ginger pine nut scones

My family has had a half gallon of buttermilk sitting in the fridge for a while now, and we have been looking for ways to use it all up. Earlier tonight, I found an interesting recipe for Ginger Pecan Scones on Epicurious, so my mom and I decided to give it a whirl. We ended up substituting toasted pine nuts for the pecans because (1) we don't have pecans and (2) we have pine nuts. It worked out rather nicely.

The recipe called for a tablespoon of baking powder, which is really quite a lot, but in my unscientific opinion, this is what makes the scones so puffy and nice and soft inside (while the outside gives you a perfectly crunchy bite). The three kinds of ginger - ground, candied, and fresh grated ginger - add an exotic tangy kick, but you get a creamy sort of depth from the toasted pine nuts. These scones are such a treat, and they are wonderful especially if you're looking for something a little bit different.

WE INTERRUPT YOUR READING EXPERIENCE FOR A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT.

I am sitting in the kitchen as I write this post. My mother would like me to add that she played sous chef to my baker and washed the dishes after all was said and done. So woo hoo, props to my mom. Thanks for rolling up my sleeves and scratching my nose when my hands were covered in flour and dough.

Ginger Pine Nut Scones
Adapted from Bon Appetit | April 2011
Yields 12 scones

3 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (or 1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425°.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add in butter and using fingertips, blend until a course meal forms. Mix in toasted pine nuts and crystallized ginger.

Form a well in the center of dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 cup buttermilk, grated ginger, and vanilla extract. Pour in buttermilk and combine until mixture becomes moist and sticky.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead until dough just comes together; divide in half. Form each half into a disk, roughly 3/4 inch thick. Cut disk into 6 slices and transfer wedges to baking sheet.

Brush each wedge using reserved 1 1/2 tablespoons buttermilk. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

sweet potato hash

   

Belated post about my fancy shmancy breakfast for dinner last week. It's a sweet potato hash with bacon and onions (I've been eating more bacon this semester than I have in possibly my entire life combined...), couscous fritters, and a fried egg. I started out thinking this was going to be a legitimate, healthy dinner, but as you can see, I gave up on that pretty quickly...

The sweet potato hash was d-e-l-i-s-h. I peeled and chopped up a sweet potato* and tossed it in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Popped it in a roughly 375 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile I prepped and cooked the bacon and onion on the stove and added in the sweet potatoes when they were ready. Yummo.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving when I can enter into sweet potato coma.

*Actually, according to the sign at Wegmans, these are yams. I don't fully know what the difference is, but I do know that "sweet potato" sounds a lot nicer than "yam" so I will continue to call these tubers by the incorrect name.

more muesli for breakfast

Muesli with pepita seeds, walnuts, almonds, golden raisins, and blueberries. Now if only I had a nice big cup of coffee.

breakfast burrito

Originally this was going to be a ranting post in which I discuss the lack of cumulative kitchen knowledge within my apartment and lay out three fundamental tenets of kitchen courtesy, the first being "Thou shalt wash thine dirty dishes"; the second, "Thou shalt not cut meat on a wooden cutting board, ESPECIALLY when you have a track record of not washing your dirty dishes"; and the final, "When washing nonstick pans, for God's sake, DON'T USE THE SCRUBBY SIDE OF THE SPONGE."

But I decided against that. While I may have lost my favorite egg-frying pan (RIP), I have at least found another use for the avocado-bell pepper-tomato-feta cheese combination on which I survive.

Breakfast burrito (for dinner) with slightly caramelized onions, heirloom tomatoes, scrambled eggs (thanks to the one remaining clean pan in our kitchen), avocado, red bell pepper slices, a sprinkling of feta cheese, and a smear of hummus in a spinach / sun-dried tomato wrap.

muesli and yogurt

Nothing special, just a cozy breakfast from a couple weeks ago. Plain Greek yogurt, rolled oats, raw almonds, raisins, mini dark chocolate chips (a little treat for myself - pulling a Nigella!), honey, and cinnamon. Would eat this every single day if I could.