Fare Exchange: Searching for the perfect honey and best baking tips

Good morning, readers. Keep reading for things both syrupy and spicy but, before that, heed these seconded requests: Charleston rice pilau, carrot coconut muffins, no-fail communion bread as well as a gluten-free version of communion bread.

The syrupy topics come first. Wanda Holbrook wrote about sorghum with a nod to Stevia as well.

“I bought some sorghum from Village Market in Collegedale. What I found some months ago was made by Community Sorghum Mill in Delano, Tenn. I thought it was good on pancakes. I haven’t used it for any other sweetening occasion. I don’t cook sweets so I don’t use sorghum or honey to sweeten things. We sweeten tea and coffee with Stevia, which my doctor recommends.”

HONEY HISTORIES

Joy E. Souders wrote: “I was lucky enough to meet a couple, local artisans Matt and Tiffany Rogers, at the Christmas Market. They are wonderful people, owners of Everyday Eclectic, and have many products that I love. My favorite is infused honeys. They infuse local honey with delicious flavors such as harvest spice, balsamic and cinnamon. My favorite is harvest spice, delicious on or in anything. An aged white cheddar cheese or hoop cheese with this harvest spice honey is absolutely amazing. Their products are sold at Merchants on Main.”

Ginny Gaines has a long honey history.

“I was raised on sourwood honey and still consider it the premier honey of all. It is a light-colored honey and has to have at least 51 percent sourwood nectar over any other to be considered sourwood. Of course, it does have some other nectars in it, but not enough to affect the taste. And the taste is amazing. It is sweet with just a hint of tartness that leaves a lovely aftertaste. It won Best Honey in the World twice at the Apimondia World Honey Show.

“It crystallizes slowly, making it a good honey for keeping. The sourwood trees in my woods have had some difficulty recently, perhaps due to our erratic weather in the last few years. The drought years that we had a few years ago seemed to have really hurt these trees. We have lost a number of them. The blooms are beautiful and have been compared to Lily of the Valley blooms. They hang in clusters and have abundant nectar for those busy little bees.

“My dad was a sales rep and traveled all the time in the Southeast. He would bring in a case of sourwood honey in these unique jars that were almost square, with a plain white lid. I can still see them. I wish I could find one just for memory’s sake.

“Apparently one has to be careful when purchasing sourwood honey to make sure that it has not been labeled incorrectly. It seems that everyone knows that sourwood is a prize honey and will sell honey that has more nectars than sourwood and pass it off as the real thing.

“Honey kept near your area is excellent for allergies, and a spoonful of this golden delight, whether it helps or not with allergies, makes for a yummy treat. Serve it with hot biscuits or any kind of hot bread.”

CRISCO BATTLE

We are now considering the topic of Crisco versus butter, particularly butter-flavored Crisco.

Mr. and Mrs. Sunday wrote: “The best discussion of shortening vs. butter we’ve seen is in Shirley Corriher’s book ‘CookWise’ (Harper Collins). It’s is the Cookies section under Fine-Tuning Cookies (about page 128 in the version we have). Shirley is a food scientist and has appeared on Alton Brown’s ‘Good Eats’ series. She explains what a change in ingredients will do to your cookies (yes, and other things as well).

“Basically, if you use butter, your baked goods will spread and therefore get thinner and crisper, but if you use shortening (including butter-flavored) they won’t spread and so will be softer and puffier. Choose your fat to choose your result.

“She uses chocolate chip cookies as an example and shows you how to fine-tune them to suit what you want. We strongly recommend the book.”

It occurs to me that the Sundays expressed a pervasive principle: As we choose our fat we are choosing our result.

PERUSING PUMPKIN

Lastly, Jody Poindexter of Flintstone, Ga., provided the spice in sending a gracious plenty of pumpkin recipes, straight from Southern Living in October. Here’s a fascinating pumpkin soup with a Mexican twist: chipotle peppers in adobo, cumin and the like. The pumpkin comes from a can.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Avocado Cream

1 cup diced yellow onion

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 (29-ounce) can pumpkin

6 to 6 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided

1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

1 tablespoon adobo sauce from can

1 medium avocado, peeled and diced

1/2 cup whole buttermilk

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces smoked sausage, sliced

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Place onions, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt in a Dutch oven over medium heat; cover and cook 5 to 6 minutes or until translucent. Stir in garlic and cumin; cook 2 minutes. Whisk in pumpkin and 6 cups broth; add chipotle pepper and 1 tablespoon adobo sauce. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer, stirring occasionally, 12 minutes.

Process soup in batches in a food processor or blender for 1 minute. Add up to cup broth, 2 tablespoons at a time, to reach desired consistency.

Process avocado, next 3 ingredients and remaining teaspoon salt in a blender until smooth. Add up to cup water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to reach desired consistency.

Cook smoked sausage in remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in black beans and paprika and cook 1 minute.

Ladle soup into serving bowls and top with sausage mixture and avocado cream.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

JUST A DASH

Sometimes at the end of a column there is a brief entry called “Just a Dash,” one of those treasured small tips or recipes for busy people. Why not share with us the best time-saver and work-saver from your 2015 life, or from this golden new year we are 20 days into?