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Showing posts from January, 2012

The Best Whole Grain Blueberry Scones

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These whole-grain scones are gluten-free and delicious.  Have them with your afternoon tea or for a hearty breakfast treat.  These scones are made with the traditional method and all the traditional ingredients - minus the gluten.  What is gluten anyway, except an impediment to soft, delicate scones?  With wheat flour you have to be careful not to manipulate pastries too much for fear the gluten will make them tough.  You don't have to worry about that with these gluten-free scones: they will come out soft and delicious. Whole-grain Blueberry Scone Recipe The secret to getting the right texture of scones is to keep everything cold while mixing.  Some people put the pastry cutter, butter, and bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before starting to keep everything cold enough. The coldness is necessary so the chunks of butter can form little pockets in the dough when they melt away in the oven.  This creates air space for the baking soda to do its work and rise.  The scone sh

Bacon-wrapped Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese

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Bacon-wrapped dates are a Spanish delight.  You can get them at tapas places, but they are amazingly easy to make on your own.  The name really says it all.  There are only three ingredients: bacon dates goat cheese Just get some thin-cut bacon, pancetta, or guanciale.  I used bacon here. You can cut a normal bacon strip into thirds.  With a knife, slice the dates length-wise and extract the seed.  In the hollow that is left from the seed, stuff in some goat cheese.  Wrap the whole thing once around with bacon until the bacon folds over itself.  Sear the wrapped date on a hot pan on 2-3 sides until the bacon is browned.  Carefully insert a toothpick into the tender part of the bacon to keep it all in one piece.  Serve warm, or at room temperature.