beautiful little seckel pear from D&D
Ok, so I’m chuckling to myself around all of the food metaphors and puns I can think of. So, I’m silly, so what? On the other hand, serious people do indeed spend an entire career trying to imagine, test, describe, define, refine what wines are parable with what foods. Nowadays, you will find many experts say to drink whatever wines you feel you like with your foods. The old guidelines don’t seem to hold fast any longer. I think this is a good thing. Of course you can play around with what flavors pair well with certain foods and you will note I have been playing with pears over the last couple of weeks.
You may wonder why I am always making countless iterations of scones – often seemingly repeatedly. I rarely if ever, make the same scone twice. I just find the scone a very good vehicle for experimentation with flavors. They are sort of a blank slate – you can play around with the flours,eggs, dairy and all manner of ingredients, seasonings and shapes. You can chill them or not and more often than not, you will come up with something desirable and satiating. Whether for am or afternoon tea, they are always a happily accepted offering. For some reason I The pear supply this Fall seems to be so wonderful so far!
This morning I was off to meet one of my Italy-obsessed friends to discuss her most recent forays and jaunts there. While I am sure our discussions will make me wistful if not outright envious, I guess I can’t complain too much. Some of the pictures I have seen recently of olive harvests and chocolate festivals are downright torturous for me. I am totally torn about which side of the Atlantic I belong on right now.
Be that as it may, I got busy this morning making yet another iteration of the Pear Scone. Last week I tried one with a little bit of cornmeal. Afterwards I thought ground almonds were a better option. Here is the latest:
today I tried standing the pear slices up – I kind of liked the look
PEAR AND GINGER BUTTERMILK SCONE –
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 toasted almonds, finely ground
3 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground ginger
generous 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
zest of one lemon
6 tblsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg 1 tsp almond extract
2 bosc pears, ripe but not mushy
muscavado sugar
minced crystalized ginger
egg wash
Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of your food processor, process the almonds until they resemble fine meal – but don’t let them go too far where they get sticky. Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Pulse to blend. Add the butter and pulse about 8 times or until the ingredients resemble coarse meal – with some lentil size pieces of butter evident. Remove the dry ingredients to a low wide bowl. In a 2 cup measuring cup, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and almond extract. Peel the two pears. Chop one into 1/2″ pieces. Slice the other one into think slices, about 1/8″. Mince some crystalized ginger to yield about 2 tablespoons.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Working with a dough scraper, work the wet ingredients into the wet, sprinkling on a little more flour if needed, just until the dough begins to hold together. Flour your hands and add the chopped pears. Knead lightly to bring the mass together. Remove it to the prepared baking sheet. Pat into a 8″disk. Arrange the pear slices around the dough as shown above. Press down lightly to ensure they stand up while baking. Brush lightly with egg wash. Sprinkle with muscavado sugar and top with the minced crystalized ginger.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned and crunchy and baked through. I did not cut through these scones before I baked them – it’s up to you. I cut them after they came out of the oven. These have a lovely fragrance and were very well received. I like these better than last weeks’ – but both are good. I am guessing I will make these again this weekend.
Outside today:
