The Healing Powers of Honey (11 page)

Read The Healing Powers of Honey Online

Authors: Cal Orey

Rare Hawaiian Smoothie
1 medium papaya
2 small bananas
¼ cup apple juice
¼ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons Rare
Hawaiian Organic
White Honey
1 tablespoon peanut
butter
1 tablespoon nutritional
yeast
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 pinch of sea salt
6 ice cubes
Blend all ingredients until smooth. Delight yourself and your friends with approximately three 8-ounce servings of this delicious, nutritious Rare Hawaiian Smoothie!
(
Source:
Volcano Island Honey Company.)
HONEY CRÈMES
Creamed honey is a form of the nectar of the gods that you'll fancy because of its texture and delectable taste. Honey crèmes are blended with fruits or spices. A super bonus: These gems stay smooth without refrigeration and can be savored by the spoonful or paired with a variety of edibles. Here's just a taste of what you can get from the hive.
Honey Crème
Flavor
Uses
Apricot Crème
Notes of apricot
Toast, scones, muffins, pancakes, waffles, coffees, and teas
Blackberry Crème
Blackberries mixed in pure honey
Biscuits, bagels, and hot beverages
Clover Crème
All-natural honey
French toast, breads, muffins, and scones
Cranberry Crème
Sweet-tart cranberries
Tea breads, muffins, biscuits, and oatmeal
Raspberry Crème
Raspberries mixed in pure honey
Topping for waffles and pound cake
Spiced Crème
Pure whipped honey, with cinnamon and other spices
Mixed with cream cheese for a topping for bagels and as a dip for apples and ginger-breads
(
Source:
Honey Ridge Farms.)
Mix It Up
Flavored/fruited honey is honey that has fruit, coloring, or flavoring added. Infused honey is a honey that has had flavors of herbs, peels, and spices added to it by steeping. Mix-Ins is another honey mixture that surprised me, thanks to Helene Marshall of Marshall's Farm Honey. We're talking Honey & Apples, Honey & Almonds, Honey & Walnut Halves. “I produce the Mix-Ins because they are so wonderful to taste, and use with other dishes. All we do is mix honey and nuts and / or fruits together,” she told me. And I discovered another honey delight.
If you pair the nut honeys with Greek yogurt, like I did, you've got a healthful and sophisticated treat. Nut honeys are a gourmet wonder. “The almonds soak up the sweet nectar of the honey and the honey absorbs naturally the nuttiness of the almond,” explains Marshall, who adds that the Mix-Ins also pair nicely with breads, cheese dishes, rice, pancakes, waffles, and a host of culinary creations. And yes, I did eat the “nutted honey” right out of the jar. No refrigeration needed; since honey is a preservative, it also preserves what's in it, adds the honey guru.
Spices, including allspice, anise, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, are also used to flavor honey. But it doesn't stop there. Vanilla, citrus, and ginger are part of the pack, as well as other things that are for people who love pure honeys but also love to add a little spice to their nectar.
ARTISANAL HONEY SAUCES AND DRESSINGS
Honey goes well with some ingredients that will surprise you and your palate. Artisan producers (and chefs) are combining honeys with good-for-you foods, too. Not only do the honeyed sauces and dressings add an extra exotic touch to your foods, but they also add irresistible flavor that will make you want to share the sweetness with family and friends.
 
BALSAMIC VINEGAR:
For 1,000 years, balsamic vinegar, coined “Aceto Balsamico,” has been valued for its medicinal properties. As with red wine vinegar, its grape-filled counterpart, balsamic vinegar contains powerful antioxidants that protect against heart disease—and may even fight cancer.
Best Honey Blend:
Balsamic Honey Vinegar is a honey lover's must-have product. Honey Ridge Farms sent me a bottle. Made from 100 percent honey, it's sulfite free and delicately balances sweet with tart, adding depth and flavor to a variety of recipes. The grape-based honey vinegar can be used for salad dressings, marinades, and sauces or drizzled on vanilla ice cream. A bonus: One tablespoon contains a mere 25 calories and no cholesterol, sodium, or fat. That's sweet. But there's more....
Artisan honey vinegars are combinations of honey vinegar with herbs, spices, and other wholesome ingredients. These honey vinegars, from lemongrass coriander to sun-dried tomato and tarragon, pair nicely with salads, vegetables, sandwiches, sauces, and even soups. I favor the honey vinegar from Honey Ridge Farms, but you can get honey vinegar at specialty shops and other online merchants.
 
CHOCOLATE:
Imagine an Italian chocolate sauce sweetened with honey. It is the ultimate dessert topping and a treat in coffee or for dipping chunks of fresh fruit. Ingredients are pure and simple: cocoa and honey. Thank you, Magnolia Honey Company; this Chocolate Lace sauce continues to make my day and night.
 
OLIVE OIL:
Olive oil, like balsamic vinegar and other vinegars, has been combined for health and beauty. Combining extra virgin olive oil with honey gets you plenty of disease-fighting polyphenols—and flavor. Plus, you're using a healthful fat and choice sweetener.
Best Honey Blend:
Olive oil and honey sauces and dressings are available at your health-food store and grocery store and online. Also, recipes—cooking and baking—from breakfast dishes to entrees, often combine olive oil and honey. (See chapter 13: “Honey Bee-autiful” for honey and olive oil treatments and chapter 18: “Ciao, Honey!” for recipes.)
JUDGING A TASTE OF HONEY
When I began receiving honeys, I was a bit overwhelmed. I opened up each box, week by week, and the jars of honey increased in number to dozens. One question that was nagging me was: How the heck do I judge the taste of the different varieties?
With chocolate, I had my own judging formula. If it worked, the chocolate was gone in less than a week. The chocolate that was put into my file cabinet and collected cobwebs didn't make the cut. But honey is a different type of tasting. If I cooked or baked with each and every one, my petite size might change to give me the look of a spayed middle-aged cat. So, I went straight to the source of honey knowledge—Delicious Italy—to get the answer. Here, take a look at the sixstep process:
1.
Place the honey of choice in the classic balloon-shaped glass.
2.
Warm the honey by cupping your hand around the glass and the light heat will release the natural scent and make the honey slightly more liquid.
3.
Check for impurities by holding it to the light, then taking a spoon and allowing the honey to fall back into the glass.
4.
Our taste buds recognize sweet, salt, acidic, and bitter properties. The tip of the tongue is where the sweetness of the honey will hit first.
5.
A strong-flavored honey will also have a so-called
retronasale,
which will appear at the back of the nose.
6.
The more soluble honeys contain more fructose, the less soluble more glucose.
Putting to work a honey varietal in a recipe is fun and the possibilities are endless and exciting when you get creative, like in the following recipe, and add tea to give it an extra kick.
Honey and Lemon Green Tea Cupcakes
½ cup boiling water
1 green tea bag
2 cups unbleached
all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking
soda
½ teaspoon baking
powder
½ teaspoon salt
Zest and juice (¼ cup) of
one lemon
¼ cup buttermilk
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup Orange Blossom
honey
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Pour boiling water over tea bag and steep 3 minutes. Remove tea bag and allow tea to cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a liquid measure, combine green tea, lemon zest and juice, and buttermilk; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Add honey; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time. Add half of the reserved dry ingredients to the butter mixture; mix on low until just combined. With mixer running on low, slowly add the lemon tea mixture. Add remaining dry ingredients until just combined. Fill paper-lined muffin tins ¾full. Bake 18–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove to wire rack; cool. Frost and decorate with Honey Lemon Frosting and Candied Lemon Slices (below), if desired. Note: Any mild-flavored honey such as clover may be used. Makes 12–14 cupcakes.
CANDIED LEMON SLICES AND HONEY LEMON FROSTING
¼ cup Orange Blossom
honey
1 lemon, thinly sliced
½ cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar,
sifted
¼ cup lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon zest
Preheat oven to 200ºF. Pour honey in a small skillet and add lemon slices in a single layer. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, turning slices occasionally. Remove from heat; reserve syrup. Place slices on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes. Turn slices and bake an additional 10 minutes or until slices are dry. In a mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar; mix well. Slowly add cooled reserved syrup and lemon juice and zest; mix well. Add remaining powdered sugar; beat well. *Any mild-flavored honey such as clover may be used. Makes 12–14 servings.
(
Source:
National Honey Board.)
Now that I've infused some flavored honeys into your brain, in the next chapter you'll find out how teaming cinnamon, an ancient superspice used since biblical times, and honey is good for you, from head to toe (excluding the myths) and tastes amazing, too.
UN-BEE-LIEVABLE HEALING HINTS TO CATCH
Honey varietals come from different shrubs, trees, flowers, and other plants—offering you different flavors and aromas.
Polyfloral honey is made from more than one type of flower; monofloral is made from one specific type—like single-origin dark chocolate.
The darker the honey, the more antioxidants and the stronger the flavor.
Honeys offer different healing powers. Manuka and sidr stick out on the list of standout honeys.
Honey, dark, light, or antioxidant richer than others, gets better when infused with nature's herbs, spices, and fruits. Not only do these ingredients boost flavor and texture—they can also add more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Herbs, spices, and fruits can enhance your immune system, lower risk of heart disease and cancer, help you to lose unwanted weight, and do much more.
Flavored/fruited honey and Mix-In honeys give you more flavor and healthful herbs, peels, and spices.
Artisanal honey sauces and dressings paired with olive oil, vinegar, and chocolate offer extra healing powers.

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