Ginger Beer

After the disastrous episode of making hard cider from scratch (came out tasting flat and very, very dry), I thought I would try my hand at making some ginger beer. I hope there is still some oomph left in the leftover champagne yeast. It's been lurking in a ziplocked bag in the fridge for about a year. This batch will presumably make 2 liters, which is good since I have two one-liter flip-top glass bottles.

If everything goes right, ginger beer in 2-3 days.

The ingredient ratio comes from The Roasted Root. 

Ingredients

1/4 c fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 c fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
1 c cane sugar (add additional 1/4 c sugar if you enjoy a sweeter ginger beer)
1 tsp active dry yeast or champagne yeast
4 cups of filtered water + 5 cups of cold filtered water
One 2-liter plastic bottle with a screw top or a 1-gallon carboy with an S-curve airlock

Directions

Start by adding ginger, cream of tartar, and lemon juice to an 8-quart stock pot. 

Add 4 cups of chlorine-free filtered water. Bring to a boil and add sugar. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add remaining 5 cups of chlorine-free filtered water.

Wait until the liquid temperature is between 75-100 degrees F. Then, add the yeast and stir.

Cover and let rest in a dark place for 3 hours. I just covered the pot with its lid and stuck it into the oven. Seems dark enough in there.

Use a fine strainer and pour liquid into a 5-quart bowl, to remove the small bits of ginger.

Use a funnel to fill the carboy. Fill airlock with water and attach to carboy. Place carboy in a dark, warm room.

Wait 2 days (sweeter), or 3 days (drier).

Once the beer has finished brewing (e.g., airlock stops releasing CO2), transfer to glass bottles with flip-top lids and store in the refrigerator. This slows the fermentation process and be careful when opening the bottles. 

Radish Kimchi

This is also known as daikon kimchi or Korean "kkakdugi", though it could probably use a lot more chili flakes for that. This recipe is from a book called Asian Pickles by Karen Solomon. When I weighed the radish, I found that I didn't quite have two pounds. I reduced the amount of salt and chili flakes for the initial ferment cycle. 

Ingredients

1 daikon radish, about 2 lbs
1 tbsp fine sea salt
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 tbsp Korean chili flakes
2 tbsp fish sauce

Directions

1. Peel and cube the radish into 1/2" pieces. Toss in a large bowl with salt and sugar. Let the water drain from the radish for 30 minutes. Drain the water and reserve the radish.

2. In the same bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine.

3. Cover with a lid and set bowl in a cool, dark corner in the kitchen. Let ferment for 1-3 days. Stir once each day it ferments.

4. Transfer pickled radish to a clean glass jar and cap. Store in refrigerator. Eat within two weeks.

Pumpkin Pound Cake

This was my favorite dessert for this year's T-Day holiday. Not only was it delicious the day I made it, it was just as tasty the next day and the next. What can I say. I love pound cake. I had a hard time spreading the sugar glaze and it seemed as though the glaze could handle a lot more liquid than what the recipe originally called for.

Pumpkin Pound Cake with a Sugar Glaze

Cake Ingredients:

3 3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 c organic pumpkin pureé
3/4 c whole milk
6 large eggs
1 1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and dust with flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, spice, baking powder and baking soda.

2. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add an egg, one at a time and beat until combined.

3. Alternate flour and milk while mixing into the egg/butter/sugar mixture until everything is combined.

4. Spoon into a prepared Bundt pan and bake for an hour. If a toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.

Sugar Glaze Ingredients:

1 1/2 c powdered sugar
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3+ tbsp whole milk

Put glaze ingredients into a bowl and whisk together with enough milk until it is thin enough to pour on top of cake. 

Pumpkin Roll with Candied Ginger

This is another dessert I made for Thanksgiving. It's also really easy to do if you're pressed on time. Party guests will enjoy the presentation of this one. Use a wet knife to cut this into 3/4" slices. Pumpkin and cream cheese go well together, candied ginger brings the element of heat and warm spice to the filling. While I only put a handful of chopped candied ginger in, I think the filling can accommodate much more...maybe up to a half cup of candied ginger? Guests who tried this only remembered the ginger after having been told there was candied ginger in the filling.

Pumpkin Roll with Candied Ginger

Cake Ingredients

3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 c canned organic pumpkin pureé
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp kosher salt or sea salt
1/2 c organic granulated sugar (can add up to 1 cup if you like sweeter cake)

Chocolate-covered Toffee

This recipe came together much easier than I thought it would. It's best if this is shared with a group of people rather than noshing on it yourself. It is a sugar, fat, and calorie-dense food item that I plated as one of the appetizers for this year's Stragglers Thanksgiving. The calorie penalty shouldn't be too bad split among 20+ guests. 

There are two stages to this. First, make the toffee. The second stage involves melting dark, semisweet or milk chocolate chips on the toffee while it is still hot. Better start with your chocolate chips at room temperature. 

Chocolate Covered Toffee

Ingredients

1 c unsalted butter, cut into chunks (melts faster)
1 c organic granulated sugar
1/4 c filtered water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Butter a 13" x 9" glass baking dish and set aside. This is so that the toffee comes out smoothly.

2. In a heavy-bottomed pot, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and bring the butter, sugar, water, and salt to a rolling boil. This should take just under 10 minutes to bring the mixture to a boil. Stir occasionally. When the thermometer reads 300 degrees F, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Total cooking time is roughly 18-20 minutes.

3. Pour the hot toffee into the prepared pan. Tilt the sides of the pan to evenly distribute the toffee. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and let this sit for about 5 minutes so that the chips melt from the residual heat. Using an off-set spatula, spread the chocolate over the toffee.

When the toffee cools, it'll set. You can hasten its cooling but setting the entire pan in the fridge to cool. To remove, invert the pan onto a cutting board or parchment paper-lined cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into bite-sized pieces.