DALLAS GARDEN BUZZ

HONEY CAKE

The Gourmet Cookbook edited by Ruth Reichel

 

Honey cake is traditionally served during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration, when honey symbolizes the sweetness of the year to come.

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

1 cup honey, preferably buckwheat

2/3 cup vegetable oil

½ cup strong brewed coffee, at room temperature

2 large eggs

¼ cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbl apple juice or cider

Put a rack in the middle of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 9×5-inch loaf pan well and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a medium bowl.  Whisk together honey, oil, and coffee in another bowl until well combined.

Beat together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed for 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low, add honey mixture and apple juice, and mix until blended, about 1 minute.  Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Finish mixing batter with a rubber spatula, scraping bottom of bowl (batter will be thin).

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil and continue to bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes more.  Cool on a rack for 1 hour.

 

Iced Honey Lemon Tea

 Ingredients:

1 quart cold water

¾ cup fresh lemon juice

4 to 6 tablespoons honey

2 cups ice cubes

1 lemon, seeded and sliced thinly (optional)

Fresh sprigs lavender or a handful of lemon verbena or mint leaves, torn into pieces

Directions:

1.  Combine the water, lemon juice, and honey in a large pitcher and stir to dissolve the honey.

2.  Add the ice cubes and stir to combine.  Taste and add more lemon or honey, if needed.

3.  Add the lemon slices and lavender, lemon verbena, or mint.

Yield:  Makes 4 servings.

 

Honey Beer Bread

 

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons honey

1 can beer

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9” x 5” x 3” loaf pan.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.  Set aside.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3.  Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed.

4.  Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan.  Spoon the batter into the pan then pour the remainder of the butter of top.  Use a pastry brush to spread it around.

5.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until top is golden brown and a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Yield:  One loaf.

 

Goat Cheese Handkerchiefs with Tart Cherries and Sage

Chef Jerry Traunfeld, author of The Herbal Kitchen, says that each year he counts the days to cherry season, because he can’t wait to put this dish on the menu at The Herbfarm Restaurant in Washington. Tart cherries, also called sour or pie cherries, are a very different fruit from sweet cherries, such as Bings. Raw, they have a pucker-your-mouth sour flavor, but when cooked and sweetened they have the bright intense cherry pie flavor that sweet cherries can never express. You can make this dish with sweet cherries, but the taste will be quite different. You might have to search a little for fresh tart cherries and fresh pasta sheets. We finally found tart cherries in the frozen food section at Central Market after several repeat trips. As for the fresh pasta sheets, they can be found in most groceries in the refrigerated section with other fresh pastas and labeled lasagna sheets. Be encouraged, your searching will reward you. This is a lovely dish that can be offered as the beginning of a multicourse dinner or romantic supper or the main dish for a special luncheon or brunch.

 

Ingredients:

2 ounces soft mild goat cheese (1/2 cup)

½ cup whole milk ricotta

½ cup hot water

3 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup very small sage leaves, or larger sage leaves cut into ¼-inch strips

12 ounces tart (sour or pie) cherries, pitted

1 ½ tablespoons mild honey

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Eight 4-inch squares of fresh pasta

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 150 degrees F or its lowest temperature, then turn it off.  Crumble the goat cheese into a small bowl, stir in the ricotta, and put it in the oven to warm.

2.  Put the hot water and ½ tablespoon of the butter in a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish and place it in the oven also (this is for holding the pasta once it’s cooked).  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

3.  Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter with the sage leaves in a medium skillet over medium heat and stir until the sage leaves wilt, then turn a darker green color, about 2 minutes.  Add the cherries, honey and salt, and toss them over the heat until the cherry skins pop and they release a small amount of juice, about 3 minutes.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoon butter to the pan and stir, still over the heat, until it melts and incorporates into the sauce.  Remove the pan from the heat.

4.  Boil the pasta squares until they are tender but firm, usually 2 to 3 minutes.  Lift them out of the water with a skimmer and slip them into the warm water and butter in the pie plate.

5. For assembly:  Lift 4 of the pasta squares from the dish and lay them out on a piece of parchment paper or on a baking sheet (this is easy to do with your hands if you wear disposable latex gloves).  Spread a tablespoon of the warm goat cheese in the center of each square and fold them in half on the diagonal.  Transfer the triangles in pairs to warm dinner plates.  Fill the second batch of pasta squares the same way.  Spoon the cherries and sauce over the handkerchiefs and serve right away.

 

Yield: 4 servings.

Linda

HSG Honey Mustard Dressing

 For the Hello! Honey luncheon, this dressing was served with a salad of organic mixed field greens, Jennie-O Sun-Dried Tomato Smoked Turkey Breast cubed, Grape halves and Pistachios.

Ingredients:

 

1 quart Kraft Mayonnaise

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons honey

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons French’s Mustard

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons onion salt or ¾ teaspoon onion powder

¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.  Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

 

 

Honey-Roasted Carrots

 Ingredients:

2 lb. baby carrots with tops

2 teaspoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons butter, divided

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons bourbon

2 Tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon chicken broth or water

½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Directions:

1.  Place a small roasting pan in oven.  Preheat oven and pan to 500 degrees.

2.  Cut tops from carrots, leaving 1 inch of greenery on each carrot.

3.  Stir together olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in preheated pan.  Add carrots, salt, and pepper; toss to coat.  Bake 10 minutes.

4.  Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add shallot; sauté 1 minute.  Remove from heat, and stir in bourbon and next 2 ingredients.  Return to heat, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes or until mixture is syrupy.

5.  Drizzle syrup over carrots; toss to coat.  Bake 5 to 7 more minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender.  Transfer to a serving dish, and sprinkle with thyme.

 

Yield:  4 to 6 servings.

 

Note:  Substitute apple juice for bourbon, if you prefer.  Look for bunches of carrots that are all about the same size so they’ll cook evenly.  If some are too big-or if you can’t find real (sometimes labeled French) baby carrots-just peel the bigger ones and halve them lengthwise before roasting.

 

 

 

TART CITRON RECETTE

LEMON TART RECIPE

 

Pâte Sucrée

Tart Pastry

 

150 g butter

300 g flour

150 g powdered sugar

60 g eggs (one egg)

60 g ground almonds

 

In a bowl, combine butter, flour, powdered sugar and almonds.  Sablage the mixture, cutting the butter into the flour using your fingers until it is a sandy consistency.  Add the egg and stir with one finger.  Turn out on the counter.  Fraisage two to three times, until dough just comes together by using the palm of your hand to smear the dough across the counter.  Flatten it out on a parchment-lined sheet. Chill.  Form the dough into the tart shell.

 

Appareil au citron (cru)

Lemon Filling (uncooked)

Juice from 2 lemons

Zest of 1 lemon

135 g granulated sugar

35 g butter

3 eggs

 

In a saucepan, melt pieces of butter.  In a bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients.  Pour the egg mixture through a fine sieve to remove chalise.  Add the butter and whisk rapidly.  Fill the tart shells to about ¾ full.  Bake at 180°C(360-365°F) for about 30 minutes, or until the top looks like a Crème Brûlée after it’s been torched.

Decorate cooled tart with an abundance of whipped cream in a decorative pattern, sprinkle with lemon zest.  Chill several hours or overnight before serving.

 

Recipe courtesy of Molly Wilkinson, Certified Pastry Chef, Le Cordon Bleu, Paris

214 808-9231 or mollyjane123@gmail.com

Custom treats from Cupcakes to Tart Citron!

 

 

Honey-Pecan Tart

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup sugar

¼ cup water

1 cup whipping cream

¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

¼ cup honey

½ teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups pecan halves, coarsely chopped

1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts

2 teaspoons sugar, divided

½ (4-ounce) package bittersweet chocolate, chopped

 

Directions:

 

1.  Bring 1 cup sugar and ¼ cup water to a boil in a medium-size heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Cover and boil over medium-high heat, without stirring, 8 minutes or until golden, swirling pan occasionally.

2.  Remove from heat, and gradually stir in whipping cream (mixture will bubble with addition of cream).

3.  Add butter, honey, and salt, stirring until smooth.  Stir in pecans; simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.  Remove from heat; cool completely.

4.  Unfold 1 piecrust on a lightly floured surface; roll into an 11-inch circle.  Fit into a

9-inch removable bottom tart pan.  Trim edges.  Freeze crust 30 minutes.

5.  Spread pecan mixture into crust.  Unfold remaining piecrust, and roll into a 10-inch circle.  Place crust over mixture, pressing into bottom crust to seal; trim edges.  Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.  Freeze 30 minutes.

6.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

7.  Place chocolate in a small heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; seal.  Submerge in hot water until chocolate melts.  Snip a tiny hole in 1 corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over tart.  Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.

 

 

Yield:  1 (9-inch) tart.

 

Honey Ice Cream

 

Ingredients:

2 quarts half-and-half

1 ½ cups honey

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1.  Stir together all ingredients, and pour into freezer container of a 1-gallon electric freezer.

2.  Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Pack with additional ice and rock salt, and let stand 1 hour before serving.

Yield:  3 quarts.

Linda

Pictures by Starla