The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

Ricotta Coffee Cake with a Chocolate, Lemon, and Double Ginger Filling

I made this yesterday for Easter brunch at my cousin’s house. 

I’d been asked to make this coffee cake, but I didn’t have pears or pecans, and I felt rebellious, so I decided to make something different.  But still a coffee cake.

I sort of made it up as I went along.  I started with a recipe for an apple cake using ricotta cheese that I found online, and then I changed a bunch of things and ended up with this.

Fortunately I took notes.

Lemon Ginger Marmalade

I’ve never been a fan of marmalade.  I think maybe I’d tried some when I was a kid and the slight bitterness of it turned me off.  I probably had it at my maternal grandparents’ house.  They were English, so, you know, they were required by law to have at least one jar of marmalade (MAAHHM-uh-lade) in the house at all times.  I think I tried orange.

But last month, when I was scrambling to make Christmas gifts for people, I came upon a recipe for Lemon-Ginger Marmalade, and it sounded really interesting.  I’ve got an English cousin living nearby, and I figured he and his family (the rest of whom are Yanks), might like it…maybe my mother…and I forget who else I gave a jar to. 

So I made it.  And this morning, just before I started typing this post, I opened the one remaining jar, made some toast, and tried it.

Know what?

It’s good stuff!

Upside Down Apple Gingerbread

 I felt like making gingerbread the other day.  I also needed to do something with half a dozen apples I'd bought the week before.  They were on the mealy side, and no one wanted to eat them as they were.  

Rhubarb Ginger Jam

It's thick and rhubarb- tart and cooked-sugar-sweet and has a little heat from the fresh ginger and a little something friendly from the vanilla.

It's terrific.  I'm already thinking of ways to use this, and I'm also already thinking I should have made more.

Guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed when I go to the Farmers' Market on Friday.

But back to the beginning....

Scallion and Red Onion Pancakes with Ginger Dipping Sauce

Or you can use chives...just scallions, just red onions, shallots, or whatever combination you want.

The recipe isn't mine - I found it on the Food Network website - from an episode of East Meets West with Ming Tsai.  If you want a copy of the recipe, here it is.  I pretty much followed it exactly except that I used a combination of the baby scallions and the young red onions. 

The first time I made these I used wild chives that were growing in among the horseradish and the asparagus.  I didn't take pictures, though.  And they were so good, I knew I'd need to make them again and this time TAKE PICTURES.

So here we go.

Ginger-Scallion Red Snapper - Whole, and on the Grill

The other day Bill brought home a 2 1/2 lb whole red snapper from our local Whole Foods.  (And yes, in case you were wondering, those are Julia's little fingers on the left.  When Bill told her what he had, she asked "Can I have the eyeballs?!")

Grilled Halibut with Baby Shallot, Garlic and Ginger Marinade

 

We're growing shallots in the garden this year, and above are the seedlings that were thinned from the rest of their siblings in their square plot of ground outside.  They look like tiny scallions or chives, and taste similar. 

I'd picked up a just-over-two-pounds piece of halibut at the store on Friday, and we were planning to grill that Saturday night when my sister's kids slept over.  And so at the last minute, I thought - hey!  Baby shallots!  I could use them with the halibut somehow!  (I'm clever like that.)

Stir-Fried Fish with Ginger

Bill made a fabulous dinner on Friday - all Asian dishes.  We used to cook a lot of Asian dishes when we were first together. 

(Interruption:  Bill and Alex are fishing this morning off the rocks and Bill just called to tell me Alex caught the first scup - a keeper - about 12 inches long.  GO ALEX!  Bill caught one too.  They're going to fish for another half hour or so and then go swimming and then come home.  Yay!  Fresh fish for dinner!)

Okay, back to the program.