A trip through Kansas City gave me the chance to enjoy an excellent meal at Gates, one of the city's best known BBQ emporiums. Gates has several locations throughout the metro area. I visited what I assume was their original location near downtown. The atmosphere is very gracious. You order and pick up your food at the cafeteria line, then proceed to the dining area. A hostess stopped by to remind me that she could pick up anything I needed from either the food line or from the well-stocked bar at the attached lounge.
This huge assortment of food is the mixed meat plate: ham, pork ribs, brisket. My favorite was probably the ham, something that you don't always see at BBQ establishments. The sauce is subtly flavorful with a kiss of cumin. The fries were excellent and plentiful. I left very satisfied, moving a little more slowly than I came in thanks to the enormous meal.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...


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