Sometimes Not Cooking is a Good Thing

Saturday was my birthday.  I didn’t have any particular plans for the day and decided to bake myself some scones.  After rifling through the cabinets to see what was on hand, I opted for some chocolate chip/almond scones.  No muss, no fuss, just like I planned the day to be.

Chocolate Chip Almond Scones

2 cups flour

1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
6 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs  heavy cream
1/2 cup lightly toasted, sliced almonds
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425°.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter with a pastry until butter is well incorporated into the mixture. Add the almonds and chocolate chips.

Stir in the cream until a dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead lightly to bring the mixture together.  Form into a flattened rectangle, about a foot or so long and about 3/4” thick. Cut into wedges.  Place s on a lined baking sheet and bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown.

* * *

Offspring 1 and 2 decided to make dinner for me.  Now, my girls have been raised in a household with someone who cooks to relax, so they are on familiar terms with, shall we say, more complicated offerings than mac & cheese from a box (Which I buy on sale and use as a topping for popcorn – the cheese, at least.  Not the pasta.  Obviously).  That said, neither has exactly inherited my great love of being in the kitchen, either.  But I have to say, I was duly impressed with the menu.  O1 made a chicken and zucchini pasta with lots of garlic (Yes!) and cherry tomatoes.  She also roasted some asparagus.  O2 whipped up some garlic biscuits and then made various renditions of crepes for dessert (I opted for chocolate/apricot/almond).  And aside from an evening spent hanging out with my girls, laughing and having a great time, the best part was that I didn’t have to clean the kitchen afterwards!!

A Little Spice is Nice

It’s turned kind of gloomy and cold here. The weather in a word is, boring. Not cold with gusting winds, or cold and miserable because it’s pouring down rain. Just kind of overcast and chilly.

Just… blah.

Anyway, the need to make something homey and warm brought me to these. Oh, and a new tea flavor called ‘Sweet Thai Coconut’. I’m not one for endorsements, but check it out in the Celestial Seasonings area. And follow the package directions by adding a little bit of honey and cream to it.

Yum.

Anyway, these scones also fit the bill. I used just plain ol’ Chai tea that I had, but next time I’ll infuse the milk with my newfound coconut blend and then maybe add a little toasted coconut to the top of them. The scones are very tender and last several days (rather than drying out). Sure beats the heck out of Pop Tarts for breakfast.

Chai Scones

1 cup milk
2 Chai flavored tea bags
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1-½ sticks cold butter
2 tsp real vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp vanilla
Enough milk to make a glaze-like consistency

Preheat oven 350º. Add milk to a saucepan to warm over low heat. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Allow to steep for about 15 minutes.

Combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut cold butter into the flour until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Remove tea bags from milk and add the vanilla. Stir milk mixture into the flour and butter until combined.

Turn mixture out onto a clean surface. Bring everything together with your hands, handling as little as possible so the dough won’t become tough. Press into a circle or log, about ¾” thick. Cut the dough into individual portions.

Transfer scones to a baking pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, just until the edges turn brown. Allow to cool slightly.

In the meantime, combine all of the remaining ingredients, adding the milk a tablespoon at a time until you get the right consistency. Drizzle over scones.

Yard Workin' and Puppy Watchin'

Summer seems to have finally arrived here in Oregon. I had every intention of launching Phase 2 of my back patio project (the only thing out there when I moved in was a concrete pad and a whole lot of weeds), but life has intervened, and I’ve decided to keep it very simple.  So, I've put in a small garden and am just generally trying to maintain what was put in last summer.

I suppose I would have been wise to put together a hearty breakfast before sweating over yard and garden work for several hours, but breakfast just really isn’t my thing. So I made scones instead. I happened to still have a few cans of organic pumpkin in the pantry, and before long I had a spice-scented house that even got O2 out of bed before 10 am.

Spiced Glazed Pumpkin Scones

2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp ginger
6 Tbs cold butter
½ cup canned pumpkin
3 Tbs milk
1 large egg, slightly beaten

2 Tbs melted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 - 2 Tbs milk
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves

Preheat the oven to 425º.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly.

Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the pumpkin, milk and egg. Gently whisk the wet ingredients with a fork, then slowly incorporate the dry ingredients. Use hands to form the dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface, forming it into a 1-inch thick circle. Use a large knife to cut into 12 wedges of equal size. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Allow to cool.

To make glaze, combine remaining ingredients in a bowl, adding the milk last (start out with 1 Tbs and add more until it is of the desired consistency). Drizzle over scones.

* * *

G & C have welcomed a new member into their family. It’s this precious girl, Josie…

In addition to two full-time jobs and their new sleep-stealer (house training a puppy is not for the faint of heart), they are also remodeling their kitchen AND Carley has just started rehearsal for a new show.

Crazy, crazy people. I think that’s why I love them so much. We suffer from the same form of insanity.

Anyway, O2 and I offered to hang out for the afternoon to keep an eye on Puppy and make sure she got her potty breaks, and I offered to put together dinner, thus freeing them up a bit to work on staining the 40 cabinet pieces they have in their garage.

Did I use the word crazy???

I’m not sure we gave them a lot of bang for their buck in the puppy-sitting department since shortly after we arrived, Miss Josie passed out near the dining table and only woke briefly… once. G & C assured me this was NOT the norm.

Always eager to experiment on my friends (heh heh), I put together some new dishes, as well as a few standbys. We had barbecued pork ribs, corn on the cob, an Asian savoy cabbage slaw, some roasted baby potatoes and a new cornbread recipe I was auditioning.

You’ll have to excuse the rather boring photo, but there wasn’t a lot of time between the cutting of the bread and the devouring of said bread (mostly by O2) to warrant a photo shoot.

Don’t let the rather thick batter make you nervous. I almost added more buttermilk to it, but it turned out just fine as is.

Jalapeno Zucchini Cornbread

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup buttermilk
1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 medium jalapeno, finely minced
1 cup flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
¾ cup cornmeal

Heat oven to 350 º. Use the butter wrapper to lightly grease a 8” square glass baking dish.

Combine melted butter, eggs and buttermilk in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Mix in zucchini and jalapeno. On a sheet of waxed paper, or in another bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Add to the wet ingredients and stir together, just until blended (remember, the mixture will be thick). Pour into prepared baking dish.

Bake in center of oven until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 - 60 minutes.

Hot Out of the Oven... Who Could Ask for More?

These are my go-to recipe for scones.  Whipping the whipping cream makes them light; the toffee chips give them a bit of crunch.  Add toasted nuts for an additional crunch.  Mmmm....

Go ahead.  I'll give you a minute to drool.

Chocolate Chip Toffee Scones
(adapted slightly from Bon Appétit)

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs plus 1 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chocolate-covered English toffee bits (such as Heath)
2 cups chilled whipping cream
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
Additional sugar for sprinkling and sparkling

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a large baking sheet. Combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt on a piece of wax paper. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits. Beat cream in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold dry ingredients carefully into whipped cream. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently until soft dough forms, about 2 minutes. Form dough into ball; pat out to form 1 1/4-inch-thick round. Cut dough into 12 wedges.

Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet, spacing apart. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.