Poke Tacos Monkeypod
Tomato Tart - Jose Andres
LuLu Dog treats
Soup Alexis Alvarez Armas
Cafe Cubano
Riva @ Gritti Palace
Honey is plentiful around The Orange Bee abode. Assorted jars sit on the kitchen counters, more than a couple of dozen jars are stored in a rigged up “warm” refrigerator in the barn, and full frames fill the hives out in the apiary. You might think that I would take honey for granted. Quite the contrary – I value every drop of the precious sweet, amber-colored liquid. Just ask my man, Dan. He tends to be a bit messy when pouring honey onto his biscuits so to prevent his suffering from my whining about the wasted drops of honey I gave him his own personal plastic “honey bear” to easily get the honey from point A to point B without any spillage. Now we are both happier at the breakfast table.
Honey is a key ingredient in many recipes around here too. I encourage you to cook with honey. Add it to your baked goods, salad dressings, winter veggies such as squash, pumpkin and sweet potatoes, or stir it into your tea or coffee. Honey bees work very hard to make this amazing food. I think daily about how hard they work and how miraculous they are. If you are a honey lover please be mindful of the toil of a honey bee. Respect bees and their surroundings. Help honey bees survive by keeping a pesticide free yard, planting flowers, bushes and trees that attract bees for pollination, and support your local farmers.
Today I’m sharing a few of my favorite recipes using honey as well as some photos from this years honey harvest. Remember honey is good for digestion, burns and scrapes, promotes healthy and smooth skin, and works wonders for allergies. As Winnie the Pooh says, “The only reason for being a bee that I know of is to make honey…. And the only reason for making honey, is so as I can eat it.”
Enjoy!
Honey-Rosemary Shortbread
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons mild honey
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Garnish: small rosemary sprigs
Special equipment: parchment paper
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and rosemary in a bowl.
Mix together butter, honey, and confectioners sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at low-speed, then add flour mixture and mix until dough resembles a coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Gather dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until it just comes together, about 8 times. Halve dough and form each half into a 5-inch disk.
Roll out 1 disk (keep remaining dough at room temperature) between 2 sheets of parchment into a 9-inch round (trim as necessary). Remove top sheet of parchment and transfer dough on bottom sheet of parchment to a baking sheet. Score dough into 8 wedges by pricking dotted lines with a fork, then mark edges decoratively. Arrange rosemary sprigs (if using) decoratively on top of dough, pressing lightly to help adhere, and sprinkle dough with 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar.
Bake shortbread in middle of oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Slide shortbread on parchment to a rack and cool 5 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a cutting board and cut along score marks with a large heavy knife.
Make another shortbread with remaining dough.
* Shortbread keeps in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.
Honey-Glazed Carrots
Ingredients:
1 1/2 quarts water
5 cups thinly sliced carrots
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp. honey (fresh and local if possible)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. grated orange rind
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add carrots, cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Place carrots and remaining ingredients in a large bowl, toss gently.
Honey-Lemon Custard with Marinated Summer Fruit
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
4 tbsp. honey, divided
3 tbsp. Sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 2″ strips of lemon peel
6 tbsp. fresh lemon juice, divided
Place 4-6 ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Heat cream with 2 tbsp. honey and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until just beginning to simmer. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Add lemon peel; remove from heat. Let steep for 5 minutes (cream should register 160* on an instant read thermometer). Remove vanilla bean and lemon peel. Gently stir in 5 tbsp. lemon juice.
Divide custard among ramekins and chill to set for 1 hour. Can be covered and chilled up to 1 day.
While custard chills, prepare chosen fruit. Mix together 2 tbsp. honey and 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Pour over fruit and let sit about an hour. Serve fruit alongside or on top of custard.
Honey Harvest 2012
cecilia says
Oh that honey rosemary shortbread .. I am gong to make that, i have just brought my rosemary bush in out of the cold and i DO have honey! c
The Orange Bee says
Aren’t we lucky to have our delicious honey always at hand? This is the easiest recipe and you’ll love it! IT’s still warm here and my bees are still buzzing about – but this next week the night temps are predicted to drop into the 30’s….yikes!
Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide says
Oh honey! As in look at all that honey, of course. Those shortbreads look amazing. Great photos of the process too.
The Orange Bee says
Thank you! I love looking at all that honey!
sallybr says
What a wonderful post, love all the recipes, particularly the honey shortbread with rosemary, quite enticing!
When I lived in Paris, I was amazed by the bees that make honey in the city – a honey that sells for big money, by the way. Bees are indeed amazing creatures!
The Orange Bee says
SO nice to hear compliments of bees from others! Bees make honey in the city and the country….ahhhh to be a Parisian bee!
Manda (@Manda02426239) says
I’m curious to know if you sell your honey and the general area in Texas that you live. Not trying to be nosy, I just want some local honey that I don’t have to worry about breaking during shipment :). I’m in the East Texas area and several internet and phone book searches have turned up nada on a local beekeeper.
aggiesangels at yahoo dot com
The Orange Bee says
Hi Manda,
Yes I do sell my honey and I live in Forney – east of Dallas. Where in east Texas do you live? I travel from home to Nacogdoches occasionally to visit my daughter. I bet we could arrange something! Here is my email:
linda@theorangebee.com
Contact me via email and we’ll see what we can set up. My honey is delicious 🙂