LEMON BLUEBERRY SCONES WITH LEMON GLAZE

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
zest of 1 whole lemon
1 stick unsalted butter, frozen and grated
1/2 cup cold heavy whipping cream
1/2 pint fresh blueberries (1 cup)

Glaze/Drizzle
1 cup powdered sugar
freshly squeezed juice of half of the lemon you zested 

Instructions

1. Put a stick of butter into the freezer ahead of time so it will get good and frozen by the time you are ready to grate it and mix it with the flour mixture. 
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. I actually sprayed an 8 inch round stoneware baker (plus a smaller stoneware flat baker for overflow!)
3. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse to combine.
4. Use a box grater to grate your frozen stick of butter on the largest slot side. Grating your butter will allow for the flakiest and tenderest scones, since the butter spreads itself through the mixture, and stays cold until it finally melts during the baking!!
5. Pulse the food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
6. With the food processor running on low speed, stream in the cream.
7. When the dough gathers itself into a ball, turn off the food processor put the dough into a mixing bowl.
8. Gently knead/fold in the blueberries.
9. Press the dough into your round baker, or into a circle about 1 ½ inches deep on a sheet pan. If you have more than enough for one round, put any overflow onto another baking stone.
10. Score each round into 6 triangles with or bench scraper, and pull the triangles slightly away from one another slightly.
11. Bake the scones for 15 to 20 minutes, or until set in the centers and slightly golden on the bottoms.
12. Stir the powdered sugar and lemon juice together in a small bowl and drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones.

Toasted Coconut Macadamia Nut Ice Cream

Toasted Coconut Macadamia Nut Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup toasted coconut

3/4 cup toasted macadamias, chopped

1 cup milk (I used coconut-almond milk)

1 cup heavy cream

1 can coconut milk

¾ cup sugar

A pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp coconut flavoring

5 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla or rum flavoring

In a double boiler, warm the milk, cream, sugar, and salt. Add the coconut milk. Bring to just bubbling.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl until they are fluffy, and the color changes.

Slowly pour some of the cream mixture into the egg yolks slowly while stirring constantly to temper the eggs. Then pour the egg mixture slowly into the cream mixture in the double boiler, stirring constantly. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

Pour through a strainer into a bowl. Place plastic wrap or parchment directly onto the surface of the custard and allow it to cool completely. Refrigerate until cold.

Use a half-gallon or larger ice cream freezer to process the custard into one of the best ice creams you will ever experience!

Small-Batch Bread and Butter Pickles

Small-Batch Bread and Butter Pickles

I really wanted some bread and butter pickles! I haven’t made them for years, but I kind of remembered the process, and I knew it was pretty easy. We used to make them now and then before the kids were born. (the kids are now 30 and 35!) So, I began my research. So many recipes; so many experts; so many testimonials!! So, I used my common sense, put together what I thought were probably the best elements of each, cut down the amounts of ingredients, so that 1) I didn’t waste a whole batch of ingredients making something that we didn’t like, or 2) we didn’t have jars of pickles sitting around forever, since we only eat them once in a while. So, the process, as expected, was fairly straightforward and simple. I bought smaller cucumbers, because that’s my preference, and I also bought smaller 8 oz canning jars. This recipe allowed me to fully fill 3 of those 8 oz canning jars. Needless to say, next time, I’m sure I will AT LEAST double the recipe! I don’t know if I could improve on these, for my tastes, at least! They were just perfect to me!

Ingredients:

1 lb (about 6 skinny 6” cucumbers), sliced
1 small sweet onion, cut and slivered into small pieces
2 tbsp kosher salt

Brine:

1 cup white vinegar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cups sugar
1 ½ tbsp pickling spices (I ordered an organic mixture from Amazon)
½ tsp celery seeds
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp ground cloves

Directions

Wash cucumbers well under running water and cut into 1/4-inch slices discarding ends. Peel onion and slice thinly.

Combine the cucumber and onions a large bowl. Scatter the (kosher or canning) salt over the top, toss, and cover with ice and water, and place in the fridge to let stand for about 3 hours.

Meanwhile, make your brine:
In a pot, combine sugar, vinegars, pickling spices, celery seed, ground turmeric, and cloves. Heat just to a boil.

Drain and rinse the cucumbers and onions under fresh water. Add the drained cucumber and onion slices to the pot of pickling brine and return to boil. Reduce heat and keep warm as you fill your jars.

Add the warm pickles and brine to the warm jars and process in a water bath canner. Let the pickles stand for about 4 weeks to develop flavor. (I admit…I could only wait a week! They were SOOOOO good!!)