Fresh Currant Oat Scones

I used to bake hundereds of scones every day. Hundreds. Every morning, before the city woke up I poured myself the biggest cup of coffee I could find, and fired up two commercial ovens. Then I measured, mixed, cut, measured, mixed, cut, on repeat, for hours. I emptied 25 pound sacks of flour and 50 pound sacks of sugar into bins. I used butter by the case, buttermilk and cream by the gallon. I got strong and fast and efficient and I learned what happened when you over-mixed and under-baked pastries (bad stuff).

I liked the quiet mornings and the methodical work because once I got good at it, my mind had plenty of time to wander. I dreamt up all kinds of flavors (some more well received than others) and I loved the freedom to create, but after a few years of those mornings the thought of actually eating a scone was so incredibly unappealing that it took me nearly 7 months to even think about baking scones at home. Then it took another month for me to actually get around to it, but an extra lovely batch of red currants gave me the courage I needed to get back to sconing.

Be warned, the fresh currants make these scones quite tart, but they are excellent with a bit of butter and jam if you find them sour. I imagine they would also be delicious with a bit of lemon or orange glaze too. You can make citrus glaze by whisking about a cup of confectioner's sugar with a few tablespoons of lemon or orange juice until smooth. A bit of finely grated zest would also be a nice addition to the glaze.

Currant Oat Scones
yield, 8 scones
This recipe calls for buttermilk and heavy cream, but if you'd like to only use one type of liquid you can also 100% heavy cream. The scones may be a bit more dense and rich, but that is definitely not a bad thing.

10 ounces all purpose flour
1.5 ounces rolled oats (plus a little extra to sprinkle on top)
1.5 ounces sugar (plus a little extra to sprinkle on top)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
3 ounces cold butter, cut into cubes
4 ounces buttermilk
4 ounces, plus 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces red currants or other berries

Preheat oven to 425º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oats, sugar, salt, baking powder and orange zest. Use a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Alternately, you can mix the dough for this step in a food processor.
2. Add the currants to the mixture and toss gently to combine. Make a well in the center of mixture and pour in the buttermilk, vanilla and the 4 ounces of heavy cream. Stir gently until just combined. The mixture should be soft and a little sticky, if it seems dry, add a few more tablespoons of buttermilk or heavy cream.
3. Working quickly, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it into a circle about 1.5 inches high. Cut the circle into 8 wedges and transfer to the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Brush the tops of the scones with the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream, then sprinkle the scones with the extra oats and sugar. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are deep golden. Serve warm. The baked and cooled scones can also be stored in the freezer (wrapped tightly) for a few weeks. Warm in the oven before serving.

Classic Dill Pickle Spears

I've been so distracted by pies and tarts recently, that after my wild success with pickled beets I nearly forgot about my goal to make more pickles this summer, for shame! Luckily, I ran into a giant crate of Kirby cucumbers the other day to remind me to get back to brining. I chose a classic dilly recipe full of ingredients I always have on hand (except the dill seeds, which were easy to find) for my cukes which was perfect for a novice pickler like me. From start to finish, this recipe took less than 30 minutes (plus the curing time) and they are perfectly garlicy and spicy with a nice vinegary bite, the only problem is that I drastically underestimated how many pickles my household was capable of eating in a week. I guess it's back to the stove for me...



I'm pretty excited to pick up some more cucumbers to make another batch of these guys and now that I am well on my way to becoming a pickle pro, I think I'll whip up batch of bread and butter pickles to tuck into my sandwiches. I might even have to find a crinkle cutter for those classic pickle-chip ridges.

Classic Dill Pickles
adapted from the Food in Jars Cookbook
yield, 4 pints of pickles

2 cups apple cider vinegar
3 teaspoons pickling salt
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, divided
4 teaspoons dill seed, divided
2 teaspoons black peppercorns, divided
1 overflowing pint pickling cucumbers (I think I fit about 4 small cukes per jar)

1. Prepare and sterilize four pint jars, preferably regular mouth. Place the lids in a small saucepan, cover with water and simmer over very low heat.
2. Combine the vinegar, 2 cups water and the pickling salt in a medium pot and bring to a boil.
3. While the brine is boiling, add 2 garlic cloves, 1/4t red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon dill seed, and 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns to each sterilized jar. Trim the blossom ends from the cucumbers, cut them lengthwise into spears and pack them tightly into the jars. Alternately, you can pickle the cucumbers whole.
4. Carefully pour the hot brine over the cucumbers in each jar, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Gently tap the jars on a kitchen towel to release any air bubbles, then use a wooden chopstick to dislodge any remaining air bubbles in each jar. Check the headspace again and add more brine if necessary.
5. Wipe the rims, and apply the lids and rings to the jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes, then let the pickles cure for at least 1 week before eating.

This book was sent to me by the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

Methley Plum Jam

I bought these plums on a rainy day whim when there was a whole table full them marked $1 per quart,  which was a steal of a deal that I just couldn't pass up. So with very little hesitation, I walked up to the table and handed over a few dollars for three rain-soaked quarts of tiny, ripe plums and asked asked the fellas working the stand why they were so inexpensive. One guy claimed that they just had a lot of that particular variety and needed to sell them. Then the other piped in and said, "Let's be real, it's about to pour down rain and we want to get out of here." I laughed and told them I didn't mind either way because I was going to make jam from the whole lot.

This recipe for plum jam is very simple (like most of the jams I prefer), but for a more spiced up version check out this post to see how I made my plum jam last year: Spiced Plum Jam with Vanilla Bean. I made that jam with Italian prune plums which are a freestone variety available later in the season.

Methley Plum Jam
yield, 4-5 half pints

I had never eaten a Methley plum before this impulse buy and while they taste great, they have one huge drawback. They are clingstone plums, which means that they are a pain in the butt to pit and when they are small, ripe and soft like the batch I had, they are nearly impossible to use without making a mess. So, I just got down to it with my hands. I tore the fruit in half over a large bowl and used my fingers to squeeze as much fruit from the pits as possible. It wasn't glamorous, but it worked just fine. If you are working with larger, less ripe plums you can cut them in quarters and pull the wedges of plum from the pits.

Update 8/8: Sean of Punk Domestics fame just informed me that you can cut clingstone plums (and probably other clingstone fruit) down to the pits, macerate them overnight (pits and all) in sugar (and spices if using) and the pits will loosen up on their own. Handy!

3 pounds Methley Plums or other small sugar plums
28 ounces sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (optional)
1 lemon, juice squeezed and rinds reserved.

1. Wash, pit, and chop the plums if necessary. Add them to a large bowl with the sugar, vanilla bean seeds and pod (if using), and lemon juice and squeezed rind. Stir to combine, cover and refrigerate over night or up to 2 days.
2. When you are ready to cook the jam, prepare 4 or 5 half pint jars by washing and sterilizing them.
Pour the jam mixture in to non-reactive pot and remove the lemon rind.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. As the jam comes to a boil, skim the foam that rises to the top of the pot and discard.
3. Raise the heat to high and boil for 15-25 minutes or until set, being careful not to let the bottom scorch. Begin checking the jam for doneness at about 15 minutes. I generally use the wrinkle test to check for doneness with this type of jam, but if you like numbers you can cook it to 220ºF. If you would prefer jam without skin, quickly transfer the cooked mixture to a mesh strainer and force as much as the jam through as possible, discard the skins and proceed with canning.
4.  Remove the vanilla bean pod and save for another use, then pour the jam into sterilized jars, then process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.