Here is the first recipe for Gingerama. These mushrooms are a great side dish, or combine with soba or udon noodles and vegetables to create a main dish. Enjoy Ginger Recipe #1.

1 lb whole mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp ginger, finely grated
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp sesame seeds
green onions, optional

Rinse mushrooms under lukewarm water. Remove stems and cut into quarters.

Heat oil in a large, non-stick skillet over high heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add ginger, mix well, and then add mushrooms. Saute for 1-2 minutes or until mushrooms begin to brown.

Add teriyaki sauce and honey. Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until mushrooms are fully cooked. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and toss to coat. Cook for an additional minute to toast seeds and remove from heat. Top with sliced green onions as desired. Serve with hot cooked rice.

Welcome to Gingerama! This is my month-long venture into cooking with ginger. For the month of February, I will make 30 recipes with ginger. Here are the guidelines:

Recipes must contain some form of ginger, such as fresh, ground, crystallized or candied…and any other form of ginger I’ve misses.

Ginger does not need to be the primary/main ingredient, just part of the recipe.

These dishes can be main dishes, side dishes, desserts, beverages…anything that requires a recipe.

Because February has 28 days, some days may have more than 1 posting. Some days might have no postings while some might have 2 or 3.

Old recipes may be updated to include ginger.

The results do not have to good…or bad. The idea is to try new things, and not everything will turn out perfectly. Hopefully most of it will be edible.

Other recipes will be posted as well. I will continue to make new dishes without ginger as long as I’m keeping up with my goal.

All ginger recipes will be tagged “gingerama” as well as any other applicable tags.

Enjoy!

In the cookbook Million Menus, there is a recipe for Carrot and Orange soup. It calls for grated carrots, potatoes, onion and orange juice to be fed to a food processor or blender. I tried this and didn’t really care for the consistency of the soup (think baby food). In my version, I’ve added a few more ingredients and made it a broth-based soup.

6 to 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 to 3 small sweet onions, grated
16 oz (2 pkg) sliced or quartered mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced (1 tsp)
1 large baking potato, peeled and grated
7 to 8 (1 1/2 lbs) carrots, grated
4 to 5 ribs celery, chopped or diced
1 large orange, zested and halved
several springs fresh thyme, leaves removed
salt and pepper

Pour broth into a medium saucepan over low heat. Melt butter in a large, heavy duty saucepan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic and saute until mushrooms are tender, about 7-10 minutes. Salt to taste, about 1/4 tsp.

Add potato, carrot and celery. Stir well to incorporate mushroom mixture. Stirring constantly, cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are heated through.

Add enough broth to cover vegetables. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Return pan with broth to low heat.

Add the zest of 1 large orange and leaves from thyme, about 1 tbsp each. Squeeze in juice from orange. Add more broth until soup reaches desired thickness. Let soup simmer for about 3 minutes. Add pepper to taste, 1/8 to 1/4 tsp.

Remove from heat and let soup sit covered for 5 minutes. Skim off any film that floats to the top. Serve warm with crusty bread and sliced cheese.

Preparation Suggestions:

Dice, chop, grate or slice your veggies anyway you want, the above are just my suggestions. You can also add any other veggies you might like in your soup.

Go vegetarian by using vegetable broth and olive oil instead of butter. Cut calories by using a butter substitute such as I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter Light.

Use fresh ingredients, not pre-cut varieties.

This zesty recipe combines fresh citrus with sweet, sour, and spicy Asian flavors. Basil adds an earthy note to the dish.

1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp salt
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp grated orange rind
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp dark or toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp grated lime rind
1 pound fresh mushrooms, halved
3-4 large fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Combine first 7 ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add orange rind, oils, and lime rind. Stir well. Arrange mushrooms in a large bowl or shallow baking dish. Pour marinade over mushrooms, coating well. Toss in basil leaves, mixing mushrooms. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Marinading Tips:
Prepare mushrooms in the morning before work for a great side dish at dinner. If mushrooms are large, quarter them. You can also keep mushrooms whole and marinade for 24 hours. Serve cold or bake for 20-25 minutes at 350F after marinading, or use sliced mushrooms and simmer all ingredients in a large skillet over medium-high heat then serve over steamed rice.

Here’s a fun & festive variation of my favorite party drink. I’ve had sangria served in a variety of glasses, but I find plain drinking glasses work best. This works with dry wine or semi-sweet wine, my recommendation is St. Julian’s Simply Red.

1 bottle (750 ml) red wine
1 cup orange juice
2 oz (2 shots) white rum
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 lime, thinly sliced
1 cup halved strawberries
ice cubes
additional fruit for garnish, if desired

Place sliced fruit in a large punch bowl or pitcher. Add orange juice then red wine and rum. Stir well (it’s okay if the fruit gets crushed). Chill for at least 2 hours.

Remove fruit from sangria and place in serving glasses with ice cubes. Pour sangria over fruit and ice. Garnish with additional fruit as desired.

To make White Sangria, use white or blush table wine and substitute Peach Schnapps for rum.

Try mixing in other seasonal fruit, such as raspberries, watermelon, or peaches. Top with maraschino cherries and rim glasses with sugar!