Cooking inspiration can come from many places and is different for everyone. My inspiration definitely falls in the "many places" category. Sometimes it is a single ingredient that gets me cooking and other times it is a recipe that needs a little tweaking. I troll farmers markets, grocery stores, and cookbooks for ideas, but lately, my number one source for inspiration is the Internet.

I read numerous food related blogs and Web sites in an effort to stay up to date on what is happening in other kitchens. Sometimes I just look at the pictures, sometimes I read the stories, but every time I am looking for something to grab me and get my brain moving. That is what happened when I was reading a story about honey on Heavy Table.

Honey is a hot topic in the food industry due to the dwindling bee population and without bees, we lack natural pollination. I thought I would just be reading another bee article, but was pleasantly surprised when I came across a tasty Honey Lavender Shrimp recipe from Wisconsin Natural Acres at the end of the article. It did not take me long to bookmark and make this dish, which I served alongside roasted orange cauliflower tossed with blue cheese and corn on the cob.  I reduced the olive oil by half, reduced the salt, and used a local honey from Wolf Honey Farm, Inc.



Honey Lavender Shrimp
Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb. raw shrimp
1 tbsp garlic, minced, fresh
1 tsp salt
white pepper
¼ cup dry white wine
½ cup Wisconsin Natural Acres honey
1-½ tbsp. lavender flowers, dried

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and shrimp and cook halfway through (about 2 to 3 minutes).

Add salt, pepper, white wine and lavender and turn heat to high.  When mixture boils, remove shrimp with a slotted spoon, leaving pan juices.

Add honey to pan juices and reduce mixture by three-fourths over medium heat until it will coat the back of a metal spoon.

Toss shrimp and serve as an appetizer or entrée.