Tag Archives: ginger

Low carb, Seafood, Soup

Thai Coconut Curry Walleye Stew

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Well, I would really call it soup, but my husband frowns at soup, so stew it is. Plus, he eats it over rice šŸ›and I slurp it out of a bowl šŸ„£.

We have a freezer full of walleye currently, but it won’t last long enough. We love it in fish cakes, baked, or planked on the grill. I wanted something different and I already had some cans of coconut cream (unsweetened) in the cupboard, so a curry seemed like a good idea. I was already roasting some peppers for the week and had a package of cremini mushrooms in the refrigerator; all I needed was the ginger, lemongrass, and red curry paste. I used chicken stock, because I already had some, but you could certainly use a fish stock as the base. Should I be making stock with all the parts of the fish that are thrown away? šŸ¤”

This soup was too easy to make, but I’m not complaining.

Thai Coconut Curry Walleye Stew

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Add time to roast peppers, unless you already have a stash in the refrigerator.

Ingredients
  • Extra virgin olive oil for sauteing vegetables
  • 1 small onion, minced (you could use shallots for a milder flavor)
  • 8-10 oz sliced mushrooms (I used cremini, but shiitake would be pretty)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons grated ginger
  • 1-2 tablespoons minced lemon grass
  • 2-3 teaspoons red curry paste (I used 2 but would use more next time)
  • 2 red or yellow or orange bell peppers, roasted, peeled, and sliced
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce (more or less depending on whether you can stand the smell)
  • 2 cups chicken stock or broth
  • 2 cans coconut creamā€”this is not a sweetened item; it is thicker and creamier than regular coconut milk
  • 1 lb walleye fillets cut in large chunks, about 1 1/2″
  • juice of one lime
Preparation
  1. In a large pot, heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook until softened, but not browned. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Stir in the ginger, lemon grass, and red curry paste.
  3. Add chicken stock, fish sauce, and bell peppers and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in coconut cream, bring to a simmer and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
  5. Add the walleye chunks and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Some of the chunks will flake; some will remain large.
  6. Stir in the lime juice.

Wonderful as a soup, or it could be served over rice for the carb eaters in the family.

Condiments, Vegetables

Maple Tomato Jam

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It was inevitable that with all the tomatoes my husband plants every year, I would come around to tomato jam. I could stick to making only sauce or roasted tomatoes for the freezer, because we always run out before the next growing season comes around, but I wanted to add something new to our tomato arsenal. Plus, we are fond of homemade condiments that dress up plain old traditional foods like burgers, so this glorified ketchup seemed like a good idea. In honor of the occasion, I added a condiments category to the site menu.

My jam is not preservedā€”because I don’t know how to do that and don’t have canning equipment. Plus, I must admit that I am a little afraid of home-canned foods. So this fresh jam can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or frozen for longer storage.

Maple Tomato Jam

  • Servings: makes about 4 cups
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 4 lbs tomatoes, cored and chopped (not seeded)ā€”mine were half San Marzano roma and half Early Girl globe tomatoes
  • 1 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon ginger paste or grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground dried hot pepperā€”mine were California chiles
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Preparation

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy stockpot.
  2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium to keep the jam at a low boil for 2 hours. Stir occasionally, and a little more often during the last 20 minutes.*
  3. Fill your jars and cool slightly before sealing with lids. Refrigerate for up to two weeks or freeze. If freezing in plastic bags, cool before filling and sealing.

*I have a gas stove, but you will have to choose the temperatures that you know work on yours. Basically, you want to see bubbling throughout the cooking timeā€”without using a lid. If your temperature is too low, it will take a lot longer for the moisture to evaporate. Mine was thick and ready at 2 hours and 10 minutes. But don’t try to hurry the jam, either, and risk scorching it. Let the flavors develop over the 2 hours at a low and visible boil. Follow the rule of dragging your wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan, waiting for the point when liquid doesn’t run into the path. You think it will never reach that stage, and then the magic just happens.

Asian, Grilling, Meat, Pork

Grilled Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

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Here’s a quick and versatile way to grill a pork tenderloin. I’m marinating mine in teriyaki sauceā€”not the sticky stuff in a bottleā€”and then serving it with brown rice noodles, but you could marinate it or baste it with any flavors you have in mind. The 1″ thick slices are skewered on two long metal skewers (to keep the slices from spinning) and quickly grilled over direct heat. The meat chunks could be further cut after grillingā€”sliced or pulledā€”or served in the large chunks, depending on how you want to eat them. I sliced the large chunks in half, just to make them easier to eat. I had some roasted bell peppers in the freezer that I heated and sliced, and I grilled a few onions to complete the dish.

I made the traditional teriyaki sauce without any extra sugar. There is plenty of sugar in the mirin, a sweetened rice wine. I’ve always disliked what has passed for teriyaki sauce, even before I got diabetes, because it was just too sweet for my taste, kind of like those bottled barbecue sauces that hide the flavor of grilled meats. Traditional teriyaki has just the right sweetness to complement whatever meat you use it with. I did add garlic and ginger to the sauce, which some purists might object to, but we like those flavors very much, and the three basics in the sauceā€”soy sauce, mirin, and sakeā€”held their own just fine.

Remember not to throw out the marinade, but to boil it for a few minutes to serve as the final sauce.

Grilled Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
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Allow several hours for marinating the pork tenderloin chunks, plus time to set up the grill.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz (1/4 cup) soy sauce
  • 2 oz (1/4 cup) mirin
  • 2 oz (1/4 cup) sake
  • 1 tablespoon grated garlic
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 1 pork tenderloin, sliced in 1″ thick slices

Preparation

  1. Mix the teriyaki ingredients and place in a large zip top bag with the pork tenderloin slices. Marinate for about 2-4 hours.
  2. Lift out meat slices and pour remaining marinade in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 3 minutes. You could cook it longer to reduce it for a glaze, but I wanted to use it as a sauce for the meat, vegetables, and noodles.
  3. Skewer the meat slices on two metal skewers to keep the slices from spinning as you turn it on the grill. It will kind of look like you have reconstructed the tenderloin on the skewers. You don’t need to have space between the slices, but you could if you want them browned on all sides, in which case you might want to use more skewers.
  4. Set up the grill for medium-high direct heat, about 400Ā°.
  5. Oil the cooking grate and grill the skewered pork on all sides until nicely browned. We eat our tenderloins a little pink, but you can cook them as long as you desire. Remove the cooked meat to a platter and rest, covered, for a few minutes before serving.

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Asian, Game, Meat, Sauce

Coconut Pheasant Satay

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I’m just about done with last season’s pheasant supply in the freezer. Last year, I made just about every type of pheasant meatball I could think of, so I’ve tried to find some other things to do with it this year, our favorite dish of late being a pheasant version of butter chicken. Today I’m grilling skewered strips of pheasant breast, which is pretty much going to be like flash cooking, as it will only take a minute or so on each side to be done. I’m starting with a coconut milk marinade and serving it with a peanut sauce made with some of the reserved marinade. Meat on a stick seems like a good weekend meal.

Coconut Pheasant Satay

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: easy
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Marinade/Dipping Sauce

  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk
  • 2 teaspoons red curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon ginger paste or grated ginger
  • 1 tablespoon garlic paste or grated garlic
  • 1 tablespoon Kosher salt (for marinade)
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt or to taste ( for dipping sauce)
  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
  • Optional additions: soy sauce and sesame oil

Preparation

  1. Mix the first four ingredientsā€”coconut milk, curry powder, ginger, garlicā€”until well combined. Pour half the mixture into a second bowl.
  2. To the first bowl, whisk in the tablespoon of salt, and add the pheasant strips to marinate. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Remove at least 30 minutes before grilling to skewer and to come to room temperature.
  3. To the second bowl, whisk in the tahini, peanut butter, and the teaspoon of salt. Refrigerate until 1 hour before serving. The sauce should be served at room temperature.

Grilling

  1. Remove marinating pheasant from refrigerator and skewer strips onto soaked bamboo skewers. Allow to come to room temperature while preparing the grill.
  2. Set up grill for direct heat at 400Ā° using 40-50 briquettes. Unless you are grilling something else, like a vegetable first, you will be done grilling long before the coals burn down to ash, so don’t waste them by using too many. Still you need to reach a hot temperature.
  3. When the grill is hot, brush the cooking grate with oil and grill each skewer for 1-2 minutes per side. Don’t overcook.
  4. Serve with dipping sauce.

Even though soaked, some of your skewers will probably burn up on the grill, like mine, and you could be left with stubs. It did not affect our eating them all. I think the professional cooking sites, just brown the meat with a blow torch šŸ˜‰