This weekend has been a good one for staying indoors and cooking. We're not getting the bad weather the central and western parts of the country are getting, but it's cold and wet and not very inviting outdoors.
Yesterday I whipped up a quick and easy gingerbread recipe from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook I got for Christmas. They placed this recipe under the "cake" section, but I'd be more inclined to list it with the quick breads and muffins. It's something I'd eat for breakfast or a snack rather than dessert.
Anyway, it's a moist, flavorful cake with delightful, spicy bits of crystallized ginger throughout. I used crystallized ginger I found in the bulk section at Wegmans, but I think I prefer the crystallized ginger from King Arthur. If you're having a hard time finding good crystallized ginger, I highly recommend it - and KA sells it already diced - and from experience, I can tell you that dicing crystallized ginger is a pain in the neck.
For dinner, it was yet another recipe off of my list of "to try" recipes from the January issue of Cooking Light and it was yet another winner. This recipe is a little fussy for me - as much as I like to cook, I don't generally have much interest in dredging meat in flour and things like that, but for a weekend meal, I was willing to spend the extra time. I cooked only 6 thighs and the full amount of sauce. The sauce is very flavorful with the lemon and the olives. The cinnamon gives a depth of flavor without competing too much or being overly noticeable. The thighs turned out moist and succulent. Serving the chicken with whole wheat couscous was the perfect opportunity to use up the leftover can of chicken broth since the recipe only calls for one cup of broth. We rounded out the meal with a tossed salad. Delicious and satisfying.
Tonight, DH is taking over in the kitchen and will be whomping up a beef and barley stew. Mmmm...I can't wait. For now, I'm off to the kitchen to go try some whole grain pancakes from the King Arthur cookbook and will report back tomorrow.............
yum. the tagine looks delicious. I'll have to check it out. :)
ReplyDeleteLike you, i find that most gingerbread 'cakes' resemble quick breads more than cake.
I saw that chicken recipe, too, and wondered if it was any good. Thanks for testing it, and providing such a good review. Now it's on my list!
ReplyDeleteThe tagine was something a little different for us - a bit reminiscent of a picata. Hope you both like it if you try it. :)
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