Justin Woods, head chef at The Castle Green Hotel, Kendal, and Greenhouse restaurant.

Question:

I fancy making a pudding using ginger what would chef suggest?

Jo Beck, Lyth Valley

 

Justin says...

Ginger is basically available in three different forms, fresh ginger root, sweet stem ginger and ground ginger. For a dessert I would use the stem ginger as it’s sweet taste works fantastically well with lots of flavours. Go for some roasted pears with ginger and lime! Peel four large pears and poach in some white wine, water, sugar and cinnamon sticks until they are just cooked. Allow to cool, then cut in halves and remove the core. In a shallow but frying pan, gently heat 100g of caster sugar until it starts to brown slightly, then place you halved pears flat side down into the sugar. Add a large knob of butter, then add one nice piece of grated stem ginger and the juice and zest of two limes. Your pears should start to colour nicely in the heat of the sugar and take on a lovely golden brown colour. You may need to add a little water from time to time if it starts to get to syrupy. Finish the pears in the oven for about 10 minutes. Serve with some whipped cream flavoured with some honey and lime zest. Just be very careful with the hot sugar when cooking your pears.