Ginger Spread

[josephine]

Picked up a jar of Ginger Spread from TJ's last weekend. A little smear on brie iss delish. What other uses??

Thanks

[Julesong]

Okay, after reading all about it, now I want to find a recipe for making it at home. I've done a search online and have come up with lots of links to talk about TJ's product and an occasional discussion here at Chowhound, but no recipes on making it yourself.

Anybody have one?

I haven't purchased any of TJ's myself... can you tell me the ingredient list on the jar?

[HillJ]

off my jar, Ingredients: ginger, cane sugar. One ounce contains 80 calories, 0g fat, 21g carbs.

[Julesong]

Thanks so much! :)

I went to TJ's yesterday and looked for it, but apparently they don't stock the spread here in the Puget Sound stores. Bummer!

[paulj]

I think TJ dropped a number of Chinese made products a while back, including this one. But as best any us can tell, what they sold was from Gingerpeople, just with the TJ label (same jar). I found the Gingerpeople brand at Manna health food store in Mountlake Terrace. The Gingerpeople website claims their products are sold at a number of stores and chains, including Whole Foods.

The spread is quite sweet but with a good ginger bite. Texture is smooth, with a slight grain, about the stiffness of marmalade.

[toodie jane]

paulj, are you saying Gingerpeople product is made in China?

[paulj]

That's what it says on the jar seal.

Their web site talks about US and Australian facilities for baked items and crystalized ginger, but the spread appears to come from China.

[goodhealthgourmet]

i was just about to complain that i resent ever having seen this thread because it got me hooked on the stuff - i eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar! but i'm *very* glad i noticed your post, paulj...if it's really from China, i'm done with it.

[Julesong]

Can you tell me what the serving size on the label is?

Is the spread very sweet?

[HillJ]

I have the Ginger People version and you can read the labels by visiting:
http://www.gingerpeople.com/index.html

[Julesong]

Okee, the Ginger People say of the spread: "New Ginger Spread is made from young stem ginger that is steeped in cane sugar syrup and ground to a fine paste."

http://www.gingerpeople.com/order_spread.html

I'm going to experiment and see what I can come up with. :) Finding young ginger will be the most challenging, but I have loads of Asian markets around here to look through.

On a completely different note and only slightly related, I feel compelled to share my recipe for New Ginger Wine, which is great for the holidays!

--------------------

** New Ginger Wine - Christmas & Holiday Ginger Wine **

I haven't had traditional ginger wine, but I decided to make a sort of infused ginger wine of my own, and the below is what I came up with. I tried it tonight, and YUM! :) Traditional ginger wine, produced before the holidays from scratch, is popular in some parts of England and Scotland. While this version isn't exactly traditional, this is a tasty addition to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays! Prep time includes letting it sit before serving.

1 day | 1 day prep

SERVES 5 , 1 750ml bottle

* 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind (zest of 1 lemon
) * 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 (750 ml) bottle white wine
* 1/3 cup honey or golden syrup, to taste
* 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
* 1/4 cup raisins, chopped roughly (can use mixture of regular and golden raisings)
* 1 ounce brandy or cognac, to taste

1. In a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat, combine the lemon zest and juice, wine, honey or golden syrup, ginger, and raisins.
2. Raise the heat to medium-high, stirring constantly until the honey or golden syrup is melted, which will take about 4 minutes, but do not allow to boil.
3. Add the brandy or Cognac and place into glass container.
4. Refrigerate at least one day (or two, to taste), then strain the wine and serve in small glasses; it will be slightly cloudy but very tasty and very good for helping digest those large dinners everybody had!
5. Note: honey and golden syrup have different tastes, and I like both. It's nice to have the both versions of the wine with made, for different folks' tastes!

http://www.recipezaar.com/New-Ginger-...

[HillJ]

Julesong, good luck and thank you for sharing the wine recipe/link. Happy Holidays!

[paulj]

I made something approximating this spread by putting fresh ginger and sugar in the food processor. To get the ginger a bit finer, I gave it a further blend with an immersion blender.

Mine isn't as stiff as the commercial stuff.. I'm not sure if that's because I didn't use as much sugar, or if the commercial is cooked down some.

[catzen]

I mix a spoonful with 1/4 cups of chocolate chips, microwave it for 1 minute then add frozen raspberries. A decadent, quick weeknight dessert.

[Katie in Berkeley]

I use the recipe that's attached to the jar to make ginger butter. It's a stick of unsalted butter blended with a tablespoon, maybe?, of the ginger spread and MAN has that won some converts around my house.

[oakjoan]

I bought a jar of Ginger People spread recently and used a dollop in a poached pear recipe from last month's COTM: A. Waters' The Art of Simple Food. It was just water, sugar and lemon juice. The spread was a great addition.

[HillJ]

Ginger spread is delicious swirl into cheesecake batter right before baking or as a topping after chilled.

In addition to Greek yogurt, ginger spread is tasty added to cottage cheese.

Added to chocolate fondue is delicious too.

[IrishInTexas]

For a change - great as a glaze on salmon - spread on top, bake at 400 degrees for 20ish minutes. If you can't find Ginger Spread in your local market - go to GingerPeople.com

[MaggieRSN]

I am *crazy* about ginger and use it in its various forms regularly. I haven't seen the Ginger Spread, but I understand it's something like ginger & sugar syrup? If so, I'd think some of the ways I use ginger marmalade would work with the spread, too. I use the marmalade as a quick glaze for roasted chicken, sometimes with either another spice mixed in--e.g., Thai curry paste, for extra heat--or maybe mixing in a little Balsamic for a nice, caramel-ly color.

Also, I like to make a chunky apple "sauce" by just cooking down apples and a little maple syrup. Sometimes I cut back on the maple syrup and toss in the ginger marmalade, instead...maybe the spread would work there, too?

[girlwonder88]

I asked this question a few weeks ago-the one suggestion I received that I've tried so far was to heat it up a bit and spoon over some goat cheese, then spread on crackers. It was fabulous!

[Emme]

Make this: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo... then whisk together rice wine vinegar with yogurt and ginger spread. Toss w/ ingredients to make yummy waldorf.

Add to cream cheese frosting and top carrot cake cupcakes.

Pulse to a paste in a food processor: carrots, shallots, ginger spread, ginger (optional), soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, and a little water... great spread for tuna. You can turn into a dressing by adding a little more seasoned rice wine vinegar, olive oil, and soy sauce.

BBQ Sauce as great spread for chicken

1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup ginger spread
2 tsp ginger
1/2 cup water
8 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil, or a little less

Saute the garlic in olive oil. Add the honey, mustard, vinegar, ginger, spread, water and salt and pepper. Cook til combined. Adjust flavors to taste. Simmer to let the flavors come together. Pulse in blender until the chunks disappear. Then blend to emulsify.

[violabratsche]

If it's similar to the ginger marmalade that I can get here, I've used a couple of spoons of it, put into the pan, on top of cooked carrots or beets, and I suppose it would also be good on cooked cubed sweet potatoes, or butternut squash, as a glaze.

AnnieG

[godsfavdiva]

I LOVE TJ's ginger spread...but it's no longer being delivered to the East Coast...apparently everyone else didn't share my adoration of this product. Are there any alternatives...I need the heat/sweet combo. By the way, I love it w/cheese and crackers but mixed into a good spaghetti sauce, made from scratch or the jar, is truly an amazing combination!! The Ginger spread is also fabulous in your best chicken chili recipe!! Thanks in advance for any assistance!!

[hungrydyke]

Haven't tried the TJs version but I like the Ginger People one on peanut butter sandwiches. It's interesting with cheese also.

[AppleSister]

I don't know if this is the similar to the sweet ginger spread by the "Ginger People," but I love it mixed in with some Greek yogurt in the mornings and chopped nuts.

[Non Cognomina]

This is exactly the same product.

[litchick]

I don't like things that are too sweet in the morning, so I make some plain oats with a spoonful of the ginger spread stirred in -- it's just the right amount of sweet with a good kick of ginger, very tasty and a good way to wake up in the AM.

MMRuth, I also use it as a tea -- great minds, right? ;)

Also seems like it would be a good base for a glaze -- chicken, pork, even lamb.

[MMRuth]

Some one gave me a jar - wonderful with hot water and a squeeze of lemon - as a morning wake me up or, I imagine, good w/o the lemon for an upset tummy.

[allyally]

Love the ginger spread! A couple of good uses I've found was for Panini (chicken/pork are great -- with brie would be outstanding!) and Shortbread linzer cookies (instead of traditional raspberry jam). For simpler use, I like it slathered on TJs sourdough english muffins. zing!

[MaggieRSN]

What a great idea, re the Linzer Tortes, ally. I was thinking of making them for Christmas this year. Half a batch of raspberry and half a batch of ginger sounds delicious *and* festive on the serving platters. Thanks.