Showing posts with label old. Show all posts
Showing posts with label old. Show all posts
Monday, June 9, 2014
Old Fashioned Scones
At some point in my childhood, I developed the theory that when I was Grown Up, I would buy myself a container of frosting for my birthday and eat the entire thing. This plan makes me slightly ill to contemplate, and Im not sure where it came from--I didnt even have too much experience with pre-made frostings. But somehow this act embodied the Best Present Ever to my little mind: someday I was going to get myself exactly what I wanted, and aint no man (or, more accurately, mom) could hold me back.
Little did I know that when I finally had enough agency and income to act on this plan, my desperate need for sugar would be gone. Its a sad fact of adulthood. Dont misunderstand me, I still like a good sweet now and then (as the ample presence of cookies and cakes and tarts on these pages can attest). But setting aside the obvious hydrogenated shortcomings of a container of Betty Crocker, the sad truth is that I only crave sweets for dessert, not for the bulk of my meal.
This is especially true at breakfast. I am all eggs and potatoes, beans and cheese, looking on in confusion as other diners order almond french toast and pumpkin waffles. I cant imagine feeling satisfied with that dessert-for-brunch approach, but I do covet a taste -- just enough to give my meal a sweet little coda. This is where a small scone like this is absolutely perfect.
If youve ever wondered what the whole scone hoopla is about, these will answer your question. Theyre delicately flaky, like a biscuit, and just sweet enough to satisfy. Oats and cornmeal add a nubby edge of whole grains (and a slight earthy sweetness of their own), and buttermilk adds just a bit of tang. Im especially fond of making these with punchy dried sour cherries, but really any sort of dried fruit would work nicely. And although my seven-year-old self wouldnt believe me, I swear its way better than a jar of frosting.
Old-Fashioned Scones
Inspired by the scones of the same name from the Bakers Cafe, though this noodled variation is pretty much all my own. As with other pastries, a light touch in mixing yields tender scones.
yields ~10 small scones (youll probably want to double the recipe if youre cooking for any sort of crowd)
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cup flour (can swap out some ww pastry flour if desired)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1 stick cold butter, cut into tablespoons
1/2 cup dried sour cherries, or other dried fruit
~1/2 - 3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp milk or water (aka the egg wash)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and grease or line a cookie sheet.
Place the oats in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until theyre blitzed to a mostly floury powder, with a few bits here and there. Add the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar, and pulse until evenly mixed. Add the cold butter, and pulse a few times until the largest pieces of butter are about oatmeal-sized -- do not overmix. Turn the mixture into a bowl. Add the dried fruit, and stir until combined. Add the buttermilk until the dough comes together -- it will be moister than pie crust, but try not to add so much buttermilk so that it becomes gloppy. Form the dough into a cohesive mass, and turn out onto a lightly floured countertop.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of 1", and cut into circles with a 2.5" cutter. Place shaped scones on the tray, and lightly mush together and re-roll the scraps until youve formed all the dough. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash, and sprinkle with a light dusting of sugar (youll just need a few spoonfuls for the whole tray). Bake ~15-20 minutes, until they are starting to get lightly browned. Let cool on a rack and enjoy.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Old Nordic Cuisine
I am a staunch defender of the unstylish, the unhip. Its a policy born of multiple impulses. Mostly because its just not me —I have a remarkably deaf ear to such fashions. But even if I had the leisure time/funds to pursue them, I also just happen like things a wee bit stodgy. I give an admiring thumbs up to the expertly dressed, but my heart goes out to the underdog in last years (or, perhaps, last decades) soft-worn standards. And so, when I heard so much abuzz in the food world over the New Nordic cuisine, my root-for-the-little-guy impulses kicked in — what about the Old Nordic?
And so I dug up some comfy old unstylish examples of Nordic cuisine. No fancy kitchen gear, no fancy foraged ingredients. Just some rye flour and root vegetables, smoked fish and brown bread. And it was great. You can read more about these recipes over at NPRs Kitchen Window.
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