saffron memories

i've always loved saffron.. the world's most expensive spice by weight, dried crocus stigmas, luminous color, beautiful aroma. i recall when i was a kid.. dad making risotto and me being the one who prepared saffron.. i would carefully open the little bag, one dose packaging, saffron in powder.. and make it melt in warm water.. smelling the perfume, watching the color changing.

risotto alla milanese is just so good.. saffron and parmigiano cheese.. marvellous match, melting in mouth rice, the meat stock aroma in the background.

in italy we also have the strega (literal meaning: witch) a herbal liqueur, sort of digestif, colored with saffron (and tasting like hell since it's about 40% vol eheheh) and i remember my grandparents had this bottle of yellowish stuff in the living room.. i was fascinated by that but i must admit when i eventually tasted a drop of it i was quite a disappointed kid :D

just lately, maybe a couple of years or so, i've been trying saffron in sweet food for real.. and i really like saffron buns and saffron bread, so delicious :)

these scones are so yummy.. i just tried to mix some saffron in a basic recipe and they came out awesome, i didnt expect such a good result! definitely one of my fav scone ever.

saffron scones
(makes 6-8)

300g plain flour

60g sugar

60g butter

120ml milk

a pinch of salt

baking powder

saffron and nutmeg, ground

melt saffron in warm milk. mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. rub the ingredients with butter till fine crumbs and mix in milk. flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut rounds.

bake the scones for about 15min in preheated oven at 180°C.

carrot principle #2

if you havent thought of baking with carrot,

there's a whole world for you to discover.

my mom never tried to really bake carrots.. she was a little skeptical when i made roasted carrots there for the first time. for some reason, here carrtos usually go raw or, if someway cooked, they're boiled. i definitely despise boiled carrots.. cant say why, but the taste and texture they get is awful to me eheh

actually carrot can be roasted with awesome results.. same way it is very good in baking recipes, such as cookies, breads, cakes and so on. i just grind it finely because i dont like too much the feel of shredded carrot in the dough.. still, i have to say there are some few recipes where a rougher texture just does the best.

so.. another carrot recipe :) as i said previously, i like carrots a lot.. that's why i decided to make one of my fav breads ever with the addition of this orange very versatile ingredient.

carrot scones

(makes 6-8)

240g plain flour

150g carrot

60g demi-sel butter

60g sugar

baking powder

a pinch of cardamom

80ml milk

grind carrot in the food processor and mix it with the butter. mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom with the cattor mixture. rub the ingredients and stir in milk.

flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut square, without dividing them. bake the scones for about 15min in preheated oven at 180°C.

divide the squares and enjoy!

au marché j'ai acheté..

i'm sick as a dog.. the first flu of the season and my sinusitis is already raging.

so i havent been cooking that much, still i made some experimental scones that reminded me the match caprese salad is made of.. tomato and mozzarella, with some fresh basil, a little oil, salt and pepper :D

this afternoon i had to go out to the drug store and coming back, i stopped by a vegetable stand.. there were these marvellous looking tomatos (dont ask me how come we have such beautiful specimens in november.. i dont want to know LOL) whenever i go to an old school market, i love to look at the goods.. it always reminds me a song we learnt during my french course, that says au marché j'ai acheté [insert name of vegetable] kinda kiddie song to learn the names of stuff. no idea why i still recall it so good ehehe

these scones are awesome accompained by some fresh mozzarella (better if a burrata or a buffalo milk mozzarella) that tenderly melts on the scones.. but some fresh white cheese will work too.

tomato scones

(makes 8 big scones)
320g plain flour
100g olive oil
100ml milk
2tomatoes
1tbsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1tbsp sugar
fresh basil

mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and stir in the olive oil. rub the ingredients till fine crumbs and mix in milk.
when the dough is soft and smooth add the tomato chopped and the fresh basil. flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut rounds.
bake the scones for about 15-20min in preheated oven at 180°C.

about scones and informatics

i'm struggling badly with the net connection.. for some awful reason the wireless one is not working and this pissed me off hugely this morning.
i'm not too good at informatics and such.. or better, i could be pretty good if i was not so upset-able by the smallest trouble. when i get these warning messages about errors and programs closing by themselves i tend to freak out a little bit LOL

i was so annoyed and trying to find a solution that i skipped breakfast and when i checked the time it was already 1pm and i realized i was hungry as hell eheh so once again the choice went to one of my fav things and made some quick scones.
there's something weirdly attractive in scones.. they get on well with salty spreads, sweet spreads.. even better when there's a little contrast salty-sweet.. they're quite bread-like but it's not such a pain to make them (i made bread some few times and it came out good.. too bad it took me a lifetime ahah)
they're a bit like muffins.. extremely quick and easy to make, they give you almost total freedom of flavor choice.. you can put the hell in that dough and it will work :D
when i'm to make muffins and scones, usually it's a sudden decision and the approach is more like cooking creativeness on a very versatile basis.. i have a basic recipe and from there i can change it to suit a new ingredient, a different flavor.. mix all together a bit roughly (because you never have to mix these two kinds of dough too much or the delicious texture will be lost) and bake!these scones are pretty good.. i usually prefer not to put salty ingredients like bacon or seasoned cheese in the dough because i like to spread them with berry jams. in this case i dig spreading fresh cheese, cottage cheese or (in such moments of dreadful taste LOL) peanut butter. sounds weird but to me it doesnt taste bad at all on these here.

i used speck instead of bacon.. first of all because i had one and not the other, secondly i like speck way better than bacon eheh i have to precise though that usually i use pancetta, which is italian kind of bacon, of the smoked kind (that imo tastes way better)

bacon scones

(makes 6-8)
270g plain flour
150ml milk
50g olive oil
1tsp sugar
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1pinch of nutmeg and allspice mixed
bacon

mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, spices and stir in the olive oil. rub the ingredients till fine crumbs and mix in milk.
when the dough is soft and smooth stir in the bacon in thin stripes. flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut rounds.
bake the scones for about 15min in preheated oven at 180°C.

scones addiction

yea i did it again. i made scones randomly just to have a good breakfast :D
it's two days weather really sucks.. this rainy windy thing is not my cup of tea. i have to say though that here it's still a bit warm, not really cold outside, and this makes things a bit better. i also got a cold and i despise that.. in this season it just calls for sinusitis with me, bla :P

i like nutmeg a lot. i guess it's one of my fav spices ever, its flavor kinda intrigues me.. i'm used to have an awesome sugar to sprinkle on sweet food, made mixing caster sugar, sugar in a bit bigger crystals, nutmef, cinnamon and allspice. so i chose a recipe including yogurt because i had wish of soft soft scones and added a bit of spices to it. to me the match nutmeg flavor - fresh cheese just makes a delicious breakfast plan eheh

yogurt scones
with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg

50g softened butter
200g plain flour
1tbsp sugar
1tbsp baking powder
280g plain yogurt
1pinch of salt
1pinch of ground nutmeg and cinnamon, mixed

rub together flour, salt, baking powder, spices and butter with fingertips to make fine crumbs. stir in sugar and yogurt, mixing roughly. i like to keep the dough very soft for these scones, even if it may be way softer than normal scone dough. it keeps then very soft once baked. spread the dough on a baking sheet, cut it in 9 or so parts without separating them.
bake for about 10min in preheated oven at 220°C. divide the scones and eat them when still warm.

mosquitos make scones

when i woke up today i was so mad.. i couldnt sleep last night because of some mosquitos in my room (and for some other reason i dont really know) weather got a little chillier and there they are, trying to survive enjoying my heating and sucking my blood!

well when i got up, my left arm was covered with bites.. i'm quite sensitive (i dont say allergic but who the hell knows) to insect bites so you can imagine its conditions. i rubbed some tons cortisone lotion and decided to make the brunch of a queen, just to cheer myself up.

well it worked :D
i made some quick scones.. whatever scone you make, they always turn out awesome. i chose to give them the perfume of cardamom, i met this spice in finland for the first time and loved it.
blueberry jam and white fresh cheese on warm scones.. how can one stay upset after that?
sipping my caffelatte, reading mail and news with a sort of pleasant snobbish aloofness.. it's nice sometimes not to care of the outer world at all.
the man just sent me a sort of good morning email.. together with a good breakfast, small things that make my day :)

cardamom scones

(makes about 8)
250g plain flour
180ml milk
50g butter, softened
1tbsp sugar
1tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of cardamom
1tsp olive oil

rub flour, salt, baking powder, cardamom, sugar and butter with fingertips to make fine crumbs. stir in the milk and knead lightly till the mixture is smooth.
flatten the dough to 2,5 cm in thickness and cut rounds in it. place on a baking tray and brush the top of the scones with a little olive oil.
bake for about 10min in preheated oven at 220°C.