My dinner plans were to make these meatballs from this recent Smitten Kitchen post, Scallion Meatballs with Soy Ginger Glaze.  But after reading through the recipe I decided to look for a baked meatball recipe (instead of pan fried) with more substance that would serve as a meal and not a glorified appetizer.  That search led me to this recipe from Skinny Taste, Asian Turkey Meatballs with Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce.  So I combined the two, and with a little tweaking here and there I wound up with these.

Serve these meatballs with some rice to soak up the delicious sauce.  We ate them with white rice, but brown would be a great choice, and a healthier one.  Simple steamed broccoli is a perfect side dish.  There is so much flavor in the meatballs that you don’t really need anything else.  I used a mixture of turkey and beef because I had an extra 1/2 pound of lean ground beef from another recipe I wanted to use, but use all turkey if you like.  Enjoy!

Baked Asian Turkey Meatballs with Soy Ginger Sauce

Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup panko crumbs
• 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey
• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tbsp peeled ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 scallions, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 3 tsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Combine ground turkey, beef, panko, egg, salt, scallions, ginger, cilantro, and soy sauce.  Mix with your hands until combined well.
2. Shape 1/4 cup meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish. Repeat with remaining mixture.
3. Bake at 400°F until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.

Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce, reduced sodium
• 1/2 cup white wine (or mirin)
• 1/4 cup peeled ginger, chopped

Directions

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar melts completely.
2. Reduce heat to a medium-low and add soy sauce, wine and ginger.
3. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced, 20-30 minutes.  You can simmer it longer to get a thicker sauce.
4. Serve sauce on top of meatballs and rice.  You can strain the sauce to get rid of the ginger pieces, but I left mine in the sauce.

Since this makes a lot of sturdy dough, make sure to use a stand mixer.  Or make half the recipe so that a hand mixer won’t give up on you.  Or, if you’re looking for an arm workout, mix them up with a big wooden spoon.  Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Beat shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, beat in molasses, and then eggs. Mix until combined.
2. Whisk together flour, soda, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in 2-3 additions, beat until well combined.
4. Roll into golf ball sized balls, roll in sugar, and place on a baking sheet with about 2 inches in between.
5. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.

Living where we do there are limitations on the ingredients I can get my hands on.  I couldn’t find bird chiles, so I didn’t use them and as a result this wasn’t too spicy even with the sambal oelek.  If you really have a problem with spice, then you can leave that out as well.  I also didn’t use the miso, mostly because I was too lazy to look for it!  Since it’s just Ben and I eating dinner, I also like to make just enough for the two of us unless it’s something I know is wonderful left over.  So I changed parts of this recipe to better suit our lifestyle.  Here is the link to the original recipe.

There is something so very special about roasted veggies, and this recipe is no exception.  This is a perfect side for an Asian flavored meal.  Enjoy!

Spicy Asian Roasted Broccoli & Snap Peas

Adapted from finecooking.com

Ingredients

• 2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets
• 8 ounces snap peas (1 bag)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon sambal oelek
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Combine broccoli and snap peas in a 9×13 glass dish and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon sesame oil over vegetables, toss together to coat and sprinkle with salt.
3. Roast for 20 minutes, checking and stirring about half way through.  Vegetable are done when slightly browned.
4. While vegetable are cooking whisk the rest of the ingredients together.
5. When vegetables are done pour sauce over and toss to coat.

Thankfully, I came across a perfect summer side dish recipe from Erin at vittles for the voracious.  This salad would a great accompaniment to the grilled steak and the Asian flavors.

The salad has tons of yummy, crisp vegetables.  It tastes fresh but still has a great rich flavor thanks to the dressing.  You can change this recipe to fit your likes and needs.  Add any other vegetables that you like.  Erin suggests water chestnuts, broccoli florets, snow peas, and asparagus pieces.  Along with the recipe required broccoli slaw and edamame, I added extra purple cabbage and snow peas.

For the dressing I used Brianna’s Ginger Mandarin dressing, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 teaspoon hot chili sauce.  I don’t like a dressing-drenched salad, so this was just enough to get the flavor without losing the vegetables.

Here is Vittles link, and here is my variation.  This is a great salad.  Thanks, Erin!

Asian Vegetable Slaw

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 package (10 oz) broccoli slaw mix
• 1 cup red cabbage, chopped
• 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
• 2 cups shelled edamame
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup blanched snap peas

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup Asian dressing (I used Brianna’s Ginger Mandarin)
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon hot chili sauce

Directions

1. Combine all vegetables (and mandarins) in a large bowl and toss together.
2. In a small bowl, whisk dressing, peanut butter and chili sauce.
3. Pour sauce over the vegetables and toss well.
4. Chill until ready to serve.

The moment I saw this challenge I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.  Steamed pudding.  As in British steamed pudding.  Really?  And get this.  I was supposed to use SUET!  Where would I find suet?  A better question is, what exactly is suet?

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Esther explained on the Daring Bakers site that suet “is the hard but flaky fat found on the inside of a cow or sheep around the kidneys and that area of the body. Suet in its raw form crumbles easily into small chunks so much so that my butcher says it covers his floor in bits if he doesn’t have it taken out as soon as possible. In fact unless he knows he has a customer for it he has the abattoir take it out and throw it away and when I want some he gives it to me for free! It also melts at quite a low temperature, which has an effect on how it works in cooking. In some places such as the UK it is sold processed which basically means it is grated and combined with flour to keep the individual pieces from clumping together, and it becomes a sort of dried out short strands, almost granular in texture.”

I’m pretty sure that I didn’t follow all the rules of this challenge.  I didn’t use suet.  I used butter.  My pudding did not have a crust with filling.  It was more like a cake with fruit topping.  I did not use a traditional pudding mold.  I just used a bowl.  I did, however, steam my pudding just as instructed.  So, if I failed in all other categories, at least I did one thing right.

Overall I was very pleased with the outcome of this pudding.  I found the recipe on the blog “In My Kitchen“, but the recipe originally came from Martha Stewart.  Here is the Martha link.

There are quite a few components to this dessert, and trying to complete them all AND steam the pudding in one evening after you’ve gotten home from work and cooked dinner isn’t exactly easy.  I was a bit frazzled, as my husband will attest to.  But everything worked out and we ate pudding at 9:30pm last night.  The final product was worth the work and the wait.

The flavors are quite autumnal; caramelized apples, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and molasses.  Despite this I had absolutely no problem enjoying this dessert in late April.

The first step is making caramel and pouring it in to the bottom of your dish.

Then you create an applesauce using half of your chopped apples, sugar and spices.

Next, sauté the other half of the apples in a little butter and sugar.  These apples go on top of the caramel.

The applesauce you made earlier gets mixed into your cake batter and spread on top of the apples.

I didn’t make any changes to the ingredients.  I did have to make do with the baking vessels I owned.  A pudding mold is not something I have in my kitchen, and I probably never will.  In a search for pudding mold substitutes I discovered that I could use any kind of bowl that would be safe to sit in simmering water for close to 2 hours.  Most of my glass bowls were too wide to fit inside my largest pot.  So, I was forced to use a 2 quart Corningware casserole.  It was a bit too small for all the filling, so I had to use about 3/4 of a cup less batter than the recipe made.

I used a circle of buttered parchment on top of the pudding, then covered the bowl with two layers of foil.

When it came time to lower this into the pot of simmering water I realized that this task could not be accomplished unless I had something to help me lower the bowl without burning myself.

As advised by Esther, I made a handle out of kitchen twine and used that to lower the bowl and then to remove it after cooking.

This made my life much easier than it would have been if I’d tried to use my hands or a variety of utensils.  I highly recommend this if you do not have a pudding mold with a lid and handle.

Here is the pudding after its 1 hour and 40 minute steam.  Thanks to my trusty twine handle, it was a cinch to remove.  I was worried that it would still be gooey in the middle since it is hard to tell by looking if it is baked through.  Thankfully it was perfect, and came out of the bowl without any issues.  Isn’t it just beautiful?  The apple chunks on top covered in caramel are so pretty and mouth watering.  I couldn’t wait to dig in.

If I had been really on top of things, I would have served this with fresh whipped cream.  Not being prepared, I only had Cool Whip to serve along side the warm pudding, so that is what I used.

The pudding by itself doesn’t really need a dollop of anything though.  The caramel apple topping is delectable, and the soft pudding below is delicious and full of spice.  Altogether yummy.

Thank you again, Daring Bakers (and Esther!), for making me bake something I would never have thought to try otherwise.  And, to be quite honest, I kinda thought I was going to hate it.  How wrong I was.  The results were delicious!

Steamed Caramel Apple Pudding

Ingredients

• 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)

Directions

1. Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a small, heavy saucepan; set over medium heat. Cover, and cook until sugar has melted. Remove cover, and continue cooking, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar turns a deep amber. Carefully pour caramel into pudding mold; tip so caramel coats mold evenly. Set mold aside.
2. Place half of the apple chunks in a small saucepan, and add 2 tablespoons water, 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Place saucepan over low heat, and cook, covered, until apples fall apart, 10 to 12 minutes. Uncover, and cook 5 minutes more, stirring often. Set the applesauce aside.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saute pan; add remaining apple chunks and remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Cook over medium-high heat until apples turn brown on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes. Place apples in the bottom of the mold, distributing evenly so they reach up the sides.
4. Choose a pot large enough to hold the pudding mold with a 2-inch space all around. Place a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel in the bottom of pot; fill with enough water to reach halfway up sides of mold. Cover pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together 8 tablespoons butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs and molasses; mix well. Add the reserve applesauce, and mix well.
6. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir in breadcrumbs. Add to the applesauce mixture. Stir batter until just combined.
7. Fill pudding mold with batter; clamp on lid. Place mold in a pot of simmering water. Cover pot, and cook until a toothpick inserted into middle of pudding comes out clean, about 1 hour 40 minutes. Check water often, keeping it at a steady, low simmer. Transfer mold to a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes.
8. When ready to serve, invert the pudding onto a serving plate. If any of the apple chunks stick to the mold, remove them, and rearrange them on the top; slice.

I found the recipe on Epicurious.  It is a basic scone recipe consisting of simple and pure ingredients: chilled butter, flour, cream, salt, sugar and baking powder.  They stray from the basic scone with the addition of lemon zest and chopped candied ginger.  The only problem I had with these was that the dough seemed a little too crumbly, so I added a bit more cream.  Be careful not to over-mix the dough, or the scones will end up a little tough.  Other than that, this is an easy recipe that produces great results.

Candied Ginger Scones

(courtesy of epicurious.com)

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest (about 1/2 lemon)
• 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
• 4 1/2 ounces candied ginger, finely chopped into 1/4-inch pieces to equal 2/3 cup
• ¾ – 1 cup heavy cream, plus extra for brushing the tops of the scones

Directions

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder, and pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the lemon zest and butter, and pulse on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is pale yellow and the consistency of fine meal.
3. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the ginger. Make a well in the center and pour in the cream. Using one hand, draw in the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
4. Wash and dry your hands and dust them with flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead a few times to gather it into a ball. Roll or pat the dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Cut out the circles, cutting as closely together as possible and keeping the trimmings intact.
5. Gather the scraps, pat and press the pieces back together, and cut out the remaining dough. Place the scones 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Brush the tops with the remaining cream.
7. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, until the surface cracks and they are slightly browned.