thanks a lot Phil! (photo courtesy Washington Post)
I’m straddling the line between Sweet and Savory in my kitchen today – much like I am in my mind – straddling the line between reality (Winter) and dreamland (Summer)……..
Well, after I got the bad news from our friend Puxsutawney Phil this morning, I got to thinking that I needed a challenge. I also got to thinking about how quickly time, aka Thyme, flies by in Summertime. And the opposite is true in the Winter. I am on a challenge to see how many new scone recipes I can come up with over the next several weeks – a challenge meant to keep me occupied and thinking about putting seasonal ingredients to work.
Today, I tried working a little bit of goat cheese into my scones. This recipe can be used for a breakfast treat, with a steaming bowl of soup for lunch, afternoon tea or even with your dinner, as it straddles the line between Sweet and Savory. You might even put a little rendered and browned pancetta into these – hmmm, wish I’d thought of that earlier……..
Lemon Thyme Scones with Goat Cheese and Pignolis
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
leaves from three large sprigs of thyme – about 1 tblsp
8 tlbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 4 oz log herbed goat cheese, cut into cubes
2 ex large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup 2% plain greek yogurt
peel of one lemon, sliced into julienne strips plus 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup toasted pignoli nuts
Preheat oven to 425F. In the bowl of your food processor, whir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the thyme leaves and pulse to distribute.
Add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal and the butter pieces are about the size of a pea. In a measuring cup, whisk together the heavy cream, eggs, and yogurt until blended. Remove the dry ingredients to a low, wide bowl, make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Work the dry ingredients into the wet with gently with a dough scraper until the mixture just starts to hold together. Add the goat cheese and knead the dough gently, blending the goat cheese into the mixture.
Add the lemon peel strips, the lemon juice and the pignolis and knead just until mixed in.
Move the dough to a baking sheet which has been lined with a piece of parchment paper. Press into a 8-9″ round. Cut the dough into 9 equal wedges. Sprinkle very lightly with coarse sea salt. Bake the scones for 20 minutes or until they are well puffed, browned, crunchy-looking and firm.
These are amazing with a drizzle of honey on top!
let’s see, who should I give these to? I don’t think Puxsutawney Phil will be on the short list!