Traditional Cream Scones–Fortnight of scones-#2 recipe

Posted on August 7, 2012 by heidiannie

I admit- that scutterbotch scone recipe was a little over the top.

As I said in someone’s comment section, we Americans tend to put a lot of extra bits

and pieces and flavors into the scone rather than on top of it after it is baked.

So I’m doing a cream scone, today. Actually, I may do two cream scones- since I have four

recipes to choose from- Smile -I’m trying to put two of a type together and only make up two

batches. Because what would I possibly do with 4 batches of scones in one day?

I combined the recipes, adding an egg to this one and cutting down on the cream in this

one – choosing to bake at 425 degrees F rather than 450 degrees and I came up with a very

good scone.

I’m calling these North American scones- since the recipes came from America’s Test

kitchens and a friend from Newfoundland, Canada.

Ingredients:

2 cups AP or plain flour (250 gr)

1 Tablespoon baking powder (scant)

3 Tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

5 Tablespoons cold butter (50 gr)

1 large egg

1 cup heavy cream (250 gr)

Gourmet sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (not sure what this is for Celcius- it is a very hot oven!)

Sift dry ingredients into medium size bowl, cut in butter with two knives until very small-

the size of oatmeal. Make a well in the center of the flour mix, whisk the egg and cream

together and pour into well and mix together using a light touch.

Shape into a large circle about an inch and a half high and cut into shapes with knife or

cookie cutters.

Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper,

brush with egg wash,

and sprinkle with sugar- then bake for 15 minutes.

Serve warm with butter or clotted cream and jam.

International Fortnight of Scones!!!

Posted on August 4, 2012 by heidiannie

I’m ready for this!

The lovely Johanna of Zeb Bakes has announced

that what was once a week in now a fortnight- and I like that.

More time to make, bake , and share scones!

For those of you not up on UK time terms:

Fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days, or two weeks. The word derives from the Old English fēowertyne niht, meaning "14 nights".^[1]^[2] Fortnight and fortnightly are commonly used words in Britain and many Commonwealth countries such as Australia, India, New Zealand, and Pakistan, where many wages and salaries and most social security benefits are paid on a fortnightly basis.^[3] The word is rarely used in North America, except regionally in Canada and in insular traditional communities (e.g. Amish) in the United States. American and Canadian payroll systems may use the term biweekly in reference to pay periods every two weeks. Neither term should be confused with semimonthly (in one year there are 26 fortnightly or biweekly versus 24 semimonthly pay periods).

wikipedia

Anyway- I’ve been waiting very patiently for Scone Fortnight- and it starts today! YAY!

You know what that means,

Scones for everybody!

And so- Here is my first scone entry-

Scutter Botch Scones!

Lovely texture with butterscotch chips randomly mixed into the dough.

But what makes them scutterbotched is the butterscotch syrup I made and poured over the top

whilst they were still warm.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup heavy cream (188 ml)

1 largish egg

2 tsp. vanilla (10 ml)

2 cups AP/plain flour (255 grams)

1/4 cup brown sugar (64 grams)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 good pinch of salt

5 Tablespoons cold butter (71 grams)

2 large handfuls of butterscotch chips

Whisk together the liquid ingredients and set aside.

Sift together the dry ingredients (except the chips) and then cut the butter into this mix with a pastry

blender of fork (or fingers) until it resemble a coarse meal. Add the chips and stir.

Make a well in the center of your flour mix and pour the liquid ingredients into the well and lightly

mix together until the dough comes together- don’t overmix- you want a delicate hand to keep the

scones tender.

Gather up the dough and place in the middle of a sheet of parchment paper ( or just in the center of

an ungreased pan if you haven’t any parchment paper, but get some parchment paper because it is

ever so handy and keeps the bottoms of cookies and biscuits and scones from burning) and shape it into

a large circle. Cut into 12 pieces and move them carefully – just really nudging them apart so they have

a little room to expand while baking.

Sorry I missed taking a photo of that last step, but my hands were sticky and I didn’t have a cameraman

nearby.

Bake in an oven preheated to 425 degrees F (220 C) for about 18 minutes- keep an eye on them – you are looking

for a golden brown.

While baking stir up a small batch of butterscotch-

1/4 cup of butter, brown sugar , and heavy cream in a heavy saucepan- melt butter, stir in brown sugar until

completely dissolved, add cream and simmer until slightly thickened- keep warm on the ring- you want this

to remain liquid.

Poke some small holes into the scones while still hot and pour the butterscotch over the entire circle of scones.

Soak the scones with the butterscotch-

it will go into all the nooks and crannies.

Allow to cool and set and then get ready for a treat.

Get ready to be Scutterbotched!

In My Kitchen…August 2012

Posted on August 1, 2012 by heidiannie

In my kitchen…

is this marvelous jar of roasted nuts in honey.

(It is down by half right now- so very good!)

In my kitchen…

is a loaf of sourdough rye with caraway seeds.

In my kitchen…

are cabbage rolls from fresh cabbage and wonderful minced meats.

In my kitchen…

are tea cozies and my new Hall tea pot- filled with hot Darjeeling tea!

In my kitchen…

is maple syrup- Canadian- from my husband’s sister-

(have I mentioned that my husband is Canadian?)

In my kitchen…

are two bottle of homemade vanilla- I like Grey Goose vodka

for this purpose!

In my kitchen…

are blue Mason jars ready to be filled.

With spicy grapes.

Wash and fill jar with rinsed seedless red grapes.

Heat up 2 cups white vinegar- add spices- I used

cinnamon sticks, allspice, star anise , pink pepper,

dried orange peels,and a small vanilla bean.

Stir over heat until sugar dissolves and allow to

simmer for about 10 minutes. Cool- then pour over

grapes in jar and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

In my kitchen…

are Pampered Chef spices with sugar additives- great for on top

of cookies, rolls or toast.

That’s what is in my kitchen right now- What’s in your kitchen?

This is a series of blog posts from all around the world, sponsored by

Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. Go there to see other posts- it’s great

fun!

Bacon and fried green tomato sandwich!

Posted on July 27, 2012 by heidiannie

This is the epitome of Summertime deliciousness.

OK- maybe that is overstating it a bit- but really- THIS sandwich was perhaps the very best thing I’ve eaten

this summer. Good thick smoky bacon from the local butcher shop- freshly fried green tomatoes and red leaf

lettuce straight from the garden between two slices of home made sourdough bread.

Fried green tomatoes are one of my all time favorite summer treats.

And I fried these up in the bacon fat after I fried the bacon.

You slice up a green tomato, dunk it into egg white, then into 1/2 cup S/R flour mixed 1/2 cup cornflour.

Fry it up in an inch of oil or bacon fat until browned on both sides – drain on paper towels. And add to

your bacon sandwich instead of a red tomato.

YUMMY!!

How sweet it is… desserts abound.

Posted on July 15, 2012 by heidiannie

Caramel iced ginger cake.

Topped with chopped sugared ginger morsels.

Moist and spicy – and GONE!

I saw a picture on Pinterest- looked for the recipe on Google- and made up a

cake to my own liking!

Recipe-

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 1/4 cup AP flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 cup butter- room temp.

2/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Spray a bundt pan (10 in.) with baking spray or butter and flour it.

Put butter and sugar in mixing bowl and beat together until smooth, add spices, and then alternate

the dry ingredients (whisk them together first) and the wet ingredients ( beat eggs, whisk in buttermilk)

until mixture is smooth and creamy looking – about 2 minutes on medium speed.

Pour or spoon into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes- it will spring up when lightly touched or

you can stick it with a toothpick and it will come out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes and then

turn over onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

Caramel Topping-

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 TBS milk

3/4 cup 10x- confectionary sugar

Put everything but the 10x sugar in pan and heat until sugar is dissolved- stirring . Bring to a boil , then reduce

heat and simmer- 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in 10x sugar until smooth. Put into icing bag when almost

cool and cover top of cake. Sprinkle chopped crystalized ginger on top.

And a black raspberry Pavlova So totally scrumptious!

Meredith sent me an egg. A Pavlova Magic egg! And some passionfruit pulp-

but I haven’t decided on its final use yet.

The egg however – had powdered egg whites- the instructions called for

water and sugar and a mixer. I made the meringue – baked it and then got

out the whipping cream and black raspberry jam. This was so good. If you live

in Australia and can just pick one of these magic eggs off the shelf- try it.

(Of course if you have chickens and a great many eggs to use- just do it from scratch)

Me- I liked the MAGIC!

And the Pavlova is fantastic!

Rhubarb-cake and custard pie!

Posted on June 11, 2012 by heidiannie

Rhubarb custard pie-

with a lattice top crust and sprinkled with sugar- beautiful and

the recipe is here. Delicious!

And Country Rhubarb cake with whiskey cream topping. Oh my- what

a treasure! I really don’t remember exactly where this recipe came from-

although I think it may have been a Gourmet magazine from many years

ago.

Recipe:

1 pound fresh rhubarb- 3 cups of 1” slices

1 cup light brown sugar

2 cups cake flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup + 2 TBS granulated sugar

1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2” cubes (4 oz)

1/3 cup whole milk

2 large eggs- 1 separated- save white for topping glaze

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Toss rhubarb with brown sugar- set aside.

Whisk together cake ingredients, blend in butter with pastry blender or

fingers until it resembles coarse meal. Whisk together eggs and milk, make

well in dry ingredients and stir to make soft sticky dough. Pat half of dough

into the bottom and sides of a 10”ceramic pie plate with floured hands.

Cover with rhubarb and sugar mix- make sure you get out all the juices.

Spoon last of dough on top- brush with egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes- keep an eye on top- reduce heat for last 10 minutes or so that

the top doesn’t get too brown.

Whiskey cream topping-

1 cup heavy cream

2 TBS powdered (10x) sugar

1 TBS whiskey

1/2 tsp vanilla

Put cold cream into a chilled bowl- add rest of ingredients and beat until

you have stiff peaks!

Serve warm with a cloud of cream topping on top!

Enjoy!

Sourdough flapjacks with Blue berry syrup

Posted on May 23, 2012 by heidiannie

I made breakfast this morning.

Usually my husband makes the coffee, tea and toast that we have each morning.

But yesterday, when I was feeding my sourdough starter, I realized

I had too much starter to fit into my container jar.

Much too much- and so I poured two cups into a

cup and determined to make sourdough pancakes this morning.

The recipe is quite simple.

Feed two cups of starter with one cup of bread or AP flour and one cup of water the night

before and cover. The next morning add the following ingredients.

1 beaten egg

2 TBS oil

2 TBS sugar

1/2 tsp salt

And enough flour to make a batter

(I used about 3/4 cup)

Mix well together – until smooth- heat griddle until quite hot

(so that water sizzles when spattered into pan)

And at the last minute, mix 1/2 tsp baking soda with 1 TBS warm water

and stir into batter. Do not stir again. Pour batter onto griddle

and turn when many bubbles form on top.

The flapjacks are very light and delicious-

especially when you top them with homemade blueberry syrup and butter.

Taking good care of sourdough starter means that sometimes you have to sacrifice

and throw away some of the starter- OR- have sourdough flapjacks in the morning

instead of toast. YUM- I like the second option!

A surprise soup made with avocados and sausage. Recipe

Posted on April 17, 2012 by heidiannie

I’ve been so busy- grandchildren have come and gone- Spring is still here although disguised

in Summer garb and Winter snow part of the time.

Trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue and children of all ages rolling down hills!

I’ve also been making sourdough bread with its complex corridors of holes-

And I made Sausage and avocado soup with apples and peanut butter.

It may sound like a weird combination- but it is good. And it has a story behind it.

I was working with a group of ladies several years ago on a weekend workshop. I was supposed to speak AND

cater the luncheon on Sunday. I planned the menu to be soup, salad, roll, and chocolate for dessert.

The soup I had planned was Apple,Fennel, and Almond – the salad was chicken garnished with slices of avocados and greens-

and I had gotten croissants and wonderful chocolate truffles . Everything was prepared and packaged up to go.

Except the base for the soup never went. I had left it to put in the cooler last and instead it just got left.

So Sunday morning I started to get the preparation in hand and couldn’t find the soup base. I had the broth and the cream

I had ground almonds. I had everything but the base. And without the base, I had no soup.

The hotel we stayed in offered breakfast with our rooms – and one of the offerings was sausage gravy and biscuits.

I don’t like sausage gravy- but thought it would work as a soup base. I had a little cider and apples from a stop at a nearby

orchard ( We were out in Amish country, in Wilmot, Ohio) and one of the ladies had a jar of peanut butter. Plus- I had my

avocados for garnishing. I only had a slow cooker to work with, but I put it on high and starting with the cider and apples, slowly

put together a soup for 38 ladies. I spoke about my topic- making beauty preparations from your kitchen– and then went back to my soup

– planning to trash it if it didn’t turn out.

But it did turn out. It was – in fact- a success! I had many requests for the recipe- but I had no recipe to share- just a panicked memory

of what else can I add???!!

A little while before the grandkids and their parents came, I made guacamole for Jordan and myself. It was really good, although I

added a zested jalapeno pepper and it was really spicy as well. But I had a lot left over- and it was starting to go brown.

That is when I decided to recreate my luncheon soup and see if it was as good as I remembered.

I started off sauteeing a 1/2 pound of sausage. To that I added 1/2 diced onion and one chopped and peeled medium apple.

Add a large cup of guacamole-(so avocado,lime juice,finely grated jalapeno and salt and pepper)

Add 2 small cans of chicken broth, and 1 tablespoon of smooth peanut butter and

stir and heat until hot but not boiling. Add salt and pepper to taste- maybe a little bit

of hot sauce – a dollop of cream- and enjoy!

We ate it with tortilla chips and it was just as good as I had remembered.

(Jordan was VERY skeptical at first- but I think he really loved it by his third helping.)

Recipe cards and passed down memories

Posted on March 28, 2012 by heidiannie

I was looking for the recipe for my mother’s cocoa brownies yesterday and I found it!

Going through the recipe box always brings me to tears. This one is written in Robin’s writing- and has

been accidently dipped into a bit of the batter many years ago. The tears aren’t because of the messy

card- but because of the treasure of memories my sister’s handwriting brought me.

The tears were quickly followed by a smile, though- because on the flip side of the card-

was a notation of the calories in one 32nd of a piece of brownie. Robin was a great calorie counter.

Here is the story my mother always told of these brownies. A friend had given her the recipe, but when

my mom made it, she thought it might be too rich, so she substituted margarine for the butter, and then

made it in a jelly roll pan rather than a 9×9 square pan. And then it was too thin so she added icing- the

icing she used for the postom cake. To dress up the brownies, she added melted chocolate on top and

it got a very distinctive design when cut whilst it was still warm. She had company over one day and

the husband of our visiting couple really loved the brownies. He kept saying, “Get the recipe for these

brownies, Sophie, they are the best I’ve ever had.”

Sophie, his wife, was the friend who had given my mother the original recipe for these brownies!

Here’s the recipe for Cocoa Brownies with cooked icing.

ingredients!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups AP flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark cocoa- I used Hershey’s

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup soft butter

4 eggs

2 tsps vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

12 oz bag of choc chips

Sift together the dry ingredients. Sift them because the cocoa will have some compacted balls and REALLY need

to be sifted. Set aside.

Beat the butter , eggs and vanilla together and add the dry ingredients about a cup at a time. Mix well, add nuts by hand

and spread in a greased jelly roll of cookie pan with sides. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 22 minutes- do not overbake,

these burn easily since they are so thin. pour 1/2 cup choc chips on to hot top and let melt. Skim the chocolate over the top

and allow to cool completely.

Now to make the cooked icing.

I was going to take pictures of each step- but this goes pretty fast and needs to be tended- so no pictures, sorry, Sad smile .

Put one cup of milk in medium cook pan and stir in 4 rounded Tablespoons of flour and stir for about 10 minutes over

medium heat until the mixture is the consistency of mashed potatoes. Stiff mashed potatoes.

Take off heat and stir in 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Beat until creamy and ice cooled brownies in tray.

Melt 3/4 cup of chocolate chips in microwave and drizzle on top of icing. Using a sharp knife cut the brownies into about 32

bars.

These are soft and chocolatey- it is hard to eat just one!

Secret Recipes- Peanut Butter Fingers

Posted on March 23, 2012 by heidiannie

When I was a little girl, my family would go to Family Night Supper once a month at church.

The ladies would bring a wonderful dish that they had perfected- usually the same dish, time

after time- because everyone loved and expected it!

When I started taking dishes to Sunday dinners as an adult, it was with a different group of

people and often they would bring new food- something they wanted to try out- and sometimes

it was wonderful, sometimes not. But it was always an adventure.

Back in my childhood, however, the very repetitive nature of the food was comforting.

Someone would bring sausage and sauerkraut, there would be chicken, hot buttered noodles with

sauteed breadcrumbs, cucumbers in vinegar, and oh- the desserts!

Glazed yeast doughnuts, brownies, postum cakes, strudels, rice krispies treats, and always, always

– peanut butter fingers- sweetened peanut butter lying thick over a dark chocolate layer and then a

oatmeal cookie base. I always looked for them and they were always there, thanks to Katherine Nemcheck.

I don’t know how my mother got her recipe- I think it was an even exchange- the peanut butter fingers for

my mother’s cocoa brownie bars with white frosting ( although the recipe was originally Sophie’s! Smile )

I’ve been making these for years, although I changed them up a bit , and I’ve never shared the recipe before.

I kind of thought it wasn’t really mine to share. But lately, with all the uproar over bloggers and recipes that

the cookbook writers are trying to keep OFF the internet, I’ve been thinking of sharing some of these old

recipes that were handed down so discretely from mother to daughter, friend to friend.

And besides, some friends on facebook said the magic words, asking for anyone who had shared those

wonderful treats from years ago whether they had the recipe. So in memory of wonderful evenings of food

and fellowship and with a curtsy to Katherine Nemcheck, I give you the recipe for Peanut Butter Fingers.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine or butter (my recipe says oleo- my mother always called it Oleo-margarine)

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbs milk

Method:

Cream together butter and sugars, add egg and peanut butter and vanilla. Beat all together until smooth

Add dry ingredients and mix well. Smooth into 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle choc chips over the top.

Allow to melt and then spread over the top. Cool slightly.

In the meantime,

mix the peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk until very creamy.

Add enough milk so that it will drizzle from the fork.

And then slather the top with the sweetened peanut butter icing and

slice the bars.

You will get a pattern as you slice.

Let them cool so that the icing sets and then enjoy!

Steps On The Journey

walk with me a while

Category Archives: Recipes

Traditional Cream Scones–Fortnight of scones-#2 recipe

International Fortnight of Scones!!!

wikipedia

In My Kitchen…August 2012

Bacon and fried green tomato sandwich!

How sweet it is… desserts abound.

1 1/4 cup AP flour

Rhubarb-cake and custard pie!

Sourdough flapjacks with Blue berry syrup

A surprise soup made with avocados and sausage. Recipe

Recipe cards and passed down memories

Secret Recipes- Peanut Butter Fingers