Jenn’s Cook Book

Want to try something new? Check out this recipe using Chinese Five Spice, a combination of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, and pepper. The combination used in this spice encompasses the five basic flavors of Chinese cooking: sweet, sour, bitter, savory, and salty. Add to that some ginger, garlic, and sesame seed, and you have my latest chicken dish. Enjoy!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sesame seed oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Preheat broiler

Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper. Combine remaining ingredients except sesame seeds in a small bowl. Place chicken in a large bowl or pan and pour five spice sauce on top. Toss and let sit 15-20 minutes.

Coat broiler pan with cooking spray. Arrange chicken breasts in a single layer and cook 20-25 minutes or until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with sesame seeds after removing from broiler.

This is a great tea, served hot or iced,  depending on the weather! James wanted green tea with honey, I wanted tea with ginger, and here is the end result. The ginger gives this tea just a hint of flavor and spice, which is perfect for the Gingerama category. Enjoy a tea-riffic Jenn Original Recipe (sorry, couldn’t help myself).

8 green tea bags
8 cups water
1/3 cup honey
1 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled
lemon wedges, for garnish

Cut ginger into half-inch slices. Bring water to a boil and pour over tea bags and ginger slices in a heat resistant pitcher. Steep for 5-10 minutes and remove tea bags. Stir in honey and steep ginger an additional 5 minutes. Remove ginger slices.

Serve immediately warm, or chill 1-2 hours and pour over ice and lemon wedges.

From Self magazine, this iced tea combines peach, lemon, ginger, and mint with black tea. The recipe calls for Earl Gray or Darjeeling tea, but I used English Breakfast. Assam, Ceylon, Irish Breakfast or plain Lipton would work just fine. This recipe is great for peaches that are slightly over-ripe, as they will be pureed and will taste just fine (but might not look so appealing).

8 tea bags
1 lemon, sliced (ends discarded)
1 piece of ginger, 2 inches, cut into chunks
4 large, ripe peaches
1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
mint sprigs, for garnish

Boil 8 cups of water over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add tea bags, sliced lemon, and ginger pieces. Remove pan from heat and steep 10 minutes. Pour into a heat-resistant pitcher through a strainer. Discard tea bags, lemon, and ginger.  

Peel, pit, and dice 2 of the peaches. Place in a blender with 1/2 cup sugar and blend until smooth (add a bit of the tea if needed to get the blender going). Pour peach puree into tea and stir well, dissolving sugar.

Pit and cut remaining peaches into slices. Stir into tea. Chill tea for 1-2 hours. To serve, pour over ice and garnish with mint sprigs.

Makes 8 servings. Each serving is approx 70 calories.

Brewing the tea:

Adding slices to the pitcher:

Garnishing my tea with basil (peach and basil go well together):

Based on the Homemade Chai Mix, I created this mixture by adding vanilla and ginger flavors to my morning chai. I’m also submitting this as Gingerama Recipe #10!

2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Combine all ingredients in a small dish with cover. Store overnight in refrigerator before using.

To make a cup of chai: brew a cup of strong, black tea such as Assam or Darjeeling. Use 2 teabags for every 1 1/2 cups water and steep for at least 5 minutes. Remove teabags and stir in 2-3 spoonfuls of chai mixture (per 1 1/2 cups brewed tea).

I prefer to strain my chai before drinking because the spices do not dissolve and sediment (for lack of a better work) will fall to the bottom of the glass.

Chai can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for approx 2 weeks.

From the magazine Cooking Light, “this sweet-tart beverage is refreshing on a hot day. Feel free to adjust the sugar to suit your taste.” Chill out with Ginger Recipe #9.

6 cups cold water, divided
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp chopped peeled fresh ginger
3 tbsp grated lime rind
10 mint leaves
1 1/4 cups fresh lime juice (about 6 limes)
lime wedges, for garnish

Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, ginger, rind and mint leaves in a blender. Process until well blended. Cover and chill for 2 hours.

Add remaining 5 3/4 cups water and lime juice. Stir well to combine. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

This spicy dish comes from Southern Living. The ingredients are similar to Beef with Ginger, but the sauce is completely different. This is a great side to Beef with Ginger and Coconut-Ginger Rice. Heat things up with Ginger Recipe #8.

1/4 cup soy sauce
4 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, minced (about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 lb fresh broccoli, trimmed and separated into florets

Stir together first 7 ingredients and set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and saute 3 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in soy sauce mixture until thoroughly heated, coating well.

From Southern Living, this is a great Chinese-inspired dish. Here is Ginger Recipe #7.

1 lb sirloin steak, chilled
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp sesame seed oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp lite soy sauce
1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium beef broth
2 tsp cornstarch
6 green onions, sliced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
hot cooked long-grain rice

Cut steak diagonally across the grain into very thin slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Chilling the beef in the freezer for 5 minutes makes it easier to cut into very thin slices.

Saute ginger in hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat for 2 minutes or until tan-colored. Add minced garlic and saute 30 seconds. Add beef, cook 2 minutes or until mostly cooked, stirring constantly. Stir in soy sauce.

Combine beef broth with cornstarch until smooth. Drizzle over beef mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute or until thickened. Add green onions and, if desired, crushed red pepper. Cook 1 minute. Serve immediately over hot cooked rice.

This recipe goes well with Coconut-Ginger Rice.

This is an easy side with a mild flavor from the magazine Coastal Living. This recipe would be great with Chinese dishes or other spicy meals, like Chicken Paprikash. The ginger is this recipe is not very strong, but adds a hint of flavor. Mellow out with Ginger Recipe #6.

1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
2 1/4 cups water
2 cups jasmine or Basmati rice
4 slices fresh, peeled ginger
garnish: chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Combine coconut milk and water in a heavy saucepan. Stir in rice and ginger. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low. Cover tightly and simmer 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender and milk mixture has been absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with fork. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove ginger before serving. Garnish if desired.

Here is a dessert recipe from AOL Food. This dessert combines apples, oranges and ginger to make a dessert out of couscous. Satisfy your sweet tooth with Ginger Recipe #5.

Sauce:
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tbsp Triple Sec (orange flavored liqueur)

Couscous:
1 1/3 cups apple juice
3 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup uncooked couscous
2 tsp grated orange rind

Topping:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 cups diced peeled Granny Smith apple (about 2 apples)
2 tbsp raisins (or golden raisins)
2 tbsp finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 1/2 tbsp Triple Sec
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Additional toppings (optional):
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
mint sprigs

To prepare sauce, bring orange juice to a boil in a saucepan. Cook until juice is reduced to 1/3 cup (about 6 minutes). Stir in 1 1/2 tbsp liqueur.

To prepare couscous, bring apple juice, 3 tbsp butter, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Gradually stir in couscous and orange rind. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.

To prepare topping, melt 2 tbsp butter in a medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sugar and cook 1 minute. stirring constantly. Stir in apple and raisins, cook 5 minutes or until apple is tender, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in ginger, 1 1/2 tbsp liqueur, and cinnamon.

To serve: Spoon about 1/3 cup couscous into dessert dish. Top with about 2 tbsp topping, 1 1/2 tsp sour cream (if using), and about 1 tbsp sauce. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired. Recipe will make 8 servings.

This recipe is from the cookbook Million Menus. The sherbet has a texture similar to a frozen slush drink, so I turned mine into smoothies. Cool off with Ginger Recipe #4.

1 ripe musk melon (cantaloupe)
2 limes
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg white, lightly whisked
fresh or frozen strawberries

Peel, seed, and cut melon into small chunks. Juice limes. Combine melon, lime juice, and grated ginger into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour into a large bowl.

Stir in sugar. Beat in egg white. Transfer to a freezer proof container and freeze for 6 hours.

Serve in scoops with strawberries.

To make smoothies (and avoid the wait time):

After beating in egg white, pour approx 1 1/2 cups of melon mixture back into blender. Add 3-4 large ice cubes. Process until ice is blended. Garnish with strawberries.

Strawberry-Melon-Ginger Smoothie: Add 1/3 cup milk and several strawberries, cut into chunks. Process in blender until smooth.

Once sherbet has frozen, omit ice cubes when making smoothies and add 1/2 cup hot water instead (to get the blender going).

Add other fruit as desired. Honey can be added or substituted for sugar. Beaten egg white is not essential to making smoothies.