June 9 - Honey
The Carefree Gourmet by Joyce McCombs
As I was out watering the flowers the other day, a group of hungry
bees could hardly wait for me and my hose to get out of the way.
It got me thinking about honey and how it’s been a part of the
kitchen for centuries, so get ready for a little history lesson,
and some sweetly easy recipes to follow.
Cave paintings in Spain from 7,000BC depict the earliest known
record of hives and organized beekeeping, but fossils of honey
bees date back about 150 million years, which is even older than
the Carefree Spouse, who I often call “honey” because he is so
very sweet.
Written records of keeping bees in hives were found in the Temple
of the Sun erected in 2,400BC near Cairo, Egypt. The bee symbol
was favored by the pharaohs, and often symbolized royalty. The bee
was the sign of the king of Lower Egypt during the First Dynasty
(3,200BC). However, I could find no record of the earliest
reported bee sting or how loud the kid hollered at the time.
Egyptians also carved beautiful vials our of jade and marble to
hold the golden gift of bees to be offered as a gift to their
gods. They also used honey as an ingredient in embalming fluid –
and sorry, no recipes for that in today’s column! Both the
Egyptians and the Greeks made honey cakes for burial tombs, so the
dearly departed could enjoy a snack on their long journey to the
afterlife.
The Greeks ate lots of honey, and I am personally very glad some
ancient cook invented Baklava, which is about the most decadent
non chocolate dessert I know. Greeks believed honey gave health
and strength to the body, clarity to the mind, and promoted
serenity of spirit. That’s a lot to expect from one product, but
since it’s a truly organic, a natural antiseptic, beautiful to
look at and a delight to eat, I can see their point.
When they weren’t out conquering and pillaging, the Romans also
used honey as a gift to their many gods and they used it
extensively in cooking. Beekeeping flourished throughout the Roman
empire and once Christianity was established, honey and beeswax
production increased greatly to meet the demand for church
candles.
Bee symbols were often used as emblems of power and industry. Pope
Urban VIII liked having symbols of bees around to remind him to be
strong and steady as he served the Church. Napoleon scattered bee
symbols around on his tents, personal flags, royal robes and even
the jewels that he gave to Empress Josephine. And way back in the
third century B.C. the Greek city of Ephesus used the bee emblem
on coins.
Medical use of honey goes back many ages and a lot of that lore is
confirmed by modern studies. A spoonful of honey a day is known to
reduce your body's susceptibility to infections and boost
antioxidants. It’s a great source of vitamins and minerals, such
as vitamin B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and pantothenic acid.
I’ve long known best home made cough soother is equal parts of
warm honey, lemon and whiskey. (I said EQUAL parts.) And a
teaspoon of honey often soothes a sore throat.
Because honey attracts and retains moisture, it’s used in beauty
products to maintain softness, suppleness and elasticity. You can
add a quarter cup to your bathtub to sooth sunburned skin. And a
teaspoon in 4 cups of warm water makes a dandy hair rinse that
leaves a lovely shine. Two tablespoons of honey mixed with two
teaspoons of milk makes a soothing facial mask that rinses clean
and leaves skin soothed from wind or sun burn, too.
And now to cooking with this natural sweetener. You can substitute
honey for sugar in just about anything, but you’ll need to reduce
the liquid in a recipe by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey you use.
In baked goods add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda for every cup of
honey used and bake at a temperature 25 degrees lower than
instructions to prevent over browning. In cookie recipes using
eggs and no additional liquid, increase the flour by 2 tablespoons
or more per cup of honey to give a good dough consistency.
Here’s half a dozen honey tips I’ve found useful:
1. It can be a challenge to measure the sticky stuff, so for easy
measuring, coat your measuring cup lightly with vegetable oil or
nonstick cooking spray first, and it will slide out perfectly.
2. Honey's acidic nature prevents fruit from turning brown, so try
adding a light coating to sliced fresh fruit a spoonful to fruit
salads.
3. For an easy and tasty glaze for ham or turkey, turn the oven to
225 the last hour and baste with honey every 10 to 15 minutes.
4. This is tried and true CG secret I know I haven’t shared
before. I add honey, one teaspoon at a time, to the vats of chili
I make for the Forestry crew every summer. It cuts the acidity of
the tomato paste, boosts the chili powder to a new dimension and
gets friendly with the onions in a way I have never been able to
figure out. I just know it works, and I bring home an empty crock
pot every time.
5. Warm honey on a single scoop of vanilla ice cream, topped with
almonds, costs $6.99 at a certain fancy restaurant in Seattle. I
don’t have to tell you that Northern Lights ice cream topped with
Alaska honey is a million times better, and you don’t have to use
valet parking afterwards, either.
6. The fastest icing this side of none for cupcakes is this:
Soften an 8 ounce package of cream cheese and whip it with 1/4 cup
of honey and a pinch of salt until smooth. Also makes a dandy
filling between store bought gingersnap cookies or graham
crackers.
Finally, don’t panic if your honey crystallizes – it happens to
everyone and it’s nothing to worry about. Also called
“granulation”, this natural process doesn’t affect the taste or
purity of honey in the least, and honey never spoils.. To
re-liquefy honey place the open glass or can container in a pan of
hot water stirring now and then until all crystals melt.
Chicken Wings
It was my pleasure to make these for Delta Area Forestry last week
and rumor has it they were gone in record time. The honey is a
perfect compliment to the salty sauces and makes a shiny but not
sticky glaze. Even better if you can marinate them overnight.
12 to 15 split wings, rinsed and set aside in large bowl or zip
top bag
Mix together:
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons Terriyaki sauce
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
Pour over wings and marinate for one hour, turning twice so all
wings are evenly coated. Bake 375 for 1 hour on foil lined cookie
sheet. Turn halfway through cooking time and baste with any
remaining sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve warm.
Honey Glazed Carrots
A classic side dish that goes with everything, especially good
with barbecued anything.
1 pound baby carrots
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
Boil carrots for 20 minutes in salted water. Drain well and return
to stove over medium heat and add:
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
Add remaining ingredients to carrots and bring to boil for one
minute. Remove from heat and stir until glaze evenly coats
carrots.
Festival Fruit Salad
Another great side dish, but don’t be surprised if it takes the
place of dessert!
5 chopped, unpeeled red & green apples
1 cup canned pineapple chunks, drained
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
Combine all ingredients and chill before serving.
Honey Roasted Nuts
Add some dried fruit and sesame sticks to these tasty tidbits for
a high energy trail mix.
6 cups peanuts or a combination of pecans, almonds, cashews
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted nuts)
Melt honey and butter, then pour over nuts and mix well. Spread on
cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and cinnamon. Bake at 350 for
15 to 20 minutes stirring every five minutes until golden. Spread
mixture onto waxed paper and cool completely. Break nuts apart and
store in airtight container.
Easy Baklava
I haven’t tried this yet, but it’s on my agenda for the week. What
a relief I don’t have to mess with those darn puff pastry sheets!
“Real” Baklava is labor intensive and complicated, and the amount
of butter most recipes call for is scary. This may be Baklava
“light” but it sure sounds good and looks easy. Let me know what
you think!
Two 8 ounce cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
3 to 4 cups finely chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Heat oven to 350. Unroll one can of dough into well sprayed 9x13
baking pan. Press dough over bottom and 1/2-inch up sides to form
crust, making sure perforations are pressed out smoothly. Bake for
5 minutes. Remove from oven.
In large bowl, combine nuts, sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture
over baked crust. Unroll second crescent roll dough and spread
over top, making sure to press perforations out as in crust. With
a sharp knife tip, score top dough to form a diamond pattern.
In a small saucepan, combine
2 cups honey
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour HALF evenly over top of
dough. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown, then
drizzle remaining honey mixture over top of hot baklava. Cool
completely and cut into diamond shape pieces.
Honey-Blonde
Brownies
If for some reason you need a change from chocolate, then go to
the doctor at once! Or make a batch of these sweet delights and
see if they fit the bill.
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Preheat over to 350. Mix all ingredients together. Spread into
well sprayed 8 inch square pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, but only
until a slight imprint shows when touched with finger. Don't over
bake. Before cooling, cut into bars.
Honey Banana Bread
My last attempt at banana bread was a huge disaster. My very kind
co-worker, Nancy King, insisted it tasted great and that maybe it
was my oven that was the problem, bless her heart. I promise to
not palm off any more culinary mishaps to the Library staff (even
though they are all the least critical girls you can imagine) and
next time I bake bread, this is the delicious sounding recipe I’ll
try.
1 cup honey
2 Tablespoons shortening
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1/4 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
sugar
Preheat oven to 325. Stir together all ingredients, except
walnuts, until just mixed. Add walnuts last, then pour into well
greased loaf pan and sprinkle sugar on top of batter. Bake for one
hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10
minutes in pan, then remove and cool completely before slicing.
And finally, I heard the dreaded “I’m SO Bored!” phrase from a
local little rascal the other day – hasn’t school only been out a
couple weeks? Maybe it’s time to get in the kitchen and whip up a
batch of this edible play dough.
Summer Fun Dough
WASH YOUR HANDS. Yes, with SOAP. Then do this:
Mix together:
1 cup smooth peanut butter,
1/2 cup honey
Using your hands, and adding just a bit at a time, mix in:
2 cups nonfat dry milk
Mix carefully just until it feels soft and is easy to shape – you
might not need to use the whole two cups of dry milk. Mold in to
interesting NON boring shapes like cars and trucks, flowers and
animals, your little sister’s head, or your dog’s tail. Use cookie
cutters, plastic knives and forks and a rolling pin to get
creative. It will keep a day or two in a covered container in the
refrigerator, but it gets too hard to work with after that and you
have to eat it all up!
Next time it’s my turn to be very selfish and talk about a certain
librarian/food editor/Carefree person who will be celebrating her
final fourth decade birthday (sigh) and what she wants to make or
have to eat on that particular day, besides angel food cake and
strawberries, I mean. Think sunshine!
