Video: Kitchen hack: How to peel ginger with a spoon

Your recipe calls for fresh ginger, but you’re at a loss for how to remove the papery skin. Do you use a vegetable peeler? A knife? Simply leave the skin on? Oh, the choices.

Whenever you have a recipe that calls for fresh ginger, don’t worry — there is an easy way to peel it before using. Just use a spoon.

Because the skin is so delicate and tissue-like, a spoon can easily scrape it away. And unlike a vegetable peeler or knife, which will inevitably peel too much of the root right along with the skin, a dull spoon will simply lift the skin off. A spoon is also handy for getting into all those nooks and crannies.

Another trick? Try juicing a nub of fresh ginger with your garlic press.

Now that you’ve figured out how to use all that ginger, here’s a great recipe from Hans Röckenwagner that calls for a whole lot of it.

GINGER SCONES

Total time: 45 minutes / Servings: 10
Note: Adapted from Hans Röckenwagner

4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup diced crystallized ginger, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1/2 pound fresh ginger (about 8 2-inch pieces), peeled and puréed, about 1 cup

2 eggs

1 cup heavy cream, divided

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl with a whisk, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the crystallized and puréed ginger until well combined.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and three-quarters cup of the heavy cream. Stir the cream mixture into the combined ingredients just until a soft dough forms, being careful not to overmix.

3. Divide the dough into 10 even portions and roll each into a ball. Place the scones on a parchment-lined baking pan and brush the tops with the remaining heavy cream. Bake the scones for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are golden.

Each serving: 516 calories; 8 grams protein; 58 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 29 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 123 mg. cholesterol; 657 mg. sodium.

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