Honeycomb Apple Cinnamon Crostini

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THAT?! Where I use unique but commonly found ingredients and teach you how to cook with them! This week's ingredient is honeycomb! 

Grocery list:  

• 1 loaf French bread

• 1 stick butter - room temperature

• 1/4 cup honey, plus more for drizzling

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• pinch salt

• 2 apples - sliced (about 20 slices)

• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts - chopped

• Honeycomb - cut into small pieces

Directions:  

1. Preheat oven to 350. Slice French bread into 1/2 inch slices. You should have about 20 crostinis.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, honey, cinnamon and salt. Spread a thick amount on each slice. Place an apple on the top of each. Place all slices on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes. Turn oven to broil and let go 3 to 4 more minutes.

3. To serve, place crostinis on a platter and sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Drizzle with more honey and top with little pieces of honeycomb.  

CHEERS TO HAPPY EATING!!!  

What Do You Do with That: Honeycomb

Drop by my website every week to see an unusual, out of the ordinary, yet easy to find ingredient. I'll teach you about it, give you a quick flavor profile, and of course include several recipes and new ideas on how to cook with it!

With spring finally upon us, this week, the What Do You Do with That ingredient is honeycomb! You may have bought a jar of honey before and noticed a big chunk of wax in it. My advice to you: don't throw it away! Honeycomb is delicious and can be used in many ways. If you've never seen it in a jar and want to experiment with it, this time of year, you can buy it on its own. Check Whole Foods and specialty grocery stores to find it.

Recipes

Honeycomb Apple Cinnamon Crostinis

Spicy Honeycomb Glazed Chicken Tenders

Fig Toast with Honeycomb

Fun Facts

• Raw honeycomb is built by bees to store honey and pollen. It comes right from the beehive and can most definitely be eaten!

• Just like honey, honeycomb is healthy for you! It's good for cholesterol and the liver. Some even say it helps their allergies.

• Honeycomb is similar to chewing gum. It's has a waxy consistently with a sweet flavor. It takes awhile to chew, which slows down eating and can help you not eat as much.

• It's often found in the jar you buy your honey in but it can also be bought alone for about $25. May seem expensive but the good news is, honey doesn't really expire. It's best stored at room temperature and can be eaten for years. I've had my same honeycomb for about 3 years and am still eating it!

• It's most commonly used on cheese boards, smeared on toast, on other breads, and as a garnish.

Flavor Profile

• Sweet

• Waxy

• Floral

• Mouth-coating

What else to do with them:

Be creative! I like to add honeycomb to anything creamy - pudding, ice cream, light cheeses, yogurt, and as a topping for whipped cream. It's great spread on buttered breads of any kind or put on top of cakes, cupcakes, and all kinds of dessert. It's absolutely delicious as a sweet component for savory dishes like a salty pork or chicken. I also love it on top of breakfast favorites - homemade biscuits, waffles, pancakes, or oatmeal! 

Seafood Pasta with Smoked Oysters

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THAT?! Where I use unique but commonly found ingredients and teach you how to cook with them! This week's ingredient is honeycomb!

Continuing my "What Do You Do with That?" post on Smoked Oysters, I wrote this recipe a long time ago, but this time I added smoked oysters. We had this for dinner last night and all I have to say is... Oh. My. Gosh.!!!!! This recipe is to die for!!! The smoked flavor from the oysters is soaked up by the pasta and comes out in every bite! Adding smoked oysters is a thrifty ($2 a can) way to add more seafood to your pasta without breaking the bank, and it makes it taste even better! 

Grocery list: 

• 1 pound fettuccine

• Kosher salt

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 large shallots - sliced

• Pepper

• 3 large garlic cloves - mined

• 1 tsp red pepper flake

• 1/2 tsp thyme - minced

• 1 cup white wine

• 1 pound shrimp - peeled, deveined, tails off

• 1 pound clams

• 3 oz can smoked oysters - drained and rinsed

• 1 lemon - juiced

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1/2 cup parsley - chopped

Directions: 

1. Boil fettuccine in a pot of salted water, using the package directions as a guide, until the pasta is al dente. Drain and reserve at least one cup of the pasta water. Set aside. 

2. In a large sauté pan heat olive oil over medium low. Add the shallots with a dash of salt and pepper and let cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic, red pepper flake, and thyme and cook for one more minute. 

3. Pour in the wine and add the shrimp and clams. Bring to a boil, cover, and then simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until clams open and shrimp is pink. Add the smoked oysters, lemon juice, butter, parsley, fettuccine, and about 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water (add more pasta water as needed). Stir together, let cook for about one more minute, and serve. 

CHEERS TO HAPPY COOKING!!!

Smoked Oyster Cracker Bites

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THAT?! Where I use unique but commonly found ingredients and teach you how to cook with them! This week's ingredient is honeycomb!

As weird (and maybe unappetizing) as these may sound, I'm gonna go down memory lane on this one and share a story with you. When I hated seafood and wouldn't touch it, my father-in-law had this appetizer at a holiday gathering. He is a crazy good cook - like one of the best - and Tres was able to talk me into trying these smoked oyster crackers. And guess what?! Little Miss Picky loved them! I've graduated from my picky stage (thank the good Lord above), and now I'll eat just about anything. But when I didn't think I'd ever like seafood, I liked these. And you will too! 

Grocery list: 

• 20-25 fancy, round crackers

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese - room temperature

• 1 (3 oz) package smoked oysters - drained and rinsed

• Hot pepper jelly

• Fresh dill

• Fleur de sel or Sea Salt

Directions: 

Spread a generous amount of cream cheese on each cracker and top with a single smoked oyster. If you don't have enough oysters for each cracker, cut larger ones in half to make extra. Spoon a large dollop of hot pepper jelly over each oyster. Top each with a sprig of dill and sprinkle of fleur de sel. Serve on a white platter for beautiful presentation. 

CHERRS TO HAPPY EATING!!! 

What Do You Do with That: Canned Smoked Oysters

Drop by my blog every week to see an unusual, out of the ordinary, yet easy to find ingredient. I'll teach you about it, give you a quick flavor profile, and of course several recipes and new ideas on how to cook with it!

This week, it's an ingredient that may scare you a little bit but it shouldn't because it's delicious! If it helps at all, the first time I had these I was the most picky eater on earth and refused to eat seafood. My father-in-law made the Smoked Oyster Cracker Bites appetizer, and Tres talked me into trying them. I'm not gonna lie: I loved it and it inspired my very first "What Do You Do with That?" post! 

Recipes

Smoked Oyster Cracker Bites 

Seafood Pasta with Smoked Oysters

Fun Facts

• They're at their freshest when packaged! Canned Smoked Oysters are usually steamed when they're fresh, smoked for extra flavor, and finally packaged in oil.

• They're easy to find! You can get them at just about any grocery store in the same section as canned tuna and crab.

• They're affordable! They are anywhere from $2 to $3 for a small can that will have anywhere from 20 to 30 small oysters in them.

• They're a lovely way to eat "rich" on a budget! They're just so darn fancy looking, and they have that slight fishy taste that makes you think of caviar. Now, let me get this straight, they are NOT the flavor of caviar, they just can be served similar and have that slight "ocean" taste.

Flavor Profile

• Meaty

• Smoky

• Slightly salty

• Slightly fishy

What else to do with them: 

You can do almost anything with smoked oysters that you do with any seafood. Try them in your seafood stew or soup the next time you make it. Replace your crab or tuna dip with a smoked oyster dip. Try them on a crostini or as a replacement for any basic oyster recipe. Or maybe do your next Oysters Rockefeller or Oysters Bienville dish using them!