Honey In The Kitchen

About author / Victoria Wesseler

Healthy eating advocate; master gardener; local food expert. Even veggie haters love her recipes.

With varieties like the delicate, subtle tea-like notes of fireweed to the dark, full bodied punch of buckwheat, honey offers plenty of options for bringing a little sweetness to your recipes. Honey comes in three basic forms: comb honey (where the liquid is still in the wax comb—both of which are edible), chunk style honey (honey with some of the honeycomb in the jar) and regular liquid honey.

Honey can be purchased as pasteurized or unpasturized. Most honey sold in large grocery stores is pasteurized. This is where the honey is extracted from the wax combs, processed using flash heating to a high temperature in order to make it easier to strain and to destroy any yeast that may be present (which would cause fermentation), super filtered through a 1 to 5 micron filter, and quickly cooled. But confirmed honey lovers prefer the unpasturized form which can usually be purchased at Farmers’ Markets and smaller retail shops.

Honey should be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature (between 64-75 degrees F). As most honey ages, it will have a tendency to crystallize. But there’s no need to toss it out. If it does crystallize, it’s still good. You can continue to use it in your cooking, baking, and to sweeten drinks. But if you prefer, you can return it to its previous liquid state by removing the lid of the jar and placing the jar in warm water until the honey once again becomes liquid. Or microwave the crystallized honey in an uncovered microwave-safe container for 2-3 minutes or until the crystals dissolve; stirring every 30 seconds. Take care not to boil or scorch the honey as you do this.

If you would like to substitute honey for sugar in your cooking, begin by substituting half the sugar called for in the recipe with honey. Measuring honey can be tricky, but coating a measuring cup or spoon with a bit of cooking spray before you use them to measure the honey will let the honey slide right out of the cup or spoon. A 12 ounce jar of honey is equal to one standard measuring cup.

To substitute honey for sugar in your baking, the National Honey Board (www.honey.com) recommends that you:

• Reduce the liquid called for in the recipe by ¼ for each cup of honey used.
• Add ½ teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of honey used.
• Reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F to prevent over browning.

Because, unlike sugar, honey offers such a wide variety of flavors ranging from subtle to strong, taste the honey before you add it to your recipes. While a bolder flavor honey such as buckwheat might be perfect to glaze a bowl full of steamed carrots or a baked ham, a lighter honey such as orange blossom might be a better choice for sweetening your breakfast tea or adding sweetness to baked goods.

Now is the perfect time to visit a Farmers’ Market and get a few jars of local honey. And if you need some inspiration for using it, CDKitchen.com has over 2,900 recipes featuring honey as an ingredient. The National Honey Board offers many recipes as well along with directions for creating your own skin care and beauty products including a Lavender Honey Milk Bath and Honey Kissed Lip Balm.

Serves/Makes: 4

***Marinade***

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil

***Salad***

• 4 (3-4 inch in diameter) portobello mushrooms, gills and stems removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
• OR
• 1 ounce cooked bacon bits
• 8 cups mixed baby salad greens
• 1/2 cup crumbled roquefort or blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons snipped chives

***Honey Vinaigrette***

• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoon champagne or white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon shallot, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 1 1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 1 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 5 ice cubes

Serves/Makes: 12

• 1 3/4 cup whole bran cereal
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 medium ripe banana, mashed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, optional