Orange and Ancho Spiced Honey

I love making homemade sauces and dips.  A good one can take a dish in a completely different direction.  Think about pesto for a minute.  You can stir pesto into warm fingerling potatoes for a delicious potato salad, spread it over black bread and top with a perfectly crispy fried egg, and, of course, swirl it into pasta with leftover rotisserie chicken.  Is your mouth watering yet?  Well, this spiced honey is just as versatile.  Drizzle over pepperoni pizza, swirl into Greek yogurt and top with black berries, or stream over hot roasted carrots with a sprinkling of toasted sliced almonds.  You could even stir it into a hot cup of black tea.  (I know the pizza thing may sound weird, but try it.  It’s frickin’ delicious!)

You can switch up the spices and dried orange peel, but don’t skip the sherry vinegar.  There’s something about sherry vinegar that rounds out the flavor and perfectly complements the sweetness of the honey. 

Speaking of honey…make sure to get the good-quality stuff and stay clear of the cheap junk sold in the bear-shaped bottles.  (I’m not sure that’s even straight up honey, to be honest. There might be some corn syrup shenanigans going on there.) Search higher-end grocery stores and farmers markets for local product and a variety of flavors and go with your favorite. It packs a sweet punch, so a little goes a long way.  

 Orange and Ancho Spiced Honey

Yield: ½ cup

½ cup honey

½ tsp ancho chili powder

2 tsp dried orange peel

1 star anise

1 small cinnamon stick

¼ tsp kosher salt

1 Tbsp sherry vinegar

1.     Put all ingredients, except for the sherry vinegar, into a small pot and heat over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes to infuse.

2.     Add sherry vinegar and continue to heat over medium-low for an additional 5 minutes.

3.     Transfer honey and all the flavorful bits to a jar.  Cool and then store at room temperature so it continues to develop over time.  Yum!