Honey

COPYRIGHT 2011 by Michael Long

Most of us know Honey as a sweet, golden liquid.  In addition to being a great natural sweetener, honey has a bunch of other benefits.  If you have a sore throat, take some honey, it will soothe the throat.  If your diabetic, honey under the tongue will raise your blood sugar and keep you out of trouble. For athletes looking for a natural energy boost before a big game, honey will provide a quick energy in all circumstances.  

Honey can be found in several different forms:

• Comb Honey  is a honey in it's original form; "Honey inside of the honeycomb,  and the beeswax comb is edible!!!!


• Cut Comb  Cut comb honey is liquid honey that has added chunks of the honey comb in the jar or container 


• Liquid Honey  is a honey that is free of visible crystals,  and is extracted from the honey comb by centrifugal force and straining.  Because liquid honey mixes so well into a variety of foods it's especially convenient for cooking and baking.  Most of the honey that is produced here in the United States is sold in the liquid form. 


• Naturally Crystallized Honey  Naturally crystallized honey is honey in which part of the glucose content has spontaneously crystallized.  And it's safe to eat.


• Whipped (or Cremed) Honey, While all honey will crystallize in time,  This honey is brought to market in a crystallized state.  The crystallization is controlled so that, at room temperature, the honey can be spread like butter or jelly.  In many countries around the world, whipped honey is preferred to the liquid form especially at breakfast time.  

Honey in normally bought and sold in one of two ways, by variety and color.  Most consumers whether buying in a supermarket or farmers market will typically by either a blend of pure honeys, the so called Supermarket Store brands or a Clover Honey.

Double Brownie Chocolate Cookie

These little guys are flour-less, with a chocolate chips.  Way over the top.  And they're made in one bowl. And fast!!!  These little guys have to be eaten with Brain freeze milk, since the intensity of the chocolate is so great.  But there's nothing wrong with that. 

I changed the original recipe some,  not a lot,  but some,  in place of the vanilla extract I used 3 vanilla beans,  and I used Ghirardelli cocoa powder.  You can use something else, but I had this on hand,  and I love this chocolate. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups        Powdered sugar


• 2/3 cup      Cocoa Powder


• 1/8 tsp       Salt


• 2-4 eggs     Whites only (@ Room Temperature)


• 1 Tbs         Vanilla extract


• 1-1/2 cup   Chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Gotta preheat the oven to 350F.  But you knew that!


2. Line two baking sheets with either Parchment paper with spray or two Slip-pat mats.


3. In a large bowl add your sugar, cocoa powder and salt, and whisk till completely mixed. 


4. Add your vanilla and two egg whites, to the mix and mix till well incorporated  It's going to start to look like a brownie mix,  if it's too thick add another egg white.  Your looking for a brownie/fudge consistency  to the mix.  If need be add another egg white to get to the right consistency. If you go over, not to worry,  add some more sugar to bring it back.  Just a spoonful at a time.  You'll get there,  Trust me on that!


5. Caution DON'T OVER WORK THE BATTER, just mix till incorporated.


6. Stir in the chocolate chips.  I know your going to think hey, that's too much,  But there no such thing, too many chips. 


7. Scoop the batter out on to your mats about a Tablespoon size.  I over did it on mine.  But I'm into chocolate.


8. leave about a two inch gap between the cookies so that they can spread out.


9. Put those little guys in the oven for about 15 minutes.  You want a slight crust on the bottom. Your oven temp my vary some, so keep an eye on those guys.


10. I rotate my pans so they bake evenly,  But my oven has some hot spots in it. So I have to work mine a little more than some. 


11. When they are done, let them cool to room temp or close too, and get the milk out of the freezer and go for it.  These should last about 3 days in an airtight container.  Here they lasted about 2 days. 

You should be able to get about 30 or so cookies out of this.  

I got this recipe from the internet,  from a blog called "Chocolate and Carrots"  and this lady got it from another blog called "Keep it sweet"

http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com

BAKING FOR 2

I just got a book on Small-Batch Baking. By Debby Maugans Nakos. A super book. In the book Debby talks about Desserts for 2.  I made a yellow cake for tonights dinner and It came out fantastic.  I was very impressed.  She hit right on with the recipe. Time, Temp Measurements were right on.  It looks like most of the cakes are made in a 14.5 oz cans.  The cans that beans etc come in. I used very small cake pans for the cake below.  She goes into how to prep the cans to use for you baking molds. I made the yellow cake in just a few minutes, with 1 small bowl,  and one 3 qt bowl. and a wire whip.  The baking took right at 25 minutes. Ovens my vary on temp and time.

Photography by Michael Long

Here is what the Publisher had to say about the book.

Even the most enthusiastic home bakers may admit there are times when they really only need a few muffins for breakfast or a couple of cream puffs for a dinner party—not a dozen or more of each. When standard recipes won't reduce neatly (how do you halve an egg, for example?), frustration ensues. Nakos, a Shape, Southern Living and Cooking Light contributor, takes more than 250 classic cakes, pies, cookies, cobblers, puddings and breads and downsizes their proportions to yield just the right number of goodies for small families, singles, newlyweds, empty-nesters or the leftovers-averse (do such people exist?). Nakos certainly is creative: she uses tin cans to bake two-layer coconut cakes and chocolate cakes, jumbo muffin tins for Peach Pie and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, and small loaf pans for Moist Fudgy Brownies. Meanwhile, a full-size loaf pan turns out Mississippi Mud Cake or Gingerbread Roulade, and one regular baking sheet does the job for Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti. Small-batch baking as formulated by Nakos is liberating: with quick mixing, baking and clean-up times, the whole process of producing, say, eight Pecan Snowball Cookies for tea time, or two Honey Apple Oatmeal Crisps for a sweet breakfast, is less overwhelming.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

I give this book a 4.5 star rating.  There are no pictures in the book. or at least none in the paper back edition.  I will be posting recipes from this book very shortly.

VANILLA BEAN SUGAR COOKIES

   HEY, Look at the picture above... Pretty cool huh!!!!  Those are VANILLA BEAN SUGAR COOKIES.  I found the recipe in Alice Medrich newest cookbook. CHEWY GOOEY CRISPY CRUNCHY COOKIES On page 38-40.  I ordered this book and didn't tell my wife about it.  So when she got home, she saw it... So to cover my tail I told her I would bake anything in the book for her... And she picked out this along with 50 or so other recipes...

    After making these little puppies,  I was hooked on them... Hey, the baker here has to test everything...!!!

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INGREDIENTS:

• 18 oz       (4cups) AP Flour


• 1   tsp      baking powder


• 1/2 tsp      salt


• 1/2 lbs      unsalted butter/slightly softened


• 14  oz       sugar


• 2  ea         eggs


• 1 Tlb         Vanilla extract or seeds from 3 beans

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DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix together thoroughly with a fork or whisk.


2. Beat the butter and sugar in bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, (3-4) minutes. Add eggs one at a time and then the Vanilla bean seeds.  On low speed, beat in the flour (only until it's just incorporated)  Scrape the dough into a mass and knead it with your hands a few times until smooth. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and form each into a flat patty.  Wrap those guys up in plastic wrap and refrigerate the patties until firm enough to roll,  preferably several hours or overnight.


3. Preheat the oven to 350F and position the racks one at a third down and one a third up.


4. TO ROLL AND CUT THE COOKIES:  Remove 1 patty from the frig. and let it sit at room temp until supple enough to roll but still firm.  It will continue to soften as you work.  Roll the dough between two sheets of wax-paper. To a thickness of 1/8 of an inch.  Turn the dough over once or twice while you are rolling in out to check for deep wrinkles; if necessary, peel off and smooth the paper over the dough before continuing to roll it out.  


5. When the dough is thin enough, slide it (still between the sheets of wax-paper. On to a sheet pan and put back in the frig.  Remove the bottom (coldest) sheet form the frig.  Peel off the top sheet of paper and set it on the counter.  Invert the dough onto it and peel off the second sheet.


6. Cut cookie shapes as close together as possible to minimize scrapes, dipping the edges on the cookie cutters in flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Place the cut out cookies on a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper cookie sheet, or slipmat lined cookie sheet.  (IF THE DOUGH GETS TOO SOFT ANYTIME, SLIDE THE DOUGH INTO THE FRIG TO COOL.).


7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown at the edges. 

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This recipe will yield about 90 cookies with a 2-1/2" cutter 

SOME OF MY SOURCES

Here is a list of some of my sources.  You'll also see the web address, and comments.  Most of these you may already know about, Some you may not. I hope you find this list helpful.  Almost everyone I've ordered from. If not ordered from, at least chatted with. 

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The National Pork Board:    http://www.porkbeinspired.com/Cut_Sausage.aspx 

  A great website, Covering just about anything you might want to know about Pork.

The National Onion Association:  http://www.onions-usa.org/

  Another great site.  Kim will get back to you asap with an E-mail  Super lady over there.

Oregon Truffle Oil:  https://www.oregontruffleoil.com/

  White Truffle Oil: Never ordered from them.  However, there website is very clean.  I would feel safe ordering from them. 

The Fresh Loaf:  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/   

  Carries News & information for the Amateur Bakers & Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

The Chocolate Life: http://www.thechocolatelife.com/

  An internet group set up for chocolatetiers to meet & converse, trade ideas.  I'm a member.  Extremely helpful group to anyone that asks questions etc.  A group anyone with an interest in chocolates should join.

Dessert Professional:  http://www.dessertprofessional.com/ 

  Another internet group for the dessert maker etc.  Another wonderful group that I'm a member of.  You can ask them anything about desserts and they will work with you to get an answer.  Another group you should join if your into desserts.  Fantastic group!!!



Amazon.Com:  https://www.amazon.com

  I order tons of stuff from there. Great service, Wait for sales if you can.  I have found some great deals. 



Self Life Advice:  http://shelflifeadvice.com/

  A very nice website about self life.  They have a Tips, A list of all foods and how long they are good for.  Everyone should look at this one!!!



Still Tasty:  http://www.stilltasty.com/

  Another great website.  Pretty much the same as the one above.  It's a matter of which one is the easiest for you to get around on.



Allergies:  http://grou.ps/allergy_bloggers/home

  A group for people with allergies.  A wonder website.  Covers all food allergies.



National Pasta Association: http://www.ilovepasta.org/index.html

  A place to go to find out just about anything you want to know about pasta.



Bake Decorate Celebrate:  http://www.bakedecoratecelebrate.com/

  A pretty inspiring website for cake decorating for the amateur baker. 



I'm cooked:  http://www.imcooked.com/

  A website to post your cooking video's 



The Chocolate Addict:   http://www.thechocolateaddict.com

  A great website about chocolates, working with chocolates, video's,& materials.



Calorie Counter:  http://caloriecount.about.com/

  Looks like a very usable website.  I've used it several times and was very happy.



Pressure cooking with Lorna Sass:  http://pressurecookingwithlornasass.wordpress.com/

  If your into Pressure Cooking this is the go to lady. Book author, Chef



National Honey Board: http://www.honey.com/nhb/home/

  The National Honey Board,  What more needs to be said!!!



Dry Spice:  http://www.dryspice.com/

  Little containers that you put in your spice containers.  I use alot of these.  Tell Ken that I sent you...



ChocolateSource:  http://www.chocolatesource.com/home/index.asp

  All Chocolates,  Great people to work with.  All your major brands. 

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I hope that some of these websites are of some help to you.  These are all from my "Favorites"  I have a ton more, But these are the most active ones.  I'm sure that I didn't list some of your favorites, So bear with me on that.  Let me know if you a favorite one or ones, and I'll list those also.