Aww, Honey Honey

Pooh Bear was onto something.

Let's talk honey.

It's been in the news a bit recently.  Turns out that a lot of the stuff on America's grocery shelves isn't *really* honey.

It's been so thoroughly over processed that all of the actual honey has been removed.  And you know what you lose, when you turn honey into not-honey?

Everything that makes honey awesome.

You see, honey is fascinating stuff.  It's got so much more than being a "natural" sweetening agent going for it.  Honey tastes like whatever plant the bees collected the pollen from, and contains those allergens so it can actually help you with your allergies.

Amazing, no?

Most of the honey going around in America is clover honey.  That is, the pollen that the bees collect is predominantly from clover plants.  And that's... fine.  But oh, honey, there is so much more to you than that.

Honey was used by ancient Egyptians as an embalming fluid.  Honey kills bacteria.  Honey is pretty much more awesome every time you learn something new about it.  And no, honey is not bee poop.

I've always loved honey.  As a kid, my favorite sandwich was white bread, smothered in honey, with another slice of white bread on top.  My mom thought I was nuts.  I knew better- honey rocks my socks.

Manuka honey

When I was on my honeymoon (so aptly named) in New Zealand, I fell in love with Manuka honey.  Manuka is the New Zealand tea tree.  The honey had flavor, the closest American comparison I could come up with was buckwheat honey.  But unlike buckwheat, Manuka has less bitterness.  It's truly amazing stuff.  But it's a fortune in the United States- with good reason!  Transporting honey is tricky.  You don't want it to get too cold, or too hot.

And again, if you're eating honey that comes from the other side of the planet, you're boosting your immunity to the allergens on the other side of the planet.  Sort of counter intuitive, no?

For that reason, the best honey in the world is always local honey.  The closer to where you live, the better for you it is.  That's because the plants that go into the honey are the same plants giving you hay fever.  It's pretty cool.

So what kinds of honey are there?  Let me share a few of my favorites.

Buckwheat honey

Buckwheat is number one on my list of American honeys.  You would never confuse it with clover honey in a million years.  It's a deep, amber brown.  And it's taste is rich and full- a whole mouth kind of a flavor.  I love eating it with something already sweet- like apples or bananas.

Of course, most southerners who know their honey would consider it blasphemy to say that any honey other than Tupelo honey reigned supreme in the USA.  And they're onto something.  Tupelo honey is so smooth.  It's color is very similar to clover honey, but it is much sweeter.  If it's hard to believe that something is sweeter than honey, then you can rest easy that the sweeter substance is still... honey.  Aside from its sweetness and amazing texture, another thing that Tupelo honey has going for it is that it tastes good with absolutely everything.  Seriously, you could glaze garlic in the stuff and have the yummiest garlic of your life.

Tupelo has a remarkable amount in common with Manuka.  It's a tree, for starters.  That means that if tree pollen is a bigger problem for you than grass or hay, Tupelo honey might be beneficial for you.  Kiwis and Elvis fans can agree on one thing- those fragrant trees?  They make amazing honey.

Speaking of fragrant things making good honey.... orange blossoms.  OMFG orange blossom honey.  Remember when I said that honey tastes like the plant it comes from?  Well, orange blossom honey tastes just like that.  Orange blossoms.  That makes it an excellent accompaniment to things like cornbread, and fruity teas.  It also completely widens the range of its use as an ingredient in other foods.  For example, I have a bean soup that calls for orange peel.  But instead, I can use orange blossom honey, add a little cayenne, and BOOM!  I've got a sweet and spicy bean soup that still tastes amazing. Heat really brings out the fruity, orange notes in orange blossom honey.

Amazing stuff.

One of my favorite places to get
honey in the midwest-
ebeehoney.com

My last favorite honey is goldenrod.  Now, goldenrod honey is kind of hard to get your hands on.  That's because, typically, the goldenrod honey season is SHORT.  And unfortunately, goldenrod honey doesn't keep well- it granulates really quickly.  (Keep in mind, granulated honey is still delicious and nutritious, it's just... harder to use.)  However, it's a very light honey with a kick to it like buckwheat- and the best part of goldenrod honey?  Goldenrod is a serious allergy problem.  So keeping some goldenrod honey in your diet come summer is a great idea.  Bonus?  There's a lot of mead makers out there who would argue that goldenrod honey makes the *best* mead.  So if you're considering brewing at home... I'd recommend goldenrod.

One other honey recommendation: whipped honey.  Basically, that granulation problem I mentioned briefly?  You do that on purpose, in a climate controlled environment.  The result is something frequently referred to as "honey butter."  It's creamy and spreadable, with a waxier texture.

Whipped honey

As you might imagine, any variety of honey can be turned into whipped honey.  But there's another perk as well.  In whipped honey, other flavoring agents keep better.  So you might be able to find things like chocolate or vanilla honey (vanilla whipped honey in a cup of rose tea anyone?) at a local organic friendly store.  It's much less drippy that regular honey, which makes it ideal for dipping things into it.

So go out there, find your local bee keepers (there are more of them than you might think!) and make yourself some toast, tea, and even ice cream to put that honey on.  Because honey in amazing.

A Word on Dried Spices

My husband is from Minnesota, and he tells a joke about Minnesotan cooking.  He jokes that a REALLY exciting recipe in Minnesota uses both salt AND pepper.  Unfortunately, salt and pepper are the spices that most Americans, not just the friendly folk in the North Star State, know how to use on a regular basis.  And even then, only black pepper and so-called "table salt."

With the right spices, you can live forever on a limited diet.  Having a good spice rack is essential to cooking.  You don't need to start collecting every flavor in the spice world, but there are a small collection of spices that you probably don't realize are in just about every delicious food you love.

There are more spices than those listed below that you should consider keeping around, but they are certainly better fresh.  Stay tuned for a word of Fresh Spices!

Staple Dried Spices 
Oregano: This is one of those New World spices that changed European cooking forever.  Most people think of oregano as an Italian spice, but it is just as constant in Latin American cuisines.  It's a primary ingredient in chili blends, as is...

Cumin: Cumin comes from Middle East and northern Africa, and is one of the few spices that was brought to the New World and altered native cuisine here.  Cumin has a rich and warm flavor, and is used in an amazing variety of dishes.  I recommend having at least ground cumin, but you'd be surprised how often you'll use the whole seed variety as well.



Celery Seed: Much like fresh celery, you'll be amazed at how many dishes can be improved with the simple application of a little celery seed.  Celery Salt can also be very useful, as you add more flavor when you use it instead of regular table salt.  Any vegetable heavy dish can be made to taste somewhat heartier with a little celery seed.



Garlic Powder: You can use it in all sorts of situations where you could use fresh garlic, but it has additional flexibility.  I like using toasted garlic powder, you get a richer flavor as the garlic is already cooked when it's dried.  This makes it much better for adding to, say, a grilled cheese sandwich.



 Fenugreek Seeds: You can get both the leaves and the seeds of this spice, and both have an excellent flavor, but the seeds are definitely the bolder taste.  Fenugreek is the flavor that makes curry taste like curry, so if you like Indian food, Fenugreek is a must have.



Thyme:  This spice is one of the few that is pretty much as good dried as it is fresh.  What you may not know is that there are two major varieties of Thyme, French and Mediterranean.  French Thyme is the more common, but when you go out to get your spices, consider the Mediterranean Thyme.  It has a slightly spicier flavor, so if you substitute Mediterranean for French, you create a more unique flavor that stays just as familiar and delicious.

Curry Week!

It's finally here, curry week!

Curry is an interesting subject.  After all, it describes such a wide variety of dishes.  There are yellow, red, and green curries.  There are sweet curries and spicy curries.  The variety of countries boasting an array of delicious curries is staggering.

Wars, oh so many wars, have been fought over the spices that go into curry.  History has turned on the whims of those who love curry.  Curry is the culmination of the combined spice, and in the words of Frank Herbert, "He who controls it, controls our destiny."

This week, we will be making a variety of curries.  This, like every week's meal, has everything you need for a balanced diet.  Lean protein, green and orange vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and just a dash of dairy.  The bonus is, of course, that it even includes dessert and really, curry is EASY!

Curry is one of the simplest things you can throw together.  Got a few ingredients and don't know what to do with them?  Curry!  Want to impress you in-laws or your sister?  Curry!

Unlike most dishes, curry's success depends much less upon the quality of your fruits and vegetables and much more on the quality of your spices.  Curries developed in parts of the world where the weather is hot and wet, which meant that food tended to spoil faster.  However, those glorious spices could disguise the taste of even the most withered yam, and as a result we have the amazing, the spectacular, the splendiferous curries we enjoy today.  There are curry leaves, and they are in many curries, but the flavor that really makes curry taste like CURRY is fenugreek.  Why don't we call it a fenugreek instead of a curry?  I have no idea.  But however the confusion came about, thank goodness for the Indian subcontinent!  Thank goodness for the Carribean!  Thank goodness for Thailand!  THANK GOODNESS FOR CURRY!

This Week's Menu:

 Saffron Rice

Daal

Sweet Potato Carrot Curry

Not / Chicken Massaman Curry

Vanilla Raita

Sweet Lassi

 The Grocery List:

• 1/2 lb red lentils
• 5 carrots
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 lb boneless chicken OR 12 oz chicken substitute (I like Veet for this recipe!)
• 1 quart vanilla yogurt
• 1 cucumber
• 1 lemon
• 1 can thick coconut milk
• 1 can black eyed peas
• 1 small fresh ginger root
• 1 green bell pepper
• 4 shallots

Chocolate Covered Frozen Bananas

I freakin' love bananas.  Seriously, there are SO many reasons to adore this particular fruit.  There's its absurd shape, it's lovely hue, it's amazing history...  The story of the banana is fraught with drama and comedy.  Alas, who now even remembers the Cavendish?  I adore the banana.  For years all of my internet aliases were bananas.  Crazy?  Perhaps.  Delicious?  Always.

Then there's chocolate.  Oh, chocolate.  Food of the Gods.  Seriously, the Incan holy beverage was made from cocoa beans.  And again, another food with a rich and wild history.

So much drama in this dessert!  So much to enjoy!  And of course, so delicious.  And deliciously simple.

• 4-5 ripe banans
• 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 c powdered sugar
• bamboo skewers , with the sharp points cut off

In a double boiler,  melt the chocolate.  Stir in the sugar, and transfer into a low sided baking dish.

Poke the skewers through the bananas length-wise.

Roll the bananas in the chocolate, and then place on wax paper and IMMEDIATELY transfer to the freezer.  Leave in freezer for at least an hour.