Jan
22
What’s the best way to peel ginger?
The easiest way to peel ginger is to press the edge of a spoon just underneath the skin of a knob of ginger. Pull down and away in long pieces. This may sound strange but this trick is the best way to remove the peel without losing a lot of juicy ginger and you can get into the nooks and crannies around the little knobs without snapping them off. See below:
When grated, this little 2 x 1 in. (5 x 2.5 cm) knob will give you about 2 tbsp (30 mL) of freshly grated minced ginger — a perfect amount for your next stir-fry. What do you use ginger in?
Holiday season is over. Whew! But that doesn’t mean the end of entertaining. January is the perfect time to host a get together with friends — no one has any plans, and also, let’s face it, going outside in the cold right now is such a chore. Tonight I’ll be prepping for a laid-back get together that I’m hosting tomorrow night. Why have guests on a work night? The new Kids in the Hall series is debuting tomorrow night at 9pm on CBC. I’ve always been a big fan of the Kids in the Hall and am excited to also celebrate that one of my nearest and dearest, Scott McCallum, has a part in the series. (Lucky guy!) A group of us are going to get together to watch the show and enjoy some comfort food. I’m going to keep it simple and prepare two of my go to Chatelaine recipes — our unbelievably good Celebration lasagna and Classic Caesar salad.
http://food.chatelaine.com/Recipes/View/Celebration_lasagna
Here’s a link to a video. For the recipe, click on the PDF link beside it. http://en.chatelaine.com/english/video/food/article.jsp?content=20080506_135654_10760
Stay tuned: I’ll post photos of the delicious and cheesy results on Wednesday.
Here is a shot of the turkey my Step Dad, David, is preparing right now. He’s roasting it in advance so it can be done then transported to the family Christmas dinner. The best part? It’s bacon wrapped. The turkey-breast skin tore slightly so David wrapped it in bacon. I think this is a great trick and a perfect match for his apple stuffing.
I’ll post the finished product very shortly.
Happy holidays!
Chatelaine’s Assistant food editor, Lyn Chua recently visited Halifax and surrounding area. She had lots of great food experiences and thought she’d share one of the many highlights. Check it out:
I toured Halifax and the Annapolis Valley in mid-October and was dazzled by the vivid fall colours as well as the thriving cottage industries in and around the valley. One of my favourites was The Tangled Garden, a fairy-tale cottage that serves as home, shop, gallery and production kitchen for its owner Beverly.
While we couldn’t tour the garden or see the pond or the wildflower labyrinth, I peeked through the windows and spotted a quince tree, colourful bushes and otherworldly looking shrubs that evoked the Secret Garden.
Inside, Beverly (below) offered generous pats of lemon thyme jelly on crackers for visitors to taste. It was so delish, I bought a jar. I liked her liqueurs too so on impulse, I selected the Radiant raspberry liqueur. I have since added it to a rum ball recipe http://food.chatelaine.com/Recipes/View/Boozy-holiday-rum-balls and a chocolate cake.
All the herbs and fruit in her jellies, jams, chutneys, mustards, vinegar and honey are either from her magical garden or from the local farms. If you’re a last minute shopper still looking for unusual gift ideas or stocking stuffers, check out her website: http://www.tangledgarden.ns.ca/products.htm
Here are a couple more shots inside the Tangled Garden:
Stay tuned for my next guest blog: I toured Halls Harbour Lobster Pound, in the Bay of Fundy, where I learned how to put a lobster to sleep – no kidding. I’ll be back to tell you more about this meaty crustacean in February when lobster season begins.
Drinking hot apple cider gets me into the holiday spirit. I just enjoyed some cider that Philina Chan made for the staff here at Chatelaine. Philina is the art designer who puts together all of our wonderful food layouts for our magazine. Her presentation of the apple cider was great. Philina poured the different versions of homemade, hot apple cider into beautiful glass bottles (from Ikea) and labeled them with pretty gift tags. I think this is a lovely idea for a Christmas or New Year’s Eve party. Take a look:
