Buttermilk Scones with Fruit

Scones:

3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 salted butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbls cream
fruits and or nuts ~1 cup or savory flavors

Preheat oven to 400. Sift all dry ingredients together. Cut butter into dry ingredients and work with hands until the mixture resembles corn meal. Add about 2/3 of the buttermilk and any fruits/nuts desired then stir as little as possible. Add the remaining buttermilk only if needed. The dough can get very wet depending on the fruit. Work with as wet of dough as you are comfortable, it makes for moist scones.

Gently roll out dough to a large round slab about 1in thick. Cut into 16 'pie pieces' and cut in half again if scones are too big. Place on cookie sheet. Use pastry brush to brush tops of scones with heavy cream.

Cook for approx 15min or until the edges are golden brown. Again, it depends on what filings were added.

FILLINGS- I use whatever is in season, experiment with what works
-Fresh Apples and Walnuts, sometime small chunks of ginger
-Fresh Strawberries and Bananas
-Fresh Plums and Pears
-Fresh Cherries!
-Reconstitute Dry apricots with Amaretto overnight, drain and add pecans

-Savory fillings - Bacon Cheddar and fresh sage

More recipes to try

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Parmigiano-Reggiano

This recipe is excellent. Great when you have vegetarian guests. Just make sure you start it early enough so the squashes cool enough to handle.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large spaghetti squash (about 5 pounds)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus extra for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Brush flesh with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place squash, cut sides up, on a baking sheet and roast until fork tender, about 50 minutes.
2. Remove squash from oven and let sit at room temperature until cool enough to handle, about 30 minutes. Scrape flesh with a fork to make long squash strands; set aside.
3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until oil shimmers, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and shallot, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook until softened and lightly brown, about 3 minutes.
4. Add squash, toss with tongs to coat thoroughly, and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, add cheese one handful at a time while tossing squash to evenly coat. Serve with freshly ground black pepper and extra cheese.

Dinner Tonight

Roasted Pomegranate Chicken

A good basic roasted chicken recipe with or without the pomegranate syrup. Optionally add chopped mint and walnuts to the pomegranate sauce at the end

4 SERVINGS

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) chicken, quartered
• 1 pomegranate, halved
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar
• Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. In a cup, mix oil and garlic. Brush garlic oil over chicken.

2. Place chicken in a shallow baking dish. Drizzle any remaining oil over chicken. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, basting several times with pan juices, until skin is browned and juices run clear when a thigh is pierced at thickest part with a fork.

3. Remove 1 tablespoon seeds from pomegranate. Set aside for garnish. Squeeze juice form remaining pomegranate through a sieve into a small bowl.

4. In a small nonreactive saucepan, mix pomegranate juice, wine, lemon juice, and cinnamon sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Transfer roasted chicken to a serving platter and pierce each piece several times. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve at room temperature.

Grapefruit with Pomegranate Molasses, Almonds and Mint

recreated from a dish I had at Cesar in Piedmont the other morning

(makes 4)

3 large grapefruits
roughly 4 Tablespoons Pomegranate Molasses (purchase at Middle Eastern Grocery)
toasted slivered almonds
1/4 cup mint leaves , sliced roughly

Peel both the rinds and the bitter skins from the grapefruit, using just the pulpy meat. This takes much of the bitterness out of the grapefruit. Place in serving bowls. Top with almond slivers and mint leaves, then drizzle molasses on top.

Simple and yummy! (I totally need to get my camera back for pictures)

On Pomegranate Molasses - this is one of my secret weapons. It is slightly sweet with a nice tart finish that adds a unique flavor to foods and cocktails! With the overabundance of cheap pomegranate flavors out there, this is the only one I use.

Herbed Chicken Breasts with Olive Parmesan Crust

recipe from Wine Club:

4 small boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6-7oz each) , trimmed of excess fat
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs whole grain mustard
4 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups toasted breadcrumbs
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, rinsed, patted dry and chopped
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-reggiano
3 Tbls chopped oil packed sun dried tomatoes (about 3 large tomato halves, pat dry before chopping)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
**NOTE - I find you can halve the breadcrumb recipe and still have leftover - freeze it and use for other quick dinners

Heat the oven to 450F (if cooking right away) Put a flat rack on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. With a meat pounder or a heavy skillet, lightly pound the chicken between two sheets fo plastic wrap to even out the thickness of the breasts.

In a large bowl, mix the oil and mustard with half of the thyme, half of the rosemary, and the salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat well. You can proceed directly to coating the chiken breasts with crumbs, or let them marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

Put the breadcrumbs in a large shallow dish and toss with the olives, Parmigiano, sun-dried tomatoes, and the remaining thyme and rosemary. Working with one piece at a time, tranfer the chicken to teh dish of crumbs, scoop some crumbs on top and press well a couple of times so the crumbs adhere to both sides(these crumbs will be a little wet, so really press them on) Transfer to the rack of the baking sheet.

Bake the chicken until its firm to the touch and registers 165F on an instant read thermometer, about 20 mins. Serve immediately with the lemon wedges for squeezing over the chicken.

because all great culinary adventures start with good cocktails......

the Stepford Wife Cocktail - (a modified Negroni)

1 shot of gin (I use Tanqueray)
juice of 1/2 grapefruit (freshly squeezed)
1 capful of Campari bitters
1 capful of Blood Orange Bitters (made by Stirrings)

a note on the blood orange bitters - as bitters, this concoction is suspect as it is awfully sweet and more liquer-like than bitters, but does add a nice spice and top note to the ultimate fembot cocktail.

Shake in cocktail shaker and serve in chilled cocktail glass, garnish with lemon zest swirl

photos on the way