Get Spooky & Spicy in Cocktails + Food for Halloween + More with Honey Ridge Farms #Honey! #recipes #LAStory

It’s always interesting to feature holiday foods and cocktails when it’s a holiday like Halloween which give one such freedom to be creative. Because people aren’t tied into tradition, the creative sparks are allowed to fly to create some unusual things– like the cocktails and foods I am featuring today which are based around HONEY!

Not all honey cremes or honey products are the same. Try to find a high-quality honey with lots of honey products for cocktails, cooking and baking will be worth the time and $$. The taste will speak volumes and impress guests and your palette. Here’s a brand I like: Honey Ridge Farms! Check out all their amazing flavors of honey and vinegars. YUM!!

I have tried many different honey brands and found some I liked and some I didn’t– even within the same brand. Usually what you will find at local stores are brands from local beekeepers which makes sense since you should eat brands that are local to you to get the best flavor. That said, not everyone can find honey cremes or honey year-round from local brands due to regional weather conditions.

Disclosure: I was provided samples of a couple of flavors of Honey Ridge honey cremes and balsamic vinegar. This allowed me to try a couple of these recipes for food and cocktails. The choice of flavors and opinion on this product line are entirely mine.

Honey is an ideal ingredient for cooking, baking or enjoying as is. Raw Honey Crèmes and pure Balsamic Honey Vinegar are produced by Honey Ridge Farms, a family with five generations of beekeeping experience. All honey is sourced from Pacific Northwest and Western beekeepers, and traceable to origin. www.honeyridgefarms.com.

You can use the flavored honey cremes for tea, toast, desserts but also other things like cocktails and

Spicy Sanguine Sling

Ingredients:
1-1/2 oz vodka
1 Tbsp Grand Marnier
2 oz blood orange juice (approximately 1 fresh blood orange = 1/4 cup)
1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 Tbsp spiced honey simple syrup made with Honey Ridge Spiced Honey Creme

Method:
Shake all ingredients on ice and strain over crushed ice in a high-ball glass.

To make Honey Syrup:
Dissolve 1 part Honey Crème to 2 parts hot water.
Store and refrigerate in glass bottle.
Choose honey flavor that will complement the key notes of the cocktail.
(Lavender or Spiced Honey for the Spicy Sanguine Sling; Coconut for a tropical drink etc.)

HARVEST MOON MARTINI

Homage to the beautiful Harvest Moon and splendor of Fall.
Courtesy Juan Carlos Mesa, bartender, BrioNYC

Ingredients:

2 oz. vodka (preferably Potato, such as Chopin)

1 oz. Honey Crème Blood Orange syrup

1 oz. fresh lime juice

¼ oz. (splash) of balsamic honey vinegar (Honey Ridge has an exceptional honey balsamic vinegar and a rocking great Serrano Chile Balsamic Vinegar too.)

Fresh orange peel

3 allspice seeds

1 fresh basil leaf, for garnish

Method:

Crush orange peel and brush along the rim of a chilled martini glass. 
Combine liquid ingredients with this peel and the allspice seeds in a shaker with ice. 
Shake vigorously 10 times to break the allspice seeds and release their flavors.  |
Strain into martini glass, smack basil leaf between palms to release flavorful oils and place on surface of cocktail.

This last cocktail is via Yummly.com and it’s a riff on a cocktail I saw in Cooking Contest Central. It’s a variation on a theme of ‘shrubs’ without the same work (i.e., it’s faster and easier to do.)

Cranberry Sage Cocktail
Ingredients

Ingredients:
3 ounces high quality, unsweeetened cranberry juice (100% juice. Not the cocktail)
1-1/2 ounces premium cranberry-flavored vodka
(Smirnoff or Absolut is a good choice. Should you want something with a touch of sweetness, you can try vanilla, berry, or apple vodka for a tweak on this taste profile)
1 teaspoon cranberry balsamic vinegar
2 sage leaves, plus extra for garnish (If you can’t find fresh sage, look for fresh rosemary or thyme and substitute an equal quantity)
1 strip lemon peel
2 ounces club soda
fresh cranberries, garnish

Instructions

Place cranberry juice, vodka, vinegar, sage and lemon peel in a cocktail shaker filled half-way with ice.
Shake to mix well and strain into an ice-filled glass.
Top with club soda and garnish with fresh cranberries and sage leaves.

Learn how to infuse here: Williams Sonoma It will take a while. Want a faster version: try this post on LA-Story.com with Ted Kilgore a mixologist who talks about faster ways to infuse spirits or simple syrups. You can learn how to infuse the balsamic vinegar with the cranberry flavor!

Food:

CHUNKY DEVILED EGGS

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, hard-cooked

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, or more to taste

1 teaspoon Honey Crème Blood Orange or Clover

1/4 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup mayonnaise

Paprika

Method:
Shell the eggs, cut them in half lengthwise, and put the egg yolks in a small bowl. Set the egg whites aside.
Add all the remaining ingredients except mayonnaise to the yolks, mashing with a fork.
Be sure the honey is well distributed.
Stir in the mayonnaise and taste for lime and salt.
Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Let come to room temperature before serving.
Dust eggs with paprika and garnish with minced dill. Serves 6.

HONEY-BRIE RACLETTE
A casual entertaining dish that works exceptionally well as an appetizer.

Ingredients:
Cow or goat’s milk Brie
Rosemary stalk (fresh)
Honey Creme of your choice of flavor. (spiced, lemon lavender, clover or raspberry are all great choices)
Nuts for toasting (optional) (do the nuts ahead of time)
Apples and/or pears, sliced,
Toasted baguette bread and/or flatbread

Instructions:
Use either cow’s or goat’s milk brie.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Place brie in oven-proof skillet, top with rosemary stalk and gently heat until it melted (about 5 – 7 minutes)
and rosemary is fragrant.
Drizzle with Honey Creme, and if you like, chopped toasted nuts. ( I chose lemon lavendar from Honey Ridge (of course!)

Serve with sliced apples and pears toasted baguette slices or flatbreads.

GOAT CHEESE GRATIN

Ingredients:
10- or 12-oz. log fresh soft chèvre (goat cheese), at room temperature

2 tablespoons half & half

3 tablespoons Honey Crème Blood Orange, Clover, Lemon, or Lavender

1/3 cup coarsely chopped salted roasted pistachios

Flatbreads

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a bowl, whisk goat cheese and half-and-half until smooth.
Spoon into a small, shallow gratin dish, spreading to make level.
Bake until cheese is hot in center and beginning to firm up at edges, about 15 minutes.
Drizzle baked gratin with honey and sprinkle with pistachios.
Serve with flatbreads.

I love every single flavor of honey from Honey Ridge Farms. The texture is super creamy and the flavors or so exquisite. I had never tried honey like this before. I adore the balsamic vinegar too. I hope you find time to try these recipes and use Honey Ridge Farms honey as ingredients for those recipes and other ways you use honey.

Follow Honey Ridge Farms on these social platforms for tips, recipes and great flavor innovations!
Website: www.honeyridgefarms.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Honey-Ridge-Farms
Twitter: https://twitter.com/honeyridgefarms
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/honeyridgefarms/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/honeyridgefarms/

Disclosure: I was provided samples of a couple of flavors of Honey Ridge honey cremes and balsamic vinegar. This allowed me to try a couple of these recipes for food and cocktails. The choice of flavors and opinion on this product line are entirely mine.

Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com

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