Bee Mine: Honey, I love you. cooking class

Meet the chefs Chef chris smith CIA Graduate. Pie Crust Wizard. Wicked Funny. Chef janaki Baking Jedi. Moto Chef. Sweet as 3.14159

The wines. Riesling 2012 This drier Riesling, with only 1.0% residual sugar, is the perfectly pretty wine to pair with fried chicken, prosciutto, honey or pears! Sparkling rose Nothing goes better with fried foods than sparkling vino! Sparkling almond Our Sparkling Almond is the most excellent partner to the Asian pear and almond tart!

Honey prosciutto appetizer INGREDIENTS Flatbread crackers Gouda cheese, thinly sliced Prosciutto Red onion, thinly sliced Honey for drizzling METHOD Layer the Gouda, prosciutto, red onion on the flatbread crackers, drizzle with honey and watch them disappear!

Honey roasted pear salad Dressing 1/3 cup verjuis (*or 3 T. white grape juice and 2 T. apple cider vinegar) 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves 1/3 cup grapeseed oil 1 large shallot, finely chopped Salt and pepper to taste Whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Salad 3 bunches fresh thyme sprigs 4 ripe but firm Bartlett pears, halved and cored ¼ cup honey 1 head butter lettuce, coarsely torn 6 oz. blue cheese 4 oz. baby arugula ½ cup hazelnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scatter thyme sprigs on a baking sheet. Place pear halves, cut side down, on work surface. Starting ½ inch form stem, and leaving pear half intact, cut each lengthwise into scant 1/3 to ½ inch wide slices. Press pear gently to fan slices; place on top of the thyme sprigs. Drizzle pears with honey; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until pears are tender, about 15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. SERVING Combine lettuce and baby arugula in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat greens. Divide salad among plates. Place pear alongside greens. Garnish salads with crumbled blue cheese; sprinkle with the hazelnuts and fresh thyme.

Regina s fried chicken w/ pecan honey glaze INGREDIENTS 1-3 ½ pound frying chicken, cut up 2 large eggs Salt and pepper Garlic powder Vegetable shortening or vegetable oil 2 cups self-rising flour 1 cup butter ½ cup honey 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans Brown paper bag METHOD Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Beat the eggs in a 9x13 inch dish. Lay the chicken pieces in the dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Turn the chicken and season the other side, then slosh the chicken pieces around in the eggs until well coated. Put enough shortening or oil in a large cast iron pan or electric skillet to come just halfway up the sides of the chicken pieces. Heat the fat until smoking, about 375 degrees. Put the flour in a paper bag, add the chicken pieces, a few at a time, and shake to coat well. Remove the chicken with tongs and place it in the hot fat. Cover the pan, leaving a crack for steam to escape and lower the heat to 325 degrees for electric skillet, and fry for 10 minutes longer. Very large pieces may need to be cooked a little longer. Drain the chicken on paper towels and transfer to a platter. To make the glaze, melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk the honey until well blended. Bring to a simmer and add the pecans. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle the glaze over the hot fried chicken and serve.

Chai I thought about giving this recipe a more elaborate title, but the truth is, it s simply delicious. When you make chai like this, as countless Indian moms have done over the years, it blows away those powdered mixes some places use. It also showcases honey, and how honey can make spices come alive on your tongue. INGREDIENTS (per cup) ¾ mug water; ¼ mug milk (use the mug you ll be drinking from to measure) 2 tsp. black tea leaves (don t use a flavored black tea, like blackcurrant or mango; stick to a classic, like a nice assam or an English Breakfast) 2 green cardamom pods 2-3 whole peppercorns ¼ tsp. fennel seeds 1 cinnamon stick 1 star anise 2-3 whole cloves 2 slices fresh ginger root Honey PREPARATION Heat water and milk in a medium saucepan on the stove. Add sliced ginger and other spices. Bring to a boil (being careful not to boil over), then remove from heat and let spices steep for 15 minutes on the stove. Add tea leaves and return pot to the heat, then bring back to a boil. Shut off the heat and let it steep for a further 5 minutes. Drizzle in honey (to taste) while whisking or stirring. Strain chai into your mug and enjoy. Note: you ll probably want to multiply this recipe to make multiple cups at once, because once you share, you won t be able to keep it all for yourself. If you do, you can safely get 2-3 mugs out of the amount of spices given above before you need to start multiplying spices. Also, the spices don t need to be exact -- if you make this a lot, you ll start to notice which spice flavors you think should be stronger or weaker. Play around with the amounts and keep notes when you find a combination you really like.

Asian Pear Almond Tart with Honey One good thing about this time of year is that you can find nice pears in abundance -- including Asian pears. Sometimes called apple pears (because they re shaped like an apple, these pears are juicy, flavorful, and bright. If you can t find nice ones, substitute any other nice pear you can find. This recipe adapted from one of David Lebovitz s -- the tart crust method used here is quite interesting. INGREDIENTS For the crust: 3 tbsp. butter, cut up 1 tbsp. vegetable oil 3 tbsp. water 1 tbsp. sugar Pinch of salt 1 c. flour For the filling: ½ q. (or 6 c.) water 3 c. Lynfred pear wine 1 ⅓ c. honey 4-5 Asian pears, peeled, cored, and quartered 6 oz. almond paste 2 tsp. sugar 2 tsp. flour 3 oz. room-temperature butter 1 egg + 1 egg white, at room temperature ½ tsp. almond extract 1.5 tsp. rum Honey for drizzling PREPARATION For the crust: Preheat your oven to 410F. Combine everything except the flour in an ovenproof glass bowl or medium ovenproof saucepan. Place bowl/pan in the oven for 15 minutes. Butter will bubble and brown slightly around the edges.

Remove bowl/pan from oven and immediately stir in flour until it starts to form a ball. Be careful; the bowl/pan will be extremely hot, and the butter may be hissing and spitting as you pull it out of the oven. Dump the dough out into a 9 tart pan with a removable bottom and spread the dough with a spatula. Don t worry about getting it to go up the sides at this point; just worry about spreading it evenly on the bottom of the pan. Allow the dough to cool enough that you can touch it without hurting yourself. Press the dough firmly down into the pan and smooth a little bit up the sides. At this point, you can pinch off a small amount to reserve for patching any cracks that might appear when you pre-bake the crust. Something the size of a raspberry should be enough dough. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork. Place it in the oven for 15 minutes. Patch any cracks that have appeared with your reserved dough. Allow the shell to cool completely before filling. If you re making this tart in one afternoon, you can start poaching the pears while you wait for the tart shell to cool. For the filling: First, you ll need to poach the pears. Heat the water, pear wine, and honey until all the honey has dissolved. Add the pears and bring to a low boil, cooking until pears are completely cooked through. This will be about 15-25 minutes, depending on the size of your pears. Remove pears from liquid and allow to cool completely. Return pear poaching liquid to medium heat and reduce until it becomes syrupy (should coat the back of a spoon). Remove from heat and let cool. Preheat the oven to 375F. Next, you ll need to assemble the almond filling. Combine almond paste, sugar, and flour in your mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment). Beat until completely combined. Gradually add the butter and beat until completely combined. Add the egg and egg white and do the same thing; then the almond extract and rum. Spread the filling over the bottom of your cooled tart shell with a spatula. Slice the cooled, poached pears and fan the slices out over the surface of the almond filling. Bake tart for 40-45 minutes. When done, the almond filling that is visible between pear slices will have browned slightly. Drizzle with your poached pear reduction before serving. Also goes well with ice cream or gelato.

Lynfred Winery Est. 1979. Illinois' Oldest and Largest, Continually-Operating Family Winery. Illinois Wine Pioneer. Proud Wineaux. Corkscrew Ninja. Food Fanatic.

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