English cuisine

pecan parcels (apricots stuffed with pecans and pancetta) / albicocche ripiene con noci pecan e pancetta

| Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

apricot parcels with pancetta and pecans / IMG_1084

sweet, salty, soft, crunchy: the best of all worlds

It is stone fruit season! There are plums (prugne) and apricots (albicocche) and then plumcots, pluots and apriums.

More than a century ago, horticulturalist Luther Burbank bred the plumcot with a 50-50 plum and apricot split. However, it was Floyd Zaiger who revolutionized the fruit and made it widely available.

Zaiger bred the plumcot with a plum to create the pluot — three-fifths plum and two-fifths apricot — and coined the trademarked moniker. While the plumcot is a simple plum and apricot cross, pluots and apriums (70 percent apricot and 30 percent plum) are the result of intricate crossbreeding over several generations.

… the fruit are crossbred naturally. Zaiger performs no genetic modification and accelerates the natural selection process through hand pollination.1

IMG_1090Some time ago, I won the London The Cookbook2 by Cara Frost-Sharratt from a giveaway on the Bookclub Cookbook website3: "Part recipe collection and part travel guide, the book… features 50 recipes from London’s best restaurants…" and food producers. The pages dedicated to Crown & Queue Meats4 include a recipe for Cobnut parcels5 that I bookmarked immediately for the future stone fruit season.

The recipe calls for cobnuts "a variety of hazelnut that are usually in season from August to September when you can buy them fresh, still in their husks"2,6. It also calls for damsons or greengages or Victoria plums7. I would not let the fact that I could not find any of those ingredients in my corner of the world deter me from trying the recipe.

IMG_1093

I visited several East Bay farmers' market, talked to farmers and ran tests. I could not find a plum or pluot variety available this time of the year with a stone that can be easily removed, so I tried using apricot, aprium and plumcot, all with success. And I chose pecans to take the place of cobnuts, because I love pecans and they go well with apricots and also because the process to peel hazelnuts (nocciole) is not a favorite activity.

The photo gallery (click on any thumbnail to see a larger version, then scroll using left and right arrows) includes images of the preparatory steps: 1) two of the fruit varieties I tried; 2) thinly sliced pancetta; 3) fruit ready to be stuffed; 4) fruit filled with pecan mix; 5) parcels ready to go into the oven.

Once you have the ingredients, the dish is easy to prepare and takes a short time to cook in the oven. The result is a delicious combination of sweet fruit softened by cooking, savory and fat pancetta, crunchy pecans. 

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Pecan parcels (apricots stuffed with pecans and pancetta)

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 4 large apricots or apriums or plumcots, possibly organic, ripe, but with firm flesh
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
  • 1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary needles
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
  • 1 ounce / 30 g pecans, lightly toasted in a dry skillet or in the oven, cooled and minced
  • A squeeze of lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 g unsalted butter, melted
  • Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 ounces / 55 g pancetta thinly sliced

Note 1: the parcels' flavor and texture depend on the fruit used. Apricots and apriums are sweeter than plumcots. Apriums' texture is close to that of apricots. Plumcots' skin is closer to that of plums. Embrace those differences: try different varieties of fruit, including, if you find them, plum varieties whose stone comes away easily. The original recipe calls for damsons, greengages or Victoria plums.

Note 2: I use what we call pancetta arrotolata (rolled). I ask the butcher to cut it thin. In Italy we also have pancetta tesa (flat). The original recipe calls for Crown & Queue's Black-pepper Cured Pork Belly, which from the photo of the dish in the cookbook looks like pancetta tesa. You won't need the whole quantity, but once you have it you can use in other dishes. Pancetta is so good!

Heat the oven to 350 F / 177 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Rinse the fruit, cut in half and remove the stone. (The original recipe calls for cutting a small circle off the bottom, so the plums will sit flat when placed with their stone holes up, but I did not find that necessary with the fruit I used.)

In a small bowl or ramekin, combine the ginger, rosemary, garlic and pecans. Add the lemon juice and butter, and season lightly with salt and pepper (bear in mind that the pancetta will contribute its seasoning to the dish). Stir well. 

Spoon the mixture into the fruit's stone holes to form small mounds. Carefully lay slices of pancetta over each fruit half. Place the resulting parcels on the lined baking sheet.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the pancetta begins to soften and melt and the stuffing is hot (8-10 minutes).

Increase the oven temperature to 425 F / 218 C and if possible switch to broil. Continue to cook the parcels until the pancetta begins to crisp and the fruit begins to sizzle.

Serve warm.

apricot parcels with pancetta and pecans / DSC_8350

sun on a plate: apricot on the left, plumcot on the right
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

It is an appetizer, but honestly, I have eaten it as dessert.

1 Pluots And Apriums: The Best Of Both Parents
2 London The Cookbook on the publisher's website
3 The Book Club Cookbook website and Facebook page
4 Crown & Queue Meats website
5 The original recipe
6 Here and here you can read more about cobnuts and see other recipes that include them
7 Damsons, greengages and Victoria plums

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

albicocche ripiene con noci pecan e pancetta

or launch the albicocche ripiene con noci pecan e pancetta audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

LogoLiberoThis is my introduction to the "turf" (meat) appetizers installment of Menu Lib(e)ro the current game played by the notorious Abbecedario gang (Italian, European e world). I am the host for the next two weeks. The overall aim of the game is to create a menu with recipes from cookbooks we own.

Contribute a cookbook-inspired recipe for a meat appetizer (other than the one I prepared) and follow the instructions in this post. Add the link to your post in a comment below.

apricot, pancetta, pecans, appetizer

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Newrule

albicocche ripiene con noci pecan e pancetta

apricot parcels with pancetta and pecans / IMG_1084

una delizia

Evviva la stagione di albicocche, prugne, pesche e affini!

IMG_1090Dal libro London The Cookbook1 di Cara Frost-Sharratt, ecco la mia versione della ricetta per Cobnut parcels2 adattata agli ingredienti che ho a disposizione: noci pecan invece di cobnut (un tipo di nocciole) e albicocche, aprium (ibrido 70% albicocca e 30% prugna) o plumcot (ibrido 50% albicocca e 50% prugna), invece di prugne damson o greengage o Victori.aa

IMG_1093

La galleria di foto (cliccate su un thumbnail per ingrandire l'immagine e poi usate i tasti con le frecce a destra e sinistra per cambiare immagine) mostra i passaggi preparatori: 1) due dei tipi di frutta che ho utilizzato; 2) pancetta tagliata sottile; 3) frutta pronta per il ripieno; 4) frutta ripiena col misto di noci pecan; 5) i pacchetti pronti per essere infornati.

Una volta che avete gli ingredienti, questo antipasto è facile e veloce da preparare. Il risultato è un connubio di frutta dolce, pancetta saporita e noci pecan croccanti: rendo l'idea?

Ingredienti (per 4 persone):

  • 4 albicocche grandi oppure aprium o plumcot (se le trovate in Italia), possibilmente bio, mature, ma con la polpa soda
  • 1/2 cucchiaino di radice di zenzero fresca grattugiata
  • 1/2 cucchiaino di aghi di rosmarino tritati finemente
  • 1 spicchio d'aglio, sbucciato e tritato finemente
  • 30 g noci pecan, tostate leggermente in una padellina a secco o in forno, lasciate intiepidire e tritate finemente
  • Una spruzzata di succo di limone fresco
  • 15 g di burro non salato, fuso
  • Sale fino e pepe nero macinato fresco, q.b.
  • 55 g pancetta tagliata sottile

Nota 1: albicocche e aprium sono più dolci di plumcot. La polpa dell'aprium è simile a quella dell'albicocca. La buccia del plumcot è simile a quella della prugna. Utilizzate diversi tipi di frutta e otterrete un piatto diverso. La ricetta originale è realizzata con prugne damson, greengage o Victoria.

Nota 2: La ricetta originale utilizza Crown & Queue's Black-pepper Cured Pork Belly3. Io ho usato della pancetta arrotolata tagliata sottile perché non ho trovato della pancetta tesa (Vi ricordo che non abito in Italia).

Scaldate il forno a 177 C. Foderate una placca da forno con un tappetino da forno di silicone o con carta da forno.

Lavate la frutta, tagliatela a metà e togliete il nocciolo. (La ricetta originale suggerusce di tagliare un piccolo disco sul fondo in modo che le prugne si mantengano in posizione con la parte concava rivolta verso l'alto: questo passaggio non è necessario col tipo di frutta che ho utilizzato io.)

In una ciotolina unite lo zenzero, il rosmarino, l'aglio e le noci pecan. Aggiungete il succo di limone e il burro fuso e condite con un pochino di sale e pepe (tenete presente che la pancetta contribuisce questi condimenti al piatto). Mescolate bene. 

Riempite l'incavo della frutta con il misto di noci formando una collinetta. Depositate fettine di pancetta sopra ogni pezzo di frutta. Trasferite i "pacchetti" sulla placca da forno preparata in precedenza e infornate.

Cuocete fino a quando la pancetta comincia ad ammorbidirsi e il suo grasso a sciogliersi e il ripieno è ben caldo (8-10 minuti).

aumentate la temperatura del forno a 218 C e se possibile accendete il grill. Continuate a cuocere i pacchetti fino a quando la pancetta comincia a imbrunire ai bordi e la frutta a sfrigolare.

Servite i pacchetti caldi.

apricot parcels with pancetta and pecans / DSC_8350

sole sul piatto: albicocca a sinistra, plumcot a destra
(tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

È un antipasto, ma onestamente io l'ho mangiato anche come dessert.

1 London The Cookbook sul sito web della casa editrice
2 La ricetta originale
3 Crown & Queue Meats: il sito web

LogoLiberoQuesto è il post introduttivo della puntata antipasti di terra (carne) del Menu Lib(e)ro, il gioco attualmente in corso ad opera della nota banda dell'Abbecedario (italiano, europeo e mondiale). Io ospito da oggi e per due settimane. Lo scopo del gioco è creare un menu con ricette dai libri di cucina che possediamo.

Contribuite una ricetta per antipasto di carne diversa da quella mia e seguite le istruzioni in questo post. Mettete poi il link al vostro post in un commento qui sotto.

FTC disclosure: I have received the placemat free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

scone con zucchine novelle e noci / baby zucchini and walnut scones

| Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

zucchini and walnut scones

rustic beauty

I owe zucchini: for years I detested this vegetable with unmatched zeal. When I finally learned to appreciate it, I became a devout fan, and every year I try to expiate my early sin by singing its praise.

Zucchini season is in full swing, which means zucchini of all varieties are readily available at local farmers' markets and stores. Hence, this is the time to get creative with them. A bunch of baby zucchini and some basil (basilico) in a recent CSA box made me realize another winning version of my basic scone recipe (described in this post).

Once again, I reached for calendula flowers (the last ones of the season, I am afraid). The recipe can be realized without them: the scones won't have the pretty touches of orange you see in the photos, but they will still be excellent. 

zucchini and walnut scones

and savory fragrance

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for baby zucchini and walnut scones

Ingredients:

  1. 3 1/2 tablespoons (1.75 oz. / 50 g) unsalted browned butter (or 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and no ricotta)
  2. 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour + 2 tablespoons millet flour + enough all-purpose flour to make 1 cup OR 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
  3. 1/2 cup (6o g) whole-wheat pastry flour
  4. 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
  5. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  6. 3/8 teaspoon sea salt
  7. 1 teaspoon ultra-fine or granulated sugar
  8. 3 oz. (85 g) baby zucchini
  9. 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
  10. 2 large basil leaves, finely chopped
  11. 1/2 tablespoon ricotta or cream cheese or plain kefir cheese
  12. 1/2 cup (120 ml) homemade kefir; original recipe alternatives: buttermilk (latticello), plain yogurt or sour cream (low-fat or non-fat is fine)
  13. 1/4 cup (1 oz.) chopped toasted walnuts (the way I prepare walnuts for use is described in the recent post on walnut cake)
  14. 1 tablespoon petals of calendula flowers (optional)

Take the browned butter out of the fridge and let it soften slightly while you prepare the other ingredients. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a piece of parchment paper and dust the surface lightly with flour.

Grate zucchini using the medium side of your grater. Measure flours and sift into a bowl. Place ingredients number 2 through 7 into the food processor fitted with steel blade. Cut butter into pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times for several seconds until the flour mix resembles coarse meal.

Empty the food processor bowl into a bowl, add zucchini and herbs. In a small bowl, whisk together ricotta and kefir, then add them to the drier mix. Stir with a spatula a couple of times, then add the walnuts and petals. Stir briefly until ingredients are just combined.

Turn dough onto the lined sheet and shape into a 1/2-inch thick square. Dust surface of dough lightly with flour. With a bench scrape, cut into four lengthwise and then crosswise to get 16 small squares. With the help of the bench scrape, separate the pieces, so that they are at least one inch apart. If the corner pieces are much smaller than the rest, join them, so you'll end up with 14-15 scones of comparable size.

Bake for 15 minutes, then check the bottom of one scone: if it is golden brown, they are ready, otherwise, bake for another two minutes and check again. When ready, move them onto a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

These scones are perfect for breakfast and I like to serve them for dinner as well, as a bread substitute. They are particularly good paired with fresh chèvre (homemade, in my case).

Once cooled completely, the scones can be frozen. When I want to serve them, I put them straight in a 350 F oven for 8-10 minutes.

Whb393This is my contribution to edition #393 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Siri of Cooking with Siri.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

image from 3.bp.blogspot.comMy scones participate to the tenth installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. J like Jacket Potatoes (UK) is hosted by Alex of Food 4 Thought.

This page contains the recipe for Jacket Potatoes and the list of dishes contributed to the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

scone con zucchine novelle e noci

or launch the scone con zucchine novelle e noci audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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scone, zucchini, walnut, kefir

Newrule

scone con zucchine novelle e noci

scone con zucchine novelle e noci

bellezza rustica

Ho un debito nei confronti delle zucchine: per anni le ho detestate con zelo militante. Quando poi ho imparato ad apprezzarle, ne sono diventata una fan devota e ogni anno cerco di espiare il mio peccato di gioventù cantandone le lodi.

Siamo nella stagione delle zucchine e al mercato e nei negozi si trovano zucchine fresche di diverse varietà. Questo è perciò il momento di usarle in modo creativo. Delle zucchine novelle e del basilico in una recente cassettina mi hanno ispirato a realizzare un'altra versione vincente della mia ricetta base per gli scone (descritta nel mio post sugli scone zucca e zenzero con curry).

Anche in questa occasione ho usato dei petali di calendula (gli ultimi della stagione, temo). Potete realizzare la ricetta senza di essi: gli scone non avranno le pennellate arancioni che vedete in quelli delle foto, ma saranno ottimi comunque.

scone con zucchine novelle e noci

e fragranza saporita

Ingredienti:

  1. 50 g burro nocciola (oppure 57 g di burro normale e non usare la ricotta)
  2. 2 cucchiai [30 ml] farina di grano saraceno + 2 cucchiai [30 ml] farina di miglio + abbastanza farina di grano per arrivare a 130 g, oppure 130 g di farina di grano
  3. 65 g farina integrale fina (da dolci)
  4. 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) lievito per dolci
  5. 1/4 cucchiaino bicarbonato di soda
  6. 3/8 cucchiaino sale fino
  7. 1 cucchiaino zucchero bianco fine
  8. 85 g zucchine novelle
  9. 1/2 cucchiaino foglioline di timo fresco
  10. 2 foglie grandi di basilico tagliate a pezzettini
  11. 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) ricotta o formaggio cremoso
  12. 120 ml kefir fatto in casa; alternative: latticello, yogurt bianco o panna acida (va bene anche parzialmente scremato o magro)
  13. 30 g noci tostate tritate (nel mio recente post sulla torta alle noci ho descritto come preparo le noci)
  14. 1 cucchiaio di petali di calendula (facoltativi)

Togliere dal frigorifero il burro nocciola e farlo ammorbidire leggermente mentre preparate gli altri ingredienti. Scaldare il forno a 218 C. Foderare una lastra da forno con un tappetino di silicone per forno o carta da forno e spargere un po' di farina sulla superficie.

Grattugiare le zucchine usando il lato della grattugia con i buchi medi. Misurare le farine, passarle al setaccio e porle in una ciotola. Mettere gli ingredienti dal numero 2 al 7 nel robot con la lama d'acciaio. Tagliare a pezzi il burro e aggiungerlo agli ingredienti. Pulsare un po' di volte per diversi secondi per sabbiare.

Vuotare il contenitore del robot nella ciotola, aggiungere zucchine ed erbe aromatiche. In una ciotola piccola, mescolare ricotta e kefir e poi aggiungerli agli ingredienti secchi. Con una spatola, mescolare brevemente, poi aggiungere noci e petali. Mescolare solo fino a quando si ha un impasto coeso.

Rovesciare l'impasto sulla lastra foderata e dargli la forma di un quadrato spesso 1,25 cm. Spolverare la superficie con un pochino di farina. Con un raschietto, tagliare il quadrato in quattro per lungo e per largo in modo da ottenere 16 quadretti. Con l'aiuto del raschietto, separare i quadretti in modo che siano distanti almeno 2,5 cm. Se i quadretti d'angolo sono molto più piccoli degli altri, uniteli a due a due in modo da avere 14-15 scone di dimensioni simili.

Infornare e cuocere per 15 minuti, poi controllare il fondo di uno scone: se è bello dorato, gli scone sono pronti. Se no, cuocere per un altro paio di minuti e controllare di nuovo. Quando sono pronti, trasferirli su una griglia e servirli caldi o a temperatura ambiente.

Questi scone sono ottimi per colazione e a me piace anche servirli per cena, al posto del pane. Sono particolarmente buoni con del formaggio caprino fresco (io lo faccio in casa).

Una volta raffreddati, surgelo sempre una parte degli scone. Quando poi voglio servirli, li metto direttamente in forno riscaldato a 175 C per 10 minuti.

Whb393Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 393 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Kris di Tutto a occhio.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

image from 3.bp.blogspot.comCon i miei scone partecipo alla decima tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. J come Jacket Potatoes (UK) è ospitata da Alex di Food 4 Thought.

Questa pagina contiene la ricetta delle Jacket Potatoes e la lista dei piatti contribuiti all'evento.

Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.

Related articles
zucchine al mercato / zucchini at the farmers' market

scone alle carote arrosto / roasted carrot scones

| Simona
roasted carrot scones

with the first pink rose from my garden

I have sometimes thought about the menu of my own small café. I don't believe it will ever exist outside my imagination, but I enjoy adding to the list something that I think would go well there, like these scones — or the ones with red beet, apple and pistachios I made recently.

I love scones, I always have, from the day, many years ago, when I tasted my first one during my first visit to the UK. They are flavorful and not sweet, nourishing and versatile. They prefer to charm you with their flavor and texture rather than polished looks. I could bake a batch every day. When I do bake a batch, I feel like the day starts on the right note.

The theme of opening a café is present in the book we are currently reading in our Cook the Cooks Club: The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe. I wish I could find an elegant way to say this, but I didn't like the novel — and I don't like macarons, which feature prominently in it. The scones were inspired by the novel in the sense that they were a reaction to it. They are unadorned, crisp outside and tender inside, a bit rustic, a bit surprising with their nuanced flavor of carrot punctuated by the small pieces of candied ginger, simply irresistible. Scone are traditionally served with tea and without roses, but I was too excited about cutting the first pink rose of the season from my bush not to share it here. 

Today's scones start with two pounds of freshly harvested small carrots, which I prepared using this simple yet lovely recipe by Lynda of TasteFood with a couple of minor adjustments (see below). The result was very much appreciated at the table. As I was putting away the leftovers, I thought about using some to make scones.

The morning after, I had to solve the problem of turning the roasted carrots into a form suitable for scone-making. After some deliberation, I decided to chop them and add them to the food processor after the butter had been cut into the flour. It worked and the scones were a success, so the following week, when I found more carrots in my CSA share, I was ready to repeat the sequence of roasting followed by scone making. As an aside, this time I had a smaller amount of carrots, so I added to the pan a mix of baby turnips (rape novelle) and radishes (ravanelli), a great duo of root vegetables (I will soon share a recipe featuring them).

Ingredients (see my earlier post for additional information on the original recipe and the ingredients; overall, I halved the quantities):

  1. 3 ounces (85 g) leftover roasted carrots, chopped
  2. 3 1/2 tablespoons (1.75 oz. / 50 g) unsalted browned butter (or 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and no ricotta)
  3. 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour + 1 tablespoon cornmeal + 1 tablespoon teff flour + enough all-purpose flour to make 1 cup OR 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
  4. 1/2 cup (65 g) whole-wheat pastry flour
  5. 1/4 cup finely chopped uncrystallized candied ginger (zenzero candito)
  6. 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
  7. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  8. 3/8 teaspoon sea salt
  9. 1 teaspoon ultra-fine or granulated sugar
  10. 1/2 tablespoon ricotta or plain kefir cheese or cream cheese
  11. 1/2 cup (120 ml) homemade kefir; original recipe alternatives: buttermilk (latticello), plain yogurt or sour cream (low-fat or non-fat is fine)

How to roast the carrots
The evening before I baked the scones, I prepared the carrots using this recipe with the following minor adjustments:

  • I used thyme leaves rather than whole sprigs
  • I used only 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
  • I did not add the sugar in the last step

Since my carrots were more like toddlers than babies, I cut the bigger ones lengthwise and/or crosswise, and it took me some 25 minutes to get them to the tenderness I desired.

You can, of course, choose your favorite method for oven-roasting carrots.

The morning after, weigh the amount of carrots needed for the scones (making sure to incude a nice amount of thyme leaves) and chop them. Set aside.

roasted carrot scones

golden mix

How to make the scones
Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a piece of parchment paper and dust the surface lightly with flour.

Take the browned butter out of the fridge and let it soften slightly while you prepare the other ingredients. Measure the flours and set aside a tablespoon or so to flour the pieces of candied ginger, so they stay separate when you add them to the dough at the end. Put the rest of the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar into the food processor fitted with steel blade. Cut butter into pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times for several seconds until the flour mix resembles coarse meal.

Add the chopped carrots to the food processor and continue pulsing until you see that the carrots have been finely chopped into the flour mix, which will turn into a delicate golden color (see photo above).

Pour dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the floured candied ginger and stir to distribute. In a small bowl, whisk together ricotta and kefir, then add them to the drier mix. Stir with a spatula until ingredients are just combined.

Turn dough onto the lined baking sheet and, with your hands, shape into a 1/2-inch thick square. Dust surface of dough lightly with flour. With a bench scraper, cut into four lengthwise and then crosswise to get 16 small squares. With the help of the bench scraper, separate the pieces, so that they are at least one inch apart. If the corner pieces are much smaller than the rest, join them, so you'll end up with 14-15 scones of comparable size.

Bake for 16 minutes, then check the bottom of one scone: if it is golden brown, they are ready, otherwise, bake for another two minutes and check again. In my experience, these scones take a bit longer to bake than other types of scones I made with the same base recipe, so besides checking the bottom, I also tap on the top to make sure it is crisp, before deciding that the scones are ready and I let them sit for a minute on the baking sheet before moving them onto a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature (temperatura ambiente).

These scones are perfect for breakfast and I like to serve them for dinner as well, as a bread substitute, with creamy homemade kefir cheese or a spread, like my roasted red pepper and almond dip. As I said above: they are simply irresistible.

Once cooled completely, the scones can be frozen. When I want to serve them, I put them straight in a 350 F oven for 8-10 minutes.

CtB This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

I am contributing Baked-with-love-roxanashomebaking my scones also to the May edition of Bake With Love! (formerly Bake Your Own Bread) hosted by Roxana of Roxana's Homebaking.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

scone alle carote arrosto

or launch the scone alle carote arrosto audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

scone, carrot, ginger

scone con barbabietola rossa, mela e pistacchi / red beet, apple and pistachio scones

| Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

red beet, apple and pistachio scones

photo could be better — scones are perfect

The recipe started with yet another batch of small red beets freshly harvested and promptly roasted. It went on with an apple too large to eat all as my breakfast. En route, it picked up some fresh dill (aneto) and to complete the party, it invited pistachios to join: what a success!

I had a hard time setting up this shooting session, even within the realm of my minimalist style of food photography. I baked four batches of these scones and every time, my camera wanted to be outside, focusing on large landscapes rather than small edibles.

On the other hand, the scones have a kind of rough beauty that comes across in the photos and that I find quite attractive. I like that the color is not uniform, but somewhat marbled. Above all, I like how the scones taste.

I keep using the same scone recipe, making small adjustments to accommodate each variation I come up with.

Ingredients (see my previous post for additional information on the original recipe and the ingredients; overall, I halved the quantities of the original recipe):

  1. 3 1/2 tablespoons (1.75 oz. / 50 g) unsalted browned butter (or 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and no ricotta)
  2. 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour + 2 tablespoons cornmeal + enough all-purpose flour to make 1 cup OR 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
  3. 1/2 cup (65 g) whole-wheat pastry flour
  4. 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
  5. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  6. 3/8 teaspoon sea salt
  7. 1 teaspoon ultra-fine or granulated sugar
  8. 1/4 cup grated roasted red beet (use the medium side of your grater)
  9. 1/4 cup grated apple (use the extra-coarse side of your grater)
  10. 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh dill (aneto)
  11. 1/2 tablespoon ricotta or cream cheese or plain kefir cheese
  12. 1/2 cup (120 ml) homemade kefir; original recipe alternatives: buttermilk (latticello), plain yogurt or sour cream (low-fat or non-fat is fine)
  13. 1/4 cup (1 oz.) roasted and lightly salted pistachios, chopped

How to roast beets
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Rinse and scrub well beets, then wrap each one in foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake until easily pierced with a knife. Alternatively, place clean beets in a baking pan or dish, add 1/4 inch of water to the pan and cover tightly with foil or dish's lid, then proceed as with the other method. Let beets  cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin.

Note: If you are like me and prefer to buy bunches of beets with their greens still attached, cut the greens an inch above the beet, then proceed with the preparation. I usually bake a number of beets at a time, for efficiency's sake. There are many ways you can use them, for example, this soup or this spread. I also set aside the greens to make a frittata or to add to kale in this dish. And I prepare the stalks in this way.

How to make the scones
Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a piece of parchment paper and dust the surface lightly with flour.

Take the browned butter out of the fridge and let it soften slightly while you prepare the other ingredients. Grate red beet and apple. Measure ingredients number 2 through 8 and put into the food processor fitted with steel blade. Cut butter into pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times for several seconds until the flour mix resembles coarse meal. Due to the red beet, it will be pink.

Pour dry ingredients into a bowl, add apple and dill. In a small bowl, whisk together ricotta and kefir, then add them to the drier mix. Stir with a spatula a couple of times, then add the pistachios. Stir briefly until ingredients are just combined.

Turn dough onto the lined sheet and shape into a 1/2-inch thick square. Dust surface of dough lightly with flour. With a bench scraper, cut into four lengthwise and then crosswise to get 16 small squares. With the help of the bench scraper, separate the pieces, so that they are at least one inch apart. If the corner pieces are much smaller than the rest, join them, so you'll end up with 14-15 scones of comparable size.

Bake for 15 minutes, then check the bottom of one scone: if it is golden brown, they are ready, otherwise, bake for another two minutes and check again. When ready, move them onto a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

red beet, apple and pistachio scones

marbled, fragrant, excellent scones

These scones are perfect for breakfast and I like to serve them for dinner as well, as a bread substitute, with creamy homemade kefir cheese or a spread.

Once cooled completely, the scones can be frozen. When I want to serve them, I put them straight in a 350 F oven for 8-10 minutes.

Whb383This is my contribution to edition #383 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Simona of briciole (that is, me).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

scone con barbabietola rossa, mela e pistacchi

or launch the scone con barbabietola rossa, mela e pistacchi audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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scone, red beet, apple, kefir, pistachio

Newrule

scone con barbabietola rossa, mela e pistacchi

red beet, apple and pistachio scones

la foto non è gran che — gli scone sono perfetti

La ricetta comincia con un po' di piccole barbabietole rosse appena raccolte che ho subito cotto al forno. Continua con una mela un po' troppo grossa per essere mangiata tutta per colazione. Per strada, dà un passaggio a dell'aneto fresco e per completare la festa invita dei pistacchi tostati. Il risultato: un successo!

Ho avuto un po' di difficoltà a fare foto, anche nel mio stile minimalista. Ho preparato gli scone quattro volte e ogni volta la mia macchina fotografica voleva essere all'aperto e puntare a vasti paesaggi piuttosto che a piccoli oggetti commestibili.

D'altra parte, questi scone hanno una loro bellezza rustica che le foto mostrano bene e che io personalmente trovo molto attraente. Mi piace il fatto che il colore non sia uniforme ma un po' marmorizzato. E soprattutto mi piace il sapore di questi scone.

Continuo ad usare la mia ricetta base degli scone e faccio piccoli cambiamenti per adattarla a ciascuna variazione che invento (vedi il mio post sugli scone zucca e zenzero con curry per ulteriori informazioni riguardanti la ricetta che mi ha ispirato).

Ingredienti:

  1. 50 g burro nocciola (oppure 57 g di burro normale e non usare la ricotta)
  2. 2 cucchiai [30 ml] farina di grano saraceno + [30 ml] fioretto di mais + abbastanza farina di grano per arrivare a 130 g, oppure 130 g di farina di grano
  3. 65 g farina integrale fina (da dolci)
  4. 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) lievito per dolci
  5. 1/4 cucchiaino bicarbonato di soda
  6. 3/8 cucchiaino sale fino
  7. 1 cucchiaino zucchero bianco fine
  8. 1/4 tazza (60 ml) barbabietola rossa cotta in forno e grattugiata con la grattugia a buchi medi o grossi
  9. 1/4 tazza (60 ml) mela grattugiata con la grattugia a buchi grossi (un quarto di una mela medio-grossa)
  10. 1 cucchiaino aneto fresco tritato
  11. 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) ricotta o formaggio cremoso
  12. 120 ml kefir fatto in casa; alternative: latticello, yogurt bianco o panna acida (va bene anche parzialmente scremato o magro)
  13. 30 g pistacchi tostati e leggermente salati, tritati

Come cuocere le barbabietole rosse
Scaldare il forno a 190 C. Pulire bene la barbabietola (o barbabietole), avvolgere in pellicola di alluminio, porle su una lastra da forno e cuocerle in forno fino a quando è facile perforarla con una lama.  Lasciar intiepidire e poi rimuovere la buccia. 

Nota: Se siete come me e preferite comprare barbabietole con ancora attaccate le foglie, tagliate i gambi 2-3 cm sopra alla radice e poi proseguite con la preparazione. Di solito cuocio un certo numero di barbabietole per volta, per amor di efficienza. Potete usarle in diversi modi, a parte quello descritto in questo post (per esempio, questa zuppa o questa crema da spalmare). Io utilizzo le foglie per fare una frittata o insieme al cavolo riccio in questo gratin. E gli steli li preparo gratinati.

Come prepareare gli scone
Scaldare il forno a 218 C. Foderare una lastra da forno con un tappetino di silicone per forno o carta da forno e spargere un po' di farina sulla superficie. Togliere dal frigorifero il burro nocciola e farlo ammorbidire leggermente mentre preparate gli altri ingredienti.

Grattugiare barbabietola e mela. Misurare gli ingredienti dal numero 2 all'8 e metterli nel robot con la lama d'acciaio. Tagliare a pezzi il burro e aggiungerlo agli ingredienti. Pulsare un po' di volte per diversi secondi per sabbiare. La barbabietola rossa fa diventare il composto rosa.

Versare gli ingredienti secchi in una ciotola, aggiungere mela e aneto. In una ciotola piccola, mescolare ricotta e kefir e poi aggiungerli agli ingredienti secchi. Con una spatola, mescolare brevemente, poi aggiungere i pistacchi. Mescolare solo fino a quando si ha un impasto coeso.

Rovesciare l'impasto sulla lastra foderata e dargli la forma di un quadrato spesso 1,25 cm. Spolverare la superficie con un pochino di farina. Con un raschietto, tagliare il quadrato in quattro per lungo e per largo in modo da ottenere 16 quadretti. Con l'aiuto del raschietto, separare i quadretti in modo che siano distanti almeno 2,5 cm. Se i quadretti d'angolo sono molto più piccoli degli altri, uniteli a due a due in modo da avere 14-15 scone di dimensioni simili.

Infornare e cuocere per 15 minuti, poi controllare il fondo di uno scone: se è bello dorato, gli scone sono pronti. Se no, cuocere per un altro paio di minuti e controllare di nuovo. Quando sono pronti, trasferirli su una griglia e servirli caldi o a temperatura ambiente.

red beet, apple and pistachio scones

marmorizzati, fragranti, buonissimi

Questi scone sono ottimi per colazione e a me piace anche servirli per cena, al posto del pane, con formaggio di kefir cremoso o una crema salata da spalmare.

Una volta raffreddati, surgelo sempre una parte degli scone. Quando poi voglio servirli, li metto direttamente in forno riscaldato a 175 C per 10 minuti.

Whb383Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 383 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Simona di briciole (che poi sarei io).

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

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Weekend Herb Blogging #383: il raccolto / the roundup
scone alle carote arrosto / roasted carrot scones