Gingerbread And Gingersnaps

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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Holiday Baking With Littles

I’ve always loved to celebrate special events and times but over the years (ok, fine; decades), my ideas about what makes a holiday delightful have changed a much as I have myself. Though glitz and glitter generally leave me chilly, I must admit that receiving an astonishing surprise birthday cake in triple-toned, puffy frosting with edible glitter on top was kind of a game changer. Really, that amazing cake!

My grandkids (now 5 and nearly 3) love to bake, and we make bread of some kind nearly every week. I’ve developed several kid-proof bread recipes that can take over zealous kneading and pummeling or almost no kneading in stride, and we usually make bread dinosaurs and bread bunnies and bread asteroids as well as lots and lots of cinnamon rolls. However, after reading some favorite books about Scandinavian children’s holiday activities this weekend, they decided we should make gingerbread.

Sculptable Gingerfolk

When my kids were little, I developed a recipe for gingerbread that was sort of like play dough; instead of rolling out flat and using cookie cutters, kids could roll balls of dough for heads and bodies and roll little logs for arms and legs. My original recipe used soft butter, but since my granddaughter is dairy sensitive, I swapped for avocado oil, which has a light but subtly butter flavor. I also use a flour blend, because while using whole wheat pastry flour alone gives cookies a very tender crumb, it tends to make for overly dry baked goods. A half-and-half blend works fine and lends a richer flavor to pretty much anything. I imagine this recipe would also work with a gluten-free flour mix but you’d need to add water carefully to get the right consistency.

Decorations can be made with raisins or currents (smaller, thus better for buttons and eyes) as well as various revolting little hard candies which always look better than they taste. You can of course frost these, glaze them with a brushable mixture of lemon juice and powdered sugar, or eat them plain. Alas, I have not yet brought myself to buy edible glitter but I feel sure the day is coming…

Soft (Vegan!) Gingerbread People

1-3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1-3/4 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon each ground ginger, cinnamon and coriander
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup avocado or any cooking oil
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Sift dry ingredients together, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, brown sugar and molasses with 1/4 cup boiling water. Add flour in 3 parts, adding a little more water 1 teaspoon at a time as needed to make a firm dough. Roll into a ball and lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet. Divide dough into 10-12 pieces, then use each piece to shape a ginger-person or snow-person. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes; when done, cookies will feel slightly springy to the touch. Cool on a rack before frosting. Makes 10-12 gingerfolk.

Make It Snappy

Most adults of my acquaintance appreciate those thin, very gingery cookies that need to be rolled out and cut. These ginger cookies are quite snappy and have a lively, even zesty flavor but are made by rolling little dough balls between your palms, which is much easier and less messy. Little bits of crystalized ginger add extra zip and a light dusting of flaked sea salt (optional) makes them brighter still. They freeze beautifully if well wrapped and vanish fast if not.

Gingery Snaps

2 cups unbleached white flour
1-3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 cup minced crystalized ginger
zest from an organic orange
1/2 teaspoon Malden or any finishing salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Sift dry ingredients together, set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar, then stir in eggs, molasses, vinegar, orange zest and crystalized ginger. Add sifted ingredients and blend well. Roll into small balls (under an inch) and place several inches apart on a rimmed baking sheet (they spread quite a bit). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set and crinkled on top. Makes about 100 cookies. Serves at least one.

 

 

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Giving Thanks For All

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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A Basket of Chanterelles

Sharing Food Joyfully

In this age of instant media alerts about so much that’s awful in this weary world, I am enjoying an increasing sense of gratitude for all that’s better. In part, it’s because my lovely iphone is having issues, so I’m not using it very much. Instead of checking in many times a day, discovering a zillion things to be shocked or horrified or distressed about, I’m severely limiting media access. Some days, I’m not checking in at all. When I do, I’m making a point of looking for good news about advances in public health, public education, human rights, women in politics, strengthened ecological protections, archaeological and astronomical discoveries, fascinating new research and inventions, amazing young people who are changing their worlds and mine.

Balancing the picture helps me remember that in historic terms, the people of this world have never been as well informed, as interconnected, as aware of better possibilities. This is far from the best of times in many ways, yet it’s also valid to say that for more people than ever, this IS the best of times so far in human history. As we sit down to an enormous and indulgent meal, it’s good to remember those who aren’t so fortunate. Thoughts and good wishes are nice, but we can also make a point of supporting local, regional, national and international feeding programs, not just in the winter holidays but all through the year. It’s also good to remind ourselves of just how very fortunate we are by taking turns talking about the things and people and ideas and events that we ourselves are most grateful for this year.

Eating With Joyful Pleasure

Let me be clear; I am not knocking the Thanksgiving feast, especially when we mostly use local and organically raised ingredients. I love the traditional meal; roast turkey and bread stuffing; mashed potatoes and homemade gravy; cranberry orange sauce and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. I always begged to have it on my birthday (also International Toilet Day, no comment), which falls so close to Thanksgiving that my mom refused to indulge me. Personally, I eat turkey quite often, as organically raised, free range turkey and other poultry is locally available. Indeed, one memorable year, I was picking up a bespoke turkey from a neighbor who sheepishly admitted that the smallest of her happy birds weighed around 75 pounds.

That was one expensive turkey and it barely fit in my large oven. It also took a really, really long time to cook, which threw off the timing of everything else. It was gorgeous but took two people to carry it to the table, where it provoked slightly nervous comments about Hansel and Gretel but fed several dozen diners generously with lots left over. Leftovers are one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving dinner, especially now when our family patterns have changed dramatically. Vegans and vegetarians, the gluten- or dairy- intolerant, and other sensitivities must be accommodated if all are to partake freely and joyfully. Thus I offer you my takes and tweaks on that traditional meal as it has evolved over the years.

Tweaks And Takes

Everyone has a favorite way of treating The Bird, so I’ll just note that rosemary, garlic, and lemon peel can all be tucked under poultry skin or tucked into little breast pockets made with a sharp paring knife. You probably have a favorite way to caramelize onions as well, so I’ll skip right to the next most important items: mashed potatoes and gravy. I am not just bragging when I say that the following recipes are just as popular with dairy eaters as with vegans and the dairy intolerant and it’s wise to make a much bigger batch than you think you’ll need. If there are extras, make potato cakes or top a casserole of layered leftovers with mashed potatoes and some crispy fried onions. The secret ingredient is avocado oil, which has a surprisingly buttery flavor. Garlic is optional of course, but most folks appreciate the extra richness of flavor.

Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes

6 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1/4-1/3 cup avocado oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Peel and chop potatoes, cover with cold water, set aside. Bring a soup pot of water to a boil, add drained potatoes, garlic (if using), and half the salt and cook until barely fork tender (12-15 minutes). Drain, reserving the last few cups of cooking liquid (the murky part), and mash or put potatoes through a ricer for a fluffier texture. Thin potatoes as desired with avocado oil and reserved potato cooking water and season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes about 12 cups.

Satisfying Vegan Gravy

Vegetarian gravies can be thin, pathetic things, but this one is bolstered by buttery avocado oil and flaked nutritional yeast, which adds significant protein and offers a salty (though salt-free), nut-like flavor as well. Sliced mushrooms make the gravy bold and savory, adding the deep, umami quality that usually comes from meat. Use your favorite mushrooms or a blend of several kinds, from Portobellos or porcini to apricot-scented chanterelles.

Rich Mushroom Gravy

1/4 cup avocado oil
2 large brown or yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/3 cup flour (any kind that will thicken a sauce)
1/2 cup red wine
4 cups fresh vegetable broth
2-3 teaspoons flaked nutritional yeast
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika (hot or sweet)

In a wide, shallow pan, combine oil, onions, and half the salt over medium high heat and cook until soft (10-15 minutes). Add mushrooms, cover pan, reduce heat to low and cook until wilted (10-15 minutes). Stir in flour and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add wine and broth a little at a time, stirring to prevent lumps, then simmer until mushrooms are very tender (20-30 minutes). Serve as is or puree with an immersion blender to desired consistency and serve hot. Makes about 5 cups.

Palate Refreshing Salad

This sparkling, briskly flavorful salad provides a pleasing counterpoint to any heavy, rich meal. Vary it as you please, but

Beautiful Winter Salad

1 bulb Florence fennel, finely sliced
1 Cara Cara orange, peeled and chopped
1 Jazz or Opal apple, chopped
4 cups Savoy cabbage, finely chopped
4 cups Napa cabbage, finely shredded
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup stemmed cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped roasted hazelnuts
1 lime, juiced
1-2 teaspoons maple syrup
pinch of kosher or sea salt

In a serving bowl, combine first eight ingredients and season with fresh lime juice, maple syrup and salt to taste. Serves 8-10.

Roasted Cauliflower & Cranberries

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2-3 tablespoons avocado or high temperature oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
2 cups raw cranberries, washed and picked over

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss cauliflower and sweet potato with oil and spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet (or two). Sprinkle with salt and roast for 30 minutes. Stir with a spatula, add cranberries and roast until well caramelized (10-12 minutes). Serves 8-10.

Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (gluten free or any)
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon each cinnamon, coriander and ginger
2 large eggs
2 cups (15-ounce can) cooked pumpkin pulp
12 ounces coconut milk (1 can)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut curls (Bob’s Red Mill or any)
1/2 cup walnut halves

Line a pie dish with crust, crimp edge, set aside. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir well. Add eggs and stir until foamy. Stir in pumpkin pulp completely, then coconut milk. Spoon into crust, sprinkle with coconut curls and walnuts. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake until set (40-50 minutes). Let stand for an hour or more before serving.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Light and aromatic, this vegan version is more like a cream pie than baked custard and tastes better than you might think.

Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Pie

1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon each cinnamon, coriander and ginger
12 ounces silken tofu
1-1/2 cups cooked pumpkin pulp
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pre-baked nut crust (see below)

In a food processor, combine all but crust and puree. Spoon into baked nut crust and chill for at least an hour before serving.

Nut Crust

2 cups almonds or walnuts (or a blend of favorites)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
pinch of kosher or sea salt

In a food processor, grind nuts coarsely. Add remaining ingredients and process briefly to blend well. Pat into a pie dish. Bake at 350 degrees F until golden (20-25 minutes), and cool before filling.

 

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Cold Chasing Strategies

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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Salt & Soup

As autumn swirls in with wild winds and soft, woolly fogs, various ill natured bugs arise and spread like gossip. Cold season cruds sweep through families and communities, all too often lingering long past the initial illness. Cover our coughs and wash our hands as we may, we still end up sharing nasty germs that can lay vulnerable people low. Youngsters and oldsters are frequent sufferers, as are those with wonky immune systems. Fortunately, a few solid defenses can help and protect us when illness gets us down.

The first lines of defense are so simple that many people forget about them or don’t think they really help, but two strategies definitely do. For one, stay warm; rhinoviruses flourish in low temperatures and chilled bodies are most susceptible. Next, gargling daily with warm salty water demonstrably reduces the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections. Gargling reduces the discomfort of sore throats and toothaches and can speed healing in both cases. Stir 1/4 teaspoon of flaked sea salt into 2/3 cup of hot tap water, swish some in your mouth, then gargle again and again until the cup is empty, repeating up to four times a day.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16242593

Healing Soups & Broths

Centuries of old wives’ folk remedies suggest that chicken soup can help cure a cold and in the past few decades, serious research has proved the wise women right. Turns out that inhaling the steam from a bowl of hot chicken soup can improve our nasal mucus velocity; thinner, faster draining mucus helps flush the system of the rhinovirus that’s making you sick. As well, chicken contains carnosine, a potent anti-inflammatory that slows down growth in viruses and other infections. Other common soup ingredients are also anti-inflammatory, notably onions, garlic, and ginger, all of which can make vegan soups effective flu fighters as well.

The best broths make for the best soups, so I always make my own. It’s not a difficult or time consuming process (simmering time doesn’t really count) and the result is light and fresh, full bodied without tasting greasy, clear instead of murky. Most of the time my broths are made with the scraps and trimmings of whatever I’m making, as in the chicken soup recipe below. If I’m not making soup, I bag up and freeze vegetable trimmings and scraps or make and freeze broth by the quart. I date and label the containers with permanent marker on blue painters’ tape to prevent awkward surprises (thawing chicken broth for vegans, f’rinstance).

Granny’s Super Soups

My favorite broth packs a nutritional wallop and you can feel your body gratefully taking in the powerful healing agents. I drink it by the cupful, but if it’s stronger than you like, add a little hot water or use it in soup, where bold broth is a bonus.

Garlic Ginger Broth

1 large head garlic, chopped (peel and all)
1/2 cup chopped ginger root (peel and all)
1 large white onion, coarsely chopped, plus skins
2 cups coarsely chopped celery with greens
1 cup finely chopped carrot
1 teaspoon sea salt

Combine all ingredients with 6 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low and simmer for 30 minutes. Cover pan, remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain into a bowl, pressing gently on vegetables to release fluid but not hard enough to make broth murky. Makes 4-5 cups. Drink warm, use in soup, or freeze.

Vegan Bliss

Mellow with sweet potatoes and bright with cranberries, this snappy vegan soup is powered by four members of the onion clan, all effective antioxidants. Extra oomph comes from fresh ginger and the garlic-infused broth, though you can always substitute your favorite broth if you prefer.

Vegan Garlic Soup

1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
1 large white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 inches ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 leeks, thinly sliced (white and palest green parts only)
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced, with any greens
1 quart Garlic Ginger Broth (or any you like)
1 large sweet potato, coarsely grated
1 cup raw cranberries
2 green onions, thinly sliced

In a soup pot, combine oil, onion, garlic, ginger and salt over medium high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, to the fragrance point (about 1 minute). Add leeks and celery and cook, stirring for 5 minutes. Add broth, bring to a simmer, add sweet potato and cranberries and simmer for 10-15 minutes. minutes. Serve hot, garnished with green onions. Makes 5-6 cups.

Granny’s Chicken Soup

How can something so good for you it’s practically medicinal taste so good? This stout hearted chicken soup is both soothing and satisfying any time, but especially when something ails you. I make it for myself and friends when we’re sick or stressed out, tired or ill or grieving. You can swap short grain brown rice or noodles for the potatoes (though they give this soup a pleasantly earthy, comforting quality). For a speedy version, use cooked chicken and ready-made broth (your own or not) and eat in minutes.

Chicken & Garlic Soup

1 organic chicken, rinsed inside and out
1 large lemon
1 large head garlic
1 large white onion
4 stalks celery
2-3 inches ginger root
2 carrots
2 large yellow skin potatoes
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
1 inch turmeric root
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon smoked hot paprika

In a stock pot, cover chicken with cold water. As you peel and trim vegetables, add all trimmings to the stock pot, including outer skins of garlic, onion, carrots and potatoes. Add half the salt, bring to a boil, cover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer until thermometer inserted in chicken registers 165 degrees F (40-60 minutes; lift chicken breast above simmering broth with a long fork before taking its temp). Meanwhile, finely grate lemon rind, set aside. Chop peeled garlic cloves, onion, celery and ginger root, set aside. Coarsely grate carrot, set aside. Dice potato in 1/2 inch pieces, set aside. Finely grate turmeric, set aside. In a soup pot, combine oil with lemon zest, chopped garlic, onion, celery and ginger over medium high heat, sprinkle with remaining salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft. Add carrots, potatoes, and turmeric and stir to coat. Cover pan, reduce heat to medium and sweat vegetables for 5-10 minutes, shaking pan to prevent sticking. Add water to barely cover, bring to a simmer and simmer until chicken is done. Strain broth from chicken into a bowl, set aside. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and add to the soup pot, along with a quart of the strained stock (freeze or refrigerate the rest). Juice lemon and add to taste, along with pepper and paprika. Makes about 2 quarts.

May you and yours be well!

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A Tale of Two Teas

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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Growing Good Medicine

Though I’m as big a sucker as anyone for the hottest, coolest, latest new plants, I’ve always grown a lot of traditional cottage charmers as well. In all my former gardens, borders were laced with self-sown columbines and poppies, fennel and foxgloves, infant ornamental grasses and patches of baby bulbs. Hellebores and toad lilies spread under trees and around shrubs and hardy cyclamen pooled in pink and purple puddles, nestled into silver splashed leaves. I respect nature’s generosity in producing replacements for annuals and short lived perennials, so most seedlings are safe with me. Yes, they may be coaxed to thrive in a new spot, but I hate to waste wonderful plants. If I can’t make a home for them, I’ll pot them up and pass them along to someone with more soil than plants.

Years ago, when my garden was open for a tour, a haughty hort-head scornfully mocked my golden feverfew, saying, “I can’t believe you’re still growing THAT old thing.” It made me even more fond of “that old thing,” which pops up in many an odd spot, bringing a little shaft of gold to set off some dusky beauty’s charms. I grow regular feverfew as well, in several forms; quilled, balled, doubled and plain. It’s one of the longest bloomers, never a showboat but nearly always offering a little spray or two of bright little daisies for an out-of-season tussy-mussy. I’l always grow this willing worker, especially since I read a report from an English medical journal reporting on research that found feverfew foliage (a sprig a day) to be as or more effective than drugs for relieving migraines.

Natural Healing

Instead of growing healing herbs in lonely isolation, I like to weave them through both ornamental and edible beds. Indeed, once you start investigating, it’s hard to decide which plant is or isn’t a healer. From garlic and rosemary to chamomile and calendula to thyme and turmeric, it’s amazing how many traditional garden plants have some healthy benefits. Ever since I sold my home, most of my treasured plants have been farmed out to friends or tucked into new homes at the library. I have to fight off some of the other Friday Tidy volunteers there who can’t pass a mint or fennel plant without ripping it out, but many of my helpful plant pals are growing happily amongst the ornamentals.

One I’ll never be without again is ginger (Zingiber officinale), which I’ve kept going in a large (3 cubic foot) tub. I started growing ginger years ago, when Log house Plants first offered organic tubers. Grocery store ginger is often treated with growth retardants to keep it from sprouting, so it’s a lot easier to get good results from untreated roots. Like its canna cousins, edible ginger needs full sun, shelter from chilly winds, and great drainage. Here in the Maritime Northwest, ginger needs shelter in a greenhouse or sunroom during the cooler months, but it sure has enjoyed the hotter-than-usual summers in the past few years!

Easy To Please

I use a lot of ginger in teas and broths as well as in cooking, but one large tubful produces enough to last most of the year. It’s easy to please ginger; it likes good potting soil fortified with some compost, and needs good drainage as well as some protection from cold winds. Like many tropical plants, ginger likes full sun up North (I’m on an island off Seattle) and filtered sun in the hotter South. Mine succeeded in the ground only when planted on a deep berm of sandy loam topped with improved soil, but it grows very happily in the large tub, where the enriched soil is replaced after each annual harvest. Ginger roots grow fairly near the surface, spreading widely but not very deeply, so the width of the pot is more important than the depth. However, more soil holds heat longer when temperatures drop, so I fill the bottom of a deep pot with sand.

Before planting, rinse the ginger rhizomes well and soak them in cool water for an hour or so if they seem dried out. You don’t need a lot to get started; a few smallish pieces will size up nicely over time. Set the pieces 6-8 inches apart, with the buds facing up; they’ll sprout into grassy stems that look a bit like a small bamboo. Cover the rhizomes with an inch or two of moist soil and gently firm them in with your hands. The grassy shoots will appear more quickly in a warm, sheltered location, so if you can’t provide reliable frost protection, you’d do better to plant in spring. After planting, all you need to do is wait. In mild and warm winter areas, ginger can sit outside all year round, needing enough water to keep in in active growth. Indoors, growth will be slower but steady; don’t over-water or fertilize or you risk rotting the rhizomes.

Wholesale Harvest

Ginger matures in around a year in my cool Northwestern garden, but as quickly as 8-9 months in warmer places. Many permaculture folks expect one annual harvest, though commercial growers speed the process for greater production. My big tub produces enough for my needs for about a year, and harvest is very simple; when the leaves begin to turn brown, dump out everything, replenish the tub with fresh soil and compost, and choose a few of the outermost rhizomes with plump eye buds for the next crop.

The rest goes to the kitchen, where half is stored fresh in mesh bags on an open shelf in the refrigerator. The rest-mostly the older, tougher pieces-is sliced thickly and frozen by the half cup for teas and infusions. Here are some current favorite recipes, ideal for gingering up our flagging spirits in this merciless political disaster. Onward, or even excelsior, as in onward and upward. To the light!

Powerhouse Ginger Tea

1/4 cup sliced and chopped ginger root
4 cups water
Honey

Bring to a boil, then cover pan and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Strain (save the sliced ginger to add to soup stock and broth) and add honey to taste. Drink as hot as you can stand it. Store extra in glass in the refrigerator for up to a week. Excellent for coughs, sore throats, and low spirits.

This spicy, milky tea is full of antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and other beneficial phytonutrients and is pleasantly soothing to boot. Don’t leave out the pepper; it potentiates the turmeric!

Golden Tea

2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger root
1 tablespoon finely grated turmeric root
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups milk (or coconut milk or almond milk)

Combine all ingredients, bring to a simmer and simmer, covered, over very low heat, for 10-15 minutes. Strain and serve warm. Serves 2.

 

 

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