingredients for Ginger-Chocolate Pot de Creme

This Ginger-Chocolate Pot de Creme is one of my slam dunks. I think the reason I am so fond of it stems from my days as a kid eating chocolate pudding by the pint after school. That, along with heaping bowls of Stove Top stuffing, were my first culinary accomplishemnts. Yeah, they both came from a box, but the satisfaction of knowing I made them myself, of taking out the electric mixer or moms beat up old stock pot, made them that much better.

When I was working with Sean Kelly at his Aubergine Cafe in the mid 90’s (the same summer as the OJ trial), Sean did a very simple and traditional Pot de Creme. Its one of those desserts you can riff off of, throw different flavors into, but the Ginger Chocolate always stuck with me. After trying a combination of chocolate and chili and being amazed at the juxtaposition of the spicy, sweet and creamy, I wanted to find something as strong but still somewhat exotic. My wife, a pastry chef by trade, who trained in Germany is not a big fan of this dish, the flavors are very subtle and not everyone gets it, but if you do like I do, you’ll be making it often.

Ingredients:

In a large mixing bowl, place the sugar, eggs, and egg yolks and mix well.

• 8 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate (I like the Scharffen Berger 62% cacao) broken or chopped up into small pieces
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 7 egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 oz. grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Place the chocolate in a large bowl and set aside.
   

   Pour ¾ of the milk mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted.

3. In a large mixing bowl, place the sugar, eggs, and egg yolks and mix well.
4. Place the milk, ginger and cream in a heavy bottom saucepot and scald.
5. Pour ¾ of the milk mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted.
6. Temper the egg mixture with the remaining hot milk.
7. Combine both the eggs and the chocolate mixture and mix well.
8. Add the salt.
9. Strain the pot de crème batter through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.
10. Fill 8 8 oz. ramekins with 5 oz. batter.
    

    Grate ginger on the small holes of a box grater.

11. Place ramekins in a baking pan and fill with room temperature water halfway up the side of the ramekins.
12. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the center ripples but does not jiggle.
13. Remove from the oven.
14. Carefully remove the ramekins from the water and allow to cool to room temperature.
15. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.
16. These Pot de Crème be made 3 days in advance of serving.

Fill each 8 ramekins with 5 oz. batter.