Raw Honey

I've been itching to have an oul rant now for ages but have been biting my keyboard.

It seems most food blogs concentrate on recipes and reviews. Now I have no problem with blogging a recipe mainly for my own benefit, as when something works out really well, I either can't remember where I found the recipe or what little tweaks I gave it.

But I leave the reviews to the experts who have a lot more patience than I do when confronted with a fabulous plate of food. It would be impossible for me not to dig in immediately. I really wouldn't have the patience to set up a photo shoot.

But to the rant.

I read a tweet the other night about the benefits of "raw" honey. Now in my innocence I did not realise what they meant by raw honey. I knew the stuff in the supermarket, the Boyne Valley stuff was blended from lots of different honeys from more than one country and probably heated/pasteurised. When we were kids my mother always told us it wasn't as good for you. Her father had kept bees and they grew up eating their own honey. Then when we went to Wexford every summer we used buy honey from a house on the way to our mobile home. The old man sold it in sections and I really loved digging out the honey with the wax and slathering it on homemade soda bread rolls baked in a wonky old oven.

My mother had an inkling about all it's now recognised benefits. To us it was just honey. Real honey not the Boyne Valley honey.

So now the benefits of real honey (I can't use the term raw) are being written about in the media and even SuperVet aka Noel Fitzpatrick over on the Channel 4 programme uses it in post-operative wound management.

Following this tweet the next day I took a picture of real honey and posted it on Twitter. It was honey produced by my brother in law from his garden in Blackrock. Almost immediately I got a reply from a honey "producer" (**Irish Bee Sensations) asking was this honey raw. Cue bafflement. I replied I was fairly sure it was although I did think it was a bizarre question. In their reply they had asked how it was extracted. I replied I was pretty sure "in his kitchen". Then the clanger, do you not realise honey sold must be extracted in a honey house. (It does not).

I replied "Oh my God", thinking the food "safety" police had got their sticky fingers on honey extraction and production to make it "safe".

I am just so weary of all the food safety rules and regulations that have very little to do with making food "safer" and a lot more to do with keeping bureaucrats in jobs as well as kowtowing to the EU.

If you are really really worried about the miniscule risk of getting botulism or food poisoning from honey read the link above which explains how these pathogens and/or spores may be present. Then work out the risk or the possibility. I would imagine you would be more likely to be hit by a jumbo jet falling from the sky. Of course there is a risk to the immuno-compromised and possibly small babies but you know if you stick a small human in a sterile bubble they will never develop an immune system. In fact this has been pretty much proven with the increase in asthma and eczema and the obsession with sterilising everything a baby comes in contact with.

Instead concentrate on the benefits amongst which are; eliminates allergies, anti-inflammatory, strengthens the immune system, anti bacterial, anti fungal, improves digestion, calming, pain relief.

And if you want any more proof apart from that seen on SuperVet. A friend's newly born colt foal who contracted rotavirus and was very very sick was cured using a combination of natural yoghurt and honey.

I have yet to meet a bee keeper who has not been passionate and incredibly knowledgeable about bees and bee keeping and I would very much doubt they would extract under unhygienic conditions but even if they do, honey is not a great environment for bugs to live in.

On balance I will stick with real honey extracted by small, truly artisan producers and avoid the mass produced and heavily regulated. 



**Irish Bee Sensations have since disappeared off the market and are suspected of repackaging honey from German supermarkets. The owners are wanted for fraud.

Lime Marmalade

I found loads of yellowing but perfectly sound limes in my pig veg the other day. I Googled a recipe and found this.

I had 1.8kg of limes with a few lemons thrown in. I added the bicarb and then decided to use a kilo of SureSet sugar. I didn't want it very sweet so only added another 400g of granulated sugar (1.4kg of sugar to 1.8kg of fruit).












When I say it is delicious I am not exaggerating. It is sublime. It retains that lovely fresh zingy lime flavour with just the right amount of sweetness to counter balance the acidity. If it hasn't set sufficiently after a couple of days, reboil rapidly for a few minutes. I had to do this and it set perfectly.

Lime Marmalade and Poppy Seed Cake

200g butter softened
175g sugar
2 large eggs (I used duck if using hen use 3 medium)
250g plain flour sieved
1 level teaspoon baking powder sieved
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
2 tablespoons lime marmalade

For the icing
125g icing sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 180 fan. Cream butter and sugar and add eggs one at a time. Add a tablespoon of flour if it curdles. Sieve in flour and baking powder. Add poppy seeds and marmalade. Pour into a lined or greased loaf time (1lb tin). Bake for 40 minutes and if beginning to brown too much turn down to 160 and bake until a skewer comes out clean (approx another 20 -25 minutes).

Allow to cool completely and drizzle icing over.

Rye and Birdseed Bread

Cynthia over at *Solitary Cook first posted this recipe calling it Gold Nugget bread. I tasted it when I was down in *Oldfarm and was really impressed. It was nutty and delicious and so so light. Margaret uses Spelt flour. So of course I just had to have a go and waited (impatiently) for her to convert the American measurements. I just can't handle cups, sticks etc. I finally got the converted recipe and decided to have a go in the middle of watching the semi-final of the Six Nations. So basically in between terrorising the dogs screaming at Bod and the boys, I was running in and out trying to make the bread. Of course it was a bit of a flop (unlike the match thankfully.)

I tried it again a few times and to be honest I couldn't get it right at all. The spelt just didn't seem to rise well. Finally I decided to have one last go using wheat flour with added rye flour and a sourdough starter. And hey voila!

Rye and Birdseed Bread Recipe

150g of an active sourdough starter (my starter is quite liquid - 50:50 flour to water)
100g rye flour
150g water

Mix the above together and put in a bowl covered with cling film. Leave overnight or at least all day. If it looks like it's drying out pour a small amount of water over surface and swirl it to cover the surface. You need to prevent a crust forming.

Active sponge next morning

Next day when it's all bubbly and foaming pour it into your mixing bowl. This is your sponge. Add

300g strong bread flour
10g salt
2 tablespoons of milled linseed also called flaxseed
2 tablespoons millet
2 tablespoons brown linseed/flaxseed

100ml water (put in a jug and add slowly)

Add all the dry ingredients above to your sponge. Turn on your mixer and set to lowest speed. Begin to mix and slowly add about half the water. Leave to mix for 15 minutes. Then turn off mixer and leave dough to stand for another 15-20 minutes.  Start mixer again and add the remainder of the water slowly. Turn the mixer on to a medium speed for 10 minutes. If it is jumping about stand beside it and hold it. Do not worry about the dough being wet. Sourdough needs a wet dough. Add more water if necessary.

Test dough by pulling a piece out and stretch it. It should pull thin and not tear. If it tears continue to mix on a low speed for another 5 minutes and a high speed for 2 minutes.

Remove and transfer to a bowl sprinkled with flour in base. Rub surface of the dough with some sunflower oil and cover with cling film. Leave for 5-6 hours or in winter I leave over night to prove. The longer it proves the more the natural yeasts and the lactic acid begins to break down the wheat proteins to make the bread more digestible and to give the lovely sour flavours.

 Dough left to prove

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and gently gather it and fold it into the shape you want to bake it in. Place it on a baking sheet or a tin and rub water over the surface to prevent a crust forming. Sprinkle with some flax and millet and leave to prove for another 3-4 hours.

After 3 hours

Turned out after 5 hours for reshaping

Second proving

I have a steam function in my oven. I put it in the oven with steam at 40C for 15 minutes then turn the oven up to 220C with steam for about 25 minutes, turn the steam off and lower the oven to 200C for another 15-20 minutes or until the base sounds hollow when tapped gently. Sometimes I remove the bread from the tin and turn it upside down directly onto oven shelf for the last few minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

The rye gives this bread a dense texture but this works really well with the sour, nutty and earthy flavours. If you prefer a lighter bread replace the rye with all wheat flour.

*Check out both Cynthia and Margaret's blogs by clicking on the links above. They are fabulous.