This morning I decided that the Sunday Morning Baking Marathon was on! After a batch of pancakes and a batch of chewy chocolate almond butter cookies under my belt, I was feeling adventurous. Scones, I thought, would be such a nice treat if my next experiment was well executed.
So then I thought...how about including some lavender from my garden? The base recipe that I bastardized called for heavy cream (which I substituted with Almond Breeze as you will read below) so why not infuse the milk with lavender? I've been dying to have a lavender baking experiment but most of the recipes I have created don't huge amounts of milk in them...well, except the pancake recipe. Maybe we'll try that another day.
The end result was not bad for a first attempt. Although they didn't rise nearly as much as I'd hoped, the texture was quite nice. The tops were a little dry and cracked, however, they tasted just fine.
Please note that this recipe does take time as the lavender-infused almond milk must be cooled prior to mixing it in with the other ingredients. Do not skip this step!
Enjoy!
Lavender Scones
1 1/2 cup corn flour
3 tbsp each cornstarch, tapioca flour, coconut flour
2 tbsp baking powder
2 sprigs fresh lavender
1 cup Unsweetened Original Almond Breeze
1/4 cup coconut oil chilled (minus 1 tbsp)
4 tbsp ground flax meal + 6 tbsp hot water
3/4 tsp sea salt
ice and cold water for ice bath
In a small saucepan, heat the almond milk and lavender on low. You want it to simmer very gently - do not scald the milk. Let reduce for about 15 minutes and strain the lavender out while pouring into a heat proof glass measuring cup. If you are short of the 3/4 cup, just top it up with a little more fresh almond milk. Place the measuring cup in the ice bath, stirring the milk occasionally until cool.
Preheat oven to 425ºF.
Mix all dry ingredients together and whisk well to combine. Cut in the coconut oil using a wire pastry cutter and continue to blend until the mixture becomes mealy. Add the lavender milk and mix by hand until just holding together, not quite into a ball.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment and turn out the dough. Press gently into a rectangle with your hands. Place another piece of parchment over the dough and roll out until the dough is roughly is about 1/2 inch thick. Remove the parchment and with a sharp knife, mark the dough into triangles. (When I say "mark", I mean cut to the bottom but do not separate the pieces.)
Bake for 18-20 minutes and let cool slightly before serving.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Creamy Corn Chowder
It may seem a little strange to be making soup when it is steaming hot outside, however, I felt the urge to make some chowder the other day.
Made from simple ingredients that are easy to obtain, even the novice cook can master this recipe in a heartbeat. I will not poo-poo those who choose to use frozen corn, or store-bought stock because that's what I did. Good frozen corn does the job for soup and the turkey stock is organic...SO THERE! Besides, who wants to make stock from scratch in the middle of the summer?
For those of you who are non-meat eaters, I invite you to use your favorite veggie stock and omit the bacon - you may just need to add a little more salt. Here's an idea - roast some red peppers, peel the skins and dice finely. That should bolster the overall flavor of the soup for you.
Enjoy!
Creamy Corn Chowder
2 tbsp olive oil
400ml can Thai Kitchen lite coconut milk
4 cups turkey broth
3tsp cornstarch + 3tsp water
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
6-8 rashers of bacon cut into lardons
3 cups frozen corn, thawed
sea salt to taste
Heat olive oil in a large stockpot, add the onions and season with salt. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
In a separate pan, cook the bacon until it is still soft but has begun to release most of the fat and drain. Add to the onions in the stockpot and cook for a few minutes to begin mingling the flavors. Add the thawed corn and cover with turkey broth and coconut milk. Season with salt again and let simmer for 40 minutes.
At this stage, depending on the texture you would like, you can use an immersion blender to partially puree the soup. This is what I did, but still left nice whole bits of corn. In a small container, make a slurry by combining the cornstarch and water. Whisk this into the soup to prevent lumps from forming. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Lower the heat to let it cool down a little and check how thick your soup is. If it is still too runny, make another slurry and repeat the steps above.
Made from simple ingredients that are easy to obtain, even the novice cook can master this recipe in a heartbeat. I will not poo-poo those who choose to use frozen corn, or store-bought stock because that's what I did. Good frozen corn does the job for soup and the turkey stock is organic...SO THERE! Besides, who wants to make stock from scratch in the middle of the summer?
For those of you who are non-meat eaters, I invite you to use your favorite veggie stock and omit the bacon - you may just need to add a little more salt. Here's an idea - roast some red peppers, peel the skins and dice finely. That should bolster the overall flavor of the soup for you.
Enjoy!
Creamy Corn Chowder
2 tbsp olive oil
400ml can Thai Kitchen lite coconut milk
4 cups turkey broth
3tsp cornstarch + 3tsp water
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
6-8 rashers of bacon cut into lardons
3 cups frozen corn, thawed
sea salt to taste
Heat olive oil in a large stockpot, add the onions and season with salt. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
In a separate pan, cook the bacon until it is still soft but has begun to release most of the fat and drain. Add to the onions in the stockpot and cook for a few minutes to begin mingling the flavors. Add the thawed corn and cover with turkey broth and coconut milk. Season with salt again and let simmer for 40 minutes.
At this stage, depending on the texture you would like, you can use an immersion blender to partially puree the soup. This is what I did, but still left nice whole bits of corn. In a small container, make a slurry by combining the cornstarch and water. Whisk this into the soup to prevent lumps from forming. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Lower the heat to let it cool down a little and check how thick your soup is. If it is still too runny, make another slurry and repeat the steps above.
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