Celebrating Lawrenceville's Joy of Cookies Tour

In honor of Lawrenceville's Annual Joy of Cookies Tour this weekend, here's a recipe for honey almond biscotti to add to the cookie fest.  (Also see our previous post for some great honey ginger bread cookies!)  If you head to the Joy of Cookies Tour, be sure to check out The Gallery on 43rd Street.  Proprietor, Mary Coleman, offers a wonderful array of local artists' works and is selling our honey--highlighted in a recent I Heart Pittsburgh blog post!

Biscotti are difficult to pull off when honey is in the recipe because honey tends to soften baked goods, especially after a few days.  If you have a biscotti recipe that uses lots of sugar, it’s probably wise not to try to replace the sugar in that recipe with honey.  This recipe works well, though, and the flavor is fantastic.  You can also use this recipe as a base and experiment with other flavors. It’s adapted from Ann Harmon’s “Home Harmony” column in Bee Culture (June 1998).

HONEY ALMOND BISCOTTI

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup honey (basic summer honey works well)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons anise seeds (sounds like a lot but is perfect amount!)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup slivered almonds

Heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease one cookie sheet. Cream butter and honey until well-blended and light lemony color.  Add eggs one at a time and combine well.  Add vanilla and fully incorporate.

Whisk flour, cinnamon, anise, salt, baking powder and baking soda together and slowly add to batter.  Mix well.  Stir in almonds.

On a floured board, divide dough in half and form each half into 10x3x1 inch logs.  Place on cookie sheet, about 4 inches apart.  Bake 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned and firm to the touch.  Lower oven temp to 300 and cool logs for 5-10 minutes.  Slice on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices and place slice side down on cookie sheet.  Bake 10 minutes.  Flip cookies and bake 10 minutes more.  Cool completely on wire racks.  Store in a well-sealed tin.

"A Bee's Experience" Art Show in Lawrenceville

WildCard in Lawrenceville is hosting a group art show featuring the paper cut work of Kathryn Carr, Bec Young, and Stacey Malasky.  The opening is Friday, October 7 from 6 to 9 and the show runs until Nov. 13. For more info, check out the Pittsburgh Art Blog.

Memorial Day Picnic Recipes

SPICY VEGETARIAN HONEY-BAKED BEANS!

Dark fall honey makes a great substitute for molasses in baked beans. These beans are quite spicy, so if you want to tone that down a bit, add a little less (or omit altogether) the chipotle pepper.

2 cups dried navy beans (we've actually used black-eyed peas for this recipe with great results)

2 teaspoons

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried ground chipotle pepper

1/2 cup dark fall honey

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

ground black pepper to taste

Rinse and pick through beans to be sure there aren't any stones. Place in a bowl and cover with cold water three inches above beans. Place in fridge and soak over night. (If you're short on time, you can place beans in a pot, add water to cover three inches. Bring just to a boil--just until the small bubbles appear around the edges of the pot. Turn off heat and cover for 1 hour. You'll be ready to continue with the recipe.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large, oven-proof pan (like a Dutch oven) and saute onion and garlic until soften. Drain beans, rinse well, and add to pan. Stir in 4 cups water, chipoltle pepper, tomato paste, honey and salt and stir well. Cover pot and place in oven. Cook for 3 to 4 hours, checking about once an hour to stir and see if the beans need more water. Add more water as needed. Serve hot or at room temp. Beans should be very soft and the sauce quite thick.

Another vegetarian addition: Add a few pats of butter when you remove from the oven to make the beans even more...mmmm!

Omnivorian addition: You can fry 4 or 5 strips of bacon (cut in 1/2 inch pieces) until crispy. Remove from pan, drain on paper towels and reserve. Saute the onion and garlic in the bacon fat. Add the fried bacon when you add the beans. Makes about 8 to 10 servings

HONEYED COLESLAW
Very simple--but deliciously tangy. You can also use sour cream instead of the Greek yogurt (that is if your calorie budget can bear it.)

4 cups finely shredded cabbage

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons celery seeds

Combine well and chill. You can add some shredded carrots for color.

Makes 8 servings

GRILLED SKIRT STEAK WITH HONEY MARINADE

We sent this recipe out last year to the folks who subscribe to our email newsletter list recommending this marinade for the delicious skirt steaks the McElhaney Family Farm sells at the St. James Farmers' Market (and elsewhere). One reader wrote that McElhaney steaks are so good, nothing should be added to them! So, if you want to "gild the lily," try this recipe.

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup summer (or fall) honey

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

1/2 cup canola oil

2 pounds skirt steak

Combine everything except the steak in a jar with a good-fitting lid and shake to mix well. Add the steaks to a zip-lock bag along with the marinade and refrigerate over-night (but not longer). Prepare grill for cooking on medium-high heat. Remove steaks from the bag and discard marinade. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes on each side (slightly less for very thin steaks). Let rest 5 minutes (crucial step!). Slice thinly against the grain and serve slices with freshly grated horseradish or horseradish sauce. This recipe serves 4, but if used for sandwiches it will serve 8.

Looking for dessert? Check out our honey rhubarb pie recipe previously posted!

See You at the Gallery on 43rd Street in Lawrenceville on Saturday!

Join us on Saturday from 11 to 1 at Gallery on 43rd Street for Lawrenceville's annual Blossom Tour.  We'll be joined by legendary beekeeper Jim Fitzroy and his wife, Eileen.  Jim was instrumental in extracting a feral honeybee colony from a building in Braddock in 2009.  Check out this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article: Braddock Abuzz.  Jim's the guy on the scaffold in the photo working with bees without a veil.   Robert's standing next to him fully suited.

We'll have an observation hive and honey to taste--bring your mom!