Black raspberry cream scones

I have a problem.  I am swimming in black raspberries.  I realize that, in the grand scheme of things, this is not the worst issue to be faced with, but still.  After living in this house for the better part of 12 years, I finally went bushwhacking behind my fence, and discovered what may be the most enormous patch of black raspberry bushes ever.  And guys?  This year is a GOOD year for black raspberries.  For the last week, I've been picking at least a quart a day, and I am rapidly running out of freezer space.  (To avoid a large blob of frozen berries, rinse them, lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and freeze.  Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag.  Ta dah!  Nicely frozen berries.)  I have been scouring my cookbooks, blogs and assorted magazine, now with an eye towards recipes that use as many berries as possible in one go.

Before you state the obvious, no, I don't make jam.  For one, I don't love standing over a pot of bubbling fruit on a steamy hot July day, and two, I had a bad experience with canning gone wrong a few years ago.  No one thinks a jar of strawberry flavored botulism is a good idea, so I've avoided jam making ever since.

This morning I had that most luxurious of things...an entire Sunday, free of responsibilities and "to do's".  With nothing hovering over my head, I decided that a lazy start to the day, coupled with scones, sounded just about ideal.  Plus, I could stuff berries in them!  Two birds, one stone.  I'm increasingly in love with Marion Cunningham's "The Breakfast Book" (I realize that I'm decades late in discovering this classic, but better late than never!), and flipped through that.  She had a recipe for dried fruit cream scones which looked simple enough, and malleable enough to adapt to my berry based needs.

What resulted was one of the easiest, quickest and tastiest breakfast treats I've made in ages.  With cream scones, there's no cutting in of cold butter, which I always find inexplicably daunting.  Heavy cream is both the fat and the liquid in this recipe, and the results are out of the oven in 20 minutes.  Theoretically, you should probably let them cool before snarfing them down like a bear after a long winter of hibernation.  I did not.  And they were awesome.

Black Raspberry Cream Scones
(Adapted from Marion Cunningham's, "The Breakfast Book")

Ingredients

         Scones

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup frozen berry/fruit of your choice (Amount approximate; I'm pretty sure I jammed a cup in these.  If using larger berries or fruit, chop them to smallish pieces.  And while you could use fresh, I like using frozen here, as they hold their shape well.)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream (I used 1 cup heavy cream and 1/4 cup half and half, because that's what I had on hand, and it worked just fine.)

        Glaze

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (plain sugar would work, too)         

        Method:
   
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Line an ungreased cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl, and stir with a fork until mixed well.  Still using a fork, drizzle in the cream, and stir into the dry ingredients.  The dough will be quite sticky.  At this point, add your frozen berries, and stir them into the dough.  They may resist; this is ok.  You will knead them into submission momentarily.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board, and knead 8-9 times, stuffing uncooperative berries into the dough as needed.  Pat the dough into a rough circle, approximately 10 inches in diameter.  

  

Brush the whole thing with melted butter (getting the sides as much as possible, too), and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.  Now here's where you need to decide something critical...do you want small, dainty, reasonably sized scones, or do you want scones that take over your entire small plate?  I opted for enormous scones, so cut the dough like a pizza into 8 wedges.  You can go smaller, certainly, and get 12 out of this dough.  If so, reduce the baking time, and watch them closely. 

Place the scones on your prepared baking sheet, leaving one inch of space between them. 

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Ideally, allow to cool before inhaling, but that's optional.

Granola (no patchouli or socks and sandals required)

One thing my current insane schedule is forcing upon me is uber-organization. When you have only teensy windows of time in which to, say, wash your underpants, you are going to use that time to do just that, instead of catching up on the critical developments on Real Housewives of Atlanta. (Since I'm wildly behind on that, I'm assuming they're still being psychotic and bitchy and yanking on each other's weaves. Feel free to inform me if this is not the case.)

Lately, I am a machine of efficiency. This is in many ways wildly satisfying for those of us who are overachievers to our very list-making cores, but I'm pretty sure at some point I'm going to have a psychotic breakdown or something. Not yet, though, and that's what counts!

An ongoing challenge for me in the daily busy-ness is breakfast. I am so very much NOT a morning person, and the idea of eating something immediately upon awaking is pretty stomach churning. While on days that I don't go to the gym this isn't a big problem, when I am faced with an ass-crack of dawn workout, I have got to eat SOMETHING before joining the alarmingly cheery ranks of exercise freaks on treadmills at 5:30 am. (By the way...who ARE these people? They are fucking CHEERY and BUBBLY and CHATTY. Before sunrise. When exercising. Thankfully, I just slap my iPod on and tune them out, but seriously...they're freaks of nature.) Anyway... Needless to say, I am most definitely not going to be cooking eggs or making toast at that hour, even if I could stomach the idea, and I draw a firm line at breakfast "foods" like Pop-Tarts and Eggos.

It finally dawned on me what the solution to my early morning calorie needs might be....granola. And not the boxed stuff at the grocery store, which I really dislike (why is it always full of raisins? Raisins are awful.), but homemade stuff, full of only things I actually like to eat. I've made it before a couple of times to pretty good success, so yesterday I cranked out a batch. It had been a while since I'd made any, and I'd forgotten how brainlessly easy it is. For very little effort, you're rewarded quite highly, which is one of my favorite ratios in culinary undertakings. It's pretty cheap to make, and you can vary the basic recipe to meet whatever your whimsy of the moment may be. Also, it makes great gifts for people, as it keeps for ever in a sealed bag in the fridge. The only "trick" is that once you put it in the oven, you really have to keep an eagle eye on it, and stir it frequently. The honey in the mixture means it can burn and/or stick pretty easily, and that is a quick way to go from granola to baking sheet full of burned oats and stuff. Also, every oven is different, so the times that worked well for me may be a little more or less for you, so just keep an eye on it. And keep your nose open, too...you can really smell when it starts to approach doneness, and that's when you need to be ready to haul it out.

While this makes a truly delicious breakfast with milk or yogurt (I love it with Greek vanilla or honey yogurt...so thick and creamy!), it also makes a pretty good late night snack with ice cream, too. Tweak this however you like...leave out the coconut, add or subtract different nuts and fruit, or add chocolate chunks...even add raisins, if you must. Amounts of fruit are merely suggestions...this isn't baking, so ratios don't matter. It's just a matter of personal preference.

So without further ado....

Homemade Granola

(adapted from Ina Garten)

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

1 cup sliced almonds

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey

3/3 cup dried apricots, diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup dried banana chips, crumbled

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


• Toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl. Pour the liquids over the oat mixture and stir well until all the oats and nuts are well coated. Pour onto a large baking sheet. Bake, stirring often, until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown, about 30 minutes. (If you decide to double the quantity, it will take a few minutes longer.)


• Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring often. Add the dried fruit and whatever else you've chosen to tart it up with. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container. In a sealed bag in the fridge, it keeps pretty much forever.

Makes about 6 cups

Saturday Morning Idyll

Around here, Saturday morning is invariably Farmer's Market day...I have to go pick up my CSA share of veggies, and do as much of my weekly shopping as possible. This being late summer in the Hudson Valley, there's not much that one CAN'T get at the market, and it's hard not to walk away with one of everything. (I repeat frequently to myself..."I am just one woman...what the HELL would I do with all that eggplant?".) While I fully intend to do a make-my-northern-family-envious market post shortly, this is not it. It's not even going to include a recipe. Because while I believe in a hearty breakfast as much as the next person, I can't always face the dishes such a meal produces, and sometimes, simple and unadulterated is best.

So, every Saturday, I stock up on whatever fruit is irresistible that day (today I was lured in by white peaches), and a chocolate croissant from the bakery stand. Once I've gotten home with far more kale than any human ever truly needs (apparently, it's a vegetable that flourishes like kudzu up here...), I make a cup of the best coffee in the world, take my treats, and head out into the yard. And there I try and let my brain shut off for at least a half hour. It's the most peaceful part of my week, usually, and I think it's due in part to the ritual of it, and in part because it takes so little effort to be delicious. I've done nothing more arduous than boil water for the French pressed coffee, and it's heaven. A book at hand is nice, though not necessary. Two big black Labs dozing nearby and sporadically eyeing the peach are really all the entertainment and company I need.

I hope we have a long autumn this year...I'm sure as hell not going to sit out there with my parka in the winter, and this is a damn sight cheaper than Canyon Ranch.

Have a wonderful long weekend, y'all...whatever that looks like for you!