The Healing Powers of Honey (30 page)

Read The Healing Powers of Honey Online

Authors: Cal Orey

Roasted Salmon Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
DRESSING
½ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
8 dried apricots, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
SALAD
1 pound salmon fillet, cut into
4 equal portions
½
teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
8 cups spinach, washed
2 cups thinly sliced yellow squash
2 cups thinly sliced red bell pepper
3 tablespoons toasted chopped
pecans
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Lightly coat a sheet pan with canola oil.
In a small saucepan, combine balsamic vinegar, cranberries, and apricots. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid and fruit.
Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Place on sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes or until just cooked through.
Place 2 cups spinach on each plate. Top with ½ cup each squash and bell pepper. Place salmon fillet on each salad and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons pecans. Top with 2 tablespoons dressing and 1 tablespoon of reserved fruit. Serves 4.
 
(
Source:
Canyon Ranch.)
Entrees
Years ago, I had my heart set on a picture-perfect honey-roasted turkey. I purchased a pricey bird—a big one. Once home, I eagerly washed it. I groomed it for baking. Then, without reading instructions or having the pro chef 's know-how, I simply spread clover honey without any other ingredients on top of the poultry. I was in love with an after picture in my mind: a roasted turkey with stuffing and vegetables on a platter. I didn't have a clue about how honey would affect an uncooked 16-pound bird and assumed the before picture was good to go into the oven.
Within a half hour, I smelled smoke. When I ran into the kitchen it was smoke filled. Accidentally I had turned the oven on to Broil. I was afraid to open the oven door to see the damage. I had a burned bird on my hands. In between tears and feeling like I lost my best friend, I began damage control.
I can salvage my turkey and try again—without a honey glaze,
I thought. The end result: My turkey platter was doable, but it wasn't the picturesque dinner of my dreams. I blamed my mistake on the honey and my ignorance of how to use it.
Today, I know that honey cooks faster than other basting ingredients and if you use this all-natural sweetener it's a good thing to combine it with other ingredients, too, for more flavor. There are recipes such as
Asian Honey-Tea Grilled Prawns
and
Honey Roast Lamb with Couscous
that show how to prepare and bake meat with special honeys that have given me a new lease on baking entree masterpieces from start to finish—without having to call the fire department or dry any tears.
Acacia Duck
Asian Honey-Tea Grilled Prawns
Buckwheat Honey Roasted Chicken Breasts with
Black Truffle Oil, Yukon
Gold Hash, and Grilled Asparagus
Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Onions
Honey-Glazed Game Hen
Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders
Honey Roast Lamb with Couscous
Marinated Mackerel
Pomegranate Glazed Chicken
Spicy Honey-Pepper Glazed Snapper
Spring Rolls
Acacia Duck
4 medium duck breasts, trimmed
4 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 tablespoon Chinese Five Spice
1 tablespoon Acacia honey
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
and in matchsticks
2 fat cloves garlic, trimmed
and sliced in strips
2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
in strips
8 ounces pak choy, trimmed strips
Coriander sprigs for decoration
Paint duck breasts with 1 tablespoon oil, then rub with Chinese Five-Spice. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a nonstick pan and cook duck skin side down first until crisp and golden—about 4 minutes. Turn over and cook the other side the same. Turn back to skin up. Place in a pre-heated oven at 400ºF for 10 minutes or until cooked to preference, drizzling honey for the last 5 minutes. Heat remaining oil in the duck pan; fry ginger, garlic, and spring onions. Add to duck in roasting pan. Meanwhile, cook pak choy in salted boiling water until just tender. Drain. Spoon ginger and garlic mix onto four warmed serving plates and perch duck breasts on top. Serve with pak choy and decorate with coriander springs. Serves 4.
 
(
Source:
Courtesy The Honey Association.)
Asian Honey-Tea Grilled Prawns
1 cup brewed double strength
orange spice tea, cooled
¼ cup honey
¼ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled
and finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1½ pounds medium shrimp,
peeled and deveined
Salt
2 green onions, thinly sliced
In plastic bag, combine marinade ingredients (everything but the shrimp, salt, and onions). Remove ½ cup marinade; set aside for dipping sauce. Add shrimp to marinade in bag, turning to coat. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes or up to 12 hours. Remove shrimp from marinade; discard marinade. Thread shrimp onto 8 skewers, dividing evenly. Grill over medium coals 4 to 6 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and are jut firm to the touch, turning once. Season with salt, as desired. Meanwhile, prepare dipping sauce by placing reserved
½
cup marinade in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Boil 3 to 5 minutes or until slightly reduced. Stir in green onions. Serves 4.
 
(
Source:
National Honey Board.)
Buckwheat Honey Roasted Chicken Breasts with Black Truffle Oil, Yukon Gold Hash, and Grilled Asparagus
½ cup olive oil
4 (6 to 8 ounces) airline
chicken breasts
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
½ cup buckwheat honey
4 teaspoons black truffle oil
1½ cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter
½ pound yellow onion, diced small
8 ounces red bell pepper, diced small
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, skin
on, medium diced
2 tablespoons buckwheat honey
8 ounces green asparagus, peeled
Preheat oven to 300ºF, and preheat your grill. In a heavy-bottomed, oven-proof sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season the chicken breasts well with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in pan, skin side down. Sear the chicken breasts until the skin is brown and crispy. Turn the chicken breasts over so crispy skin is up. Drain excess oil out of pan. Drizzle approximately ¼ cup buckwheat honey over each chicken breast. Place in preheated oven until cooked through, when a thermometer inserted into the center reaches 165ºF, approximately 10 minutes. Drizzle each chicken breast with approximately ½ teaspoon black truffle oil. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add chicken stock and stir. Remove cooked-on bits from bottom of pan. Place on stovetop. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper.
Monte au buerre
with 1 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter. In a separate, heavy-bottomed sauté pan, heat 4 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion, peppers, and potatoes. Season well, with salt and pepper. Sauté until all sides of the potatoes are brown and the potatoes are tender, stirring when needed. Prepare asparagus by breaking the stalks when they break naturally. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the bottom one to two inches of the asparagus. Toss well with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Sear on a hot grill until tender. Slice chicken on a bias, leaving one bone in one piece. Serve with 4 ounces of potato hash, 4 to 6 sprigs of asparagus, and 1 to 2 ounces of sauce. Drizzle each piece of the chicken with approximately ½ teaspoon truffle oil and 1 tablespoon buckwheat honey. Makes 4 servings.
 
(
Source:
National Honey Board, Orlando Culinary Contest Winner.)
Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Onions
½ cup buckwheat honey
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons Herbes De Provence
seasoning mixture
1 teaspoon salt
½teaspoon pepper
2 pounds pork tenderloin
2 medium onions
Combine honey, oil, vinegar, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper in a shallow pan. Add pork and turn to coat well. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours. Turn pork occasionally. Remove pan from refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling. Prepare grill for medium-hot fire with an indirect heat area. Slice onions in rounds ½- to ¾-inch thick. Remove pork from marinade; turn every 10 minutes to evenly cook. Put onions over direct heat and brush with marinade. Turn frequently brushing with marinade until well marked and soft, 8 to 12 minutes. Move onions off direct heat to finish cooking. Let pork rest 5 minutes before slicing into ¾-inch slices. Serve with grilled onions.
 
(
Source:
National Honey Board.)
Honey-Glazed Game Hen
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 (1½ to 1¾ lb.) game hen, thawed
¼ teaspoon salt
teaspoon pepper
½ onion, peeled and quartered
Combine honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, dry mustard, and ginger in 1-cup microwave-safe measure or bowl; mix well. Microwave at high for 1 to 1½ minutes or until heated; stir to dissolve honey. Rinse game hen and pat dry. Sprinkle cavity with salt and pepper. Dip onion in honey mixture and place 2 quarters in game hen. Tie legs together with heavy string. Place game hen, breast side down, in microwave-safe roasting dish. Brush generously with honey mixture. Microwave at high for 16 to 20 minutes or until juices run clean and meat near bone is no longer pink; rotate rack one-quarter turn every 5 minutes. Turn hen breast side up halfway through cooking time and glaze with remaining sauce. Remove onion from cavity and cut game hen in half. If desired, heat drippings and onion 1½ to 2 minutes in microwave-safe measure; strain and serve with game hen.
 
(
Source:
National Honey Board.)

Other books

Stockings and Suspenders by 10 Author Anthology
Flight and Fantasy by Viola Grace
Innocence by Peter Robinson
Alice by Judith Hermann