Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Savory scones

E. gave me this recipe for her savory scones (a welcome mainstay at those long evening seminars!) in an e-mail. I am a great fan of E.'s baking. She recently made a cake with marscapone cream, which was the best cake I'd eaten in a long time.

Back in 2007, I had two consecutive dreams about scones involving a dusk-to-twilight REM battle of what to put in them. In my dreams I had decided it would be bacon and parmesan, but I never implemented it. Two years later, I'm finally making my first scones -- in fact, doing my first baking that involves me making individual rounds of stuff. Like, you know, cookies, like. Like not involving a cake or loaf pan. I know, it took me that long.

The scones in the oven right now with grated Comte, black olives and cashews. With a sprinkle of herbes de Provence. My first thought was sundried tomatoes but I couldn't get the darn jar open!

I will post the results if they look good enough to post and if I get my camera battery loaded up in time!

E.'s E-mailed Recipe for Savory Scones or Damper (a kind of soda bread)

2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 T sugar
3 T butter
1 C milk or cream

(you can add about anything sweet or savory...1/3 C shredded parmesan cheese, crushed black pepper, fresh chopped chives or cinnamon, cloves, sultanas...etc.)

mix dry ingredients together, cut in butter and crumble with hands until pea size or smaller (like making a pastry dough). add the milk/cream and knead slightly until smooth. shape into round loaf (or into multiple single serving rounds). bake on greased baking sheet @ 375 degrees F. baking time varies depending on size of rounds (30ish minutes for single servings longer for larger loaves). regardless of size should sound hollow when tapped.