Before next week’s post, we’ll be celebrating Canada Day. I’m intending on celebrating it with some of the recipes below, served on fire-roasted hot dogs and with a few bottles of cold beer. And then maybe we’ll go looking for fireworks.

Not that I’ll be setting any off – I’d rather be a half-mile away… <|;^) Since my daughter is a bee-girl, and works for the local apiary, we have a steady flow of honey. Well, in the summer at least. I'm slowly learning to cook with it, using the natural, healthy sweetener in place of the over-processed, store-bought sugar. I'm following tips and advice from several sources, my favorites being Honey.com and PickYourOwn.org*.

Hope you give these a try, and enjoy!

Coarse Ground Honey Mustard

Ingredients:

2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds, coarsely ground
1/4 c mustard powder
1/4 c cold water
1 tbsp liquid honey
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Grind mustard seeds coarsely, using mortar & pestle or small food chopper. Stir the mustard powder, ground seeds and water together and let it sit for ten to fifteen minutes. Add the honey, and let it sit for another ten to fifteen minutes before blending in the vinegar and salt. Refrigerate for 24-48 hours before serving.

Homemade Ketchup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c tomato paste (paste, not sauce!)
1 c vinegar
1/2 c honey
1/2 c water
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/3 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

In a large saucepan, stir all ingredients together until smooth, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, partially cover and simmer for at least 15 minutes (20 is best, although I thought it was a bit too much). Pour into a sterile container, and store in the fridge.

Hot Pepper Relish

Ingredients:

1 1/3 c jalapenos, stemmed & seeds removed
1 1/3 c banana peppers, stemmed & seeds removed
1 1/3 c onion, chopped large
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/3 c cider vinegar
1/4 c honey

Directions:

In a food processor fitted with a blade, process peppers and onions under pulse until they are finely chopped. Place mixture into a fine strainer (mesh works best!) in a larger bowl. Stir in salt, and let it sit at room temperature for about three hours.

Rinse thoroughly, squeezing out as much of the water and juices as possible by pressing the mixture against the sides of the strainer with a spatula. Set aside.

In a saucepan, bring vinegar and honey to a boil over medium heat, stir in pepper mixture. Reduce heat to just-above low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ten minutes. Remove from heat and cool before storing in a sterile container.

(Easily doubles or trebles for canning!)

Strawberry-Rhubarb Honey Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 c liquid honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
3 tbsp applesauce
1 c chopped fresh strawberries
1/2 c chopped fresh rhubarb

Topping –
1/2 c flour
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all topping ingredients, set aside.

Whisk buttermilk, egg, vanilla, honey and applesauce in a large bowl, and set aside. Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, then combine with the wet ingredients and stir. Fold in strawberries and rhubarb.

Put into muffin tin lined with paper or parchment cups, top with a layer of crumb topping. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on the top.

* According to PickYourOwn.org:

To substitute honey for sugar in canning, use 7/8 cup for every cup of sugar, and don’t change the other liquids. According to food labs, honey may be substituted effectively for up to half the sugar called for in a canning syrup recipe.

To substitute honey for sugar in baking, use 3/4 cup of honey to replace one cup of sugar. Reduce other liquids by one-half cup per each cup of honey you add to the recipe. Lower the oven temp about 25 degrees F to prevent over-browning.

Until next week…

<3 JL

Look what Belfire author Michael Hultquist does in his spare time!