Ode to Pat and ginger

So my friend Pat is great. He was the jumpstart to this online food project. He asked me for some recipes one day, and while I started going through my many cookbooks (I have about thirty) I decided to get to it and start blogging. Well, he is really great, and this post is completely composed by him, so you should send thanks his way .

Preparing fresh ginger root:

There are a lot of fresh ingredients that don't cost a whole lot but will make a world of difference in your cooking. Ginger is a tangy root that is available almost anywhere fresh produce is sold. Look for smooth skin and an even diameter to make preparation a cinch. "Antler horns" are cool looking but a pain to peel. A thumb of ginger (a piece about four inches long that looks like... well,) costs like 15 cents and is enough for four or five gingerrific meals, more if you're a spice-a-phobe. What follows is the easiest way to get this thumb-looking root into a form your can put in your food.

You'll get a taste for your level of ginger tolerance after a couple meals, but I generally find an inch long piece is enough for a four-serving meal. It's easiest to prepare ginger with a small, sharp, non-serrated knife, like a paring knife. Slice off the dried up end where it was broken off, then slice off half an inch or an inch, depending on how much you need. You can peel off the skin with a potato peeler or just knife it off.

Cut it in half lengthwise and put the flat part down. If the root is really thick you might have to cut it into thirds. Ginger is a fibrous root, so by cutting lengthwise you'll be cutting along the fibers. Cut the ginger as thinly as possible into spears, then slice the spears. This is where it's helpful to have a sharp knife, since you won't get caught up in the fibers but can cut through them cleanly. Basically you want to mince the ginger into little bits the size of minced garlic. If the bits are too big you'll get these chunks of ultra-zingy ginger in your food.

You can also grate ginger but I find that it turns into a pulpy mess and you always get down to a piece that's too small to grate without grating your fingertips, so I prefer just mincing it with a paring knife. Once you get the hang of it it takes like a minute. Throw some in some white rice or oatmeal to perk up an otherwise blah dish. I'll post some other recipes to utilize your new ginger-mincing skills in the upcoming days.