eastern view this morning
Ok, St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone and there are now 3 days until the Vernal Equinox. Winter, you’ve had your allotted time and now it’s time to go. Don’t try sneaking in at the end here and making up for the weeks that you were lolling around. “Don’t speak Hillary, just go!” I imagine myself delivering this line out the window just as profoundly-dismissively as Katherine Hepburn does in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”
Having the opportunity to go somewhere warm in the middle of Winter is a wonderful treat, isn’t it? However, what happens, at least to me, is that somehow my psyche adjusts to the clime and environment in the place I’m visiting it and plays a cruel trick on me. I think that when I step off the plane back home it’s going to be like the place I just left……. Does this ever happen to anyone else?
Well, I stepped off the plane on March 4, around 7:30 pm and, as I pulled open the door by baggage claim I was greeted with 16°F temperatures, a sinus infection that is still lingering, one that slapped my newly found and coveted suntan off my previously happy face with one fell swoop. How rude! as my kids would say. Sometimes, it’s just better to either not go at all or when you go you have to stay until the weather improves at the home destination. Yes, I said that.
March this year has been unusually cruel. We had a lot of unseasonal warmth in February that lingered around and coaxed lots of sprouting up and out. After I got home, I kept one suspicious and doubtful eye on the weather forecast as I went out and purchased an entire flat of ranunculi which have since been given last rights. I know I push it, but it is with great, if not misguided optimism. 🙁
This morning’s weather report initially got me down as I scanned the hour by hour with snowflakes showing from just about dawn to dusk. Argggggh, I said to myself as I snapped the photo above. I quickly forced myself to focus on something else and my eye turned toward my last, perfectly ripe Mango. There are so many wonderful iterations for a perfectly ripe mango, even if my usual one is to just slice it up and eat it bare-naked for breakfast as I savor those inimitable floral notes and transport myself to some tropical destination in my mind. Today, I decided to fly myself away to some “other place” where apricots, ginger and mangoes grow. As you know, I am reading Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and he discusses his longtime obsession with trying to grow ginger in Oxford. I so get this…….
Here’s a lovely scone recipe to brighten this otherwise gloomy, late Winter day. Revoir l’hiver!
THE TRIPLE GINGER, APRICOT AND MANGO SCONE –
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp freshly grated ginger root
8 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup chopped dried blenheim apricots (from Murray’s Cheese, preferably)
1 cup chopped fresh mango, reserve any juices
3/4 cup minced crystalized ginger, divided – holding 1/4 cup for garnish
egg wash with a tsp of heavy cream
muscavado sugar
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of your food processor, whir together the flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and ground ginger. Add the butter cubes and pulse 8-10 times or until the butter resembles small peas. Dump this mixture into a low wide bowl and make a well in the center as if you were making pasta dough.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, yogurt, almond extract and any reserved mango juices. Pour this mixture into the center and, working with a dough scraper, gently bring the dry ingredients into the wet. When the mixture begins to hold together, knead a few times until it forms a cohesive mass.
Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and gently pat or roll the dough into a rectangle of approximately 12 x 8. Use a bench scraper to form the rectangle. Scatter the chopped apricots, minced crystalized ginger (hold 1/4 cup for garnish) and the mango over the surface. Beginning with the long edge, roll the dough up into a tight log. Cut the log into 9 scones, gently forming them into heightened rounds, and place them cut side up on the prepared pan. Brush the scones with the egg wash mixture and pat muscavado sugar onto the sides. Sprinkle reserved crystalized ginger on tops.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or just until the scones are nicely browned and firm. Remove from the oven and serve with a drizzle of acacia honey. I hope these will definitely brighten your day as you start the countdown!
