this shit rocks no. 70: blackberry-lemon cornmeal scones!
this shit rocks no. 70: blackberry-lemon cornmeal scones!
Plus, my current afternoon beverage fixation.
My current fixation is finding ways to use every last drop of pickling liquid that comes with the array of pickle-y ingredients that I like to keep on hand. At any given moment, my fridge usually has jars of peperoncini, pickled peppers, olives, and pickles.
I had a work project with Grillo’s a couple months ago, and they sent me SO MANY PICKLES (a truly fabulous problem to have) that I’m still working through it. Most days, I take a moment to have a little swig of the Grillo’s pickle brine cause that stuff is good.
When I am not taking large sips of the pickling liquids in my fridge, I am re-using them for maximum enjoyment. I am by no means the first person who has figured out how to do this, but if you haven’t jumped on board with this practice, I highly recommend that you do.
I’ve been really into adding sliced onions (red or white) into the pickle jars, and I also had a few asparagus spears on their way out that I revived in a jar of old pickled peppers. I drizzle this liquid gold on all my random lunch bowls, and it’s amazing in tuna or egg salads.
My friend Chloe told me that she’ll put carrots in her old pickling liquid overnight and then roast them the next day. I need to try that ASAP. Do you do anything fun with your leftover pickling liquid??
Pickle-y goodness aside, here’s some other stuff I’ve been into lately.
MatchaBar Ceremonial Grade Matcha Powder
Not to be *that* white girl who recently returned from her first trip to Japan, but I have been really into matcha these days. I would be lying if I said I noticed any of the benefits that are commonly associated with drinking it (productivity, less jitters, clearer skin, etc), I just genuinely enjoy the taste.
I also struggle with finding meaning, purpose, and joy after my daily cup(s) of coffee are over in the morning, so now that I’m adding an afternoon iced matcha in my rotation, it gives me something to look forward to a bit later in the day. The little things, you know?!
Pacific Vanilla Hemp Milk
While we’re on the topic of my afternoon matcha, I should mention that I’ve been using this hemp milk. I honestly have no idea how it found its way into my kitchen, but I’m so glad that it did because this stuff is thick and creamy and delicious. I use the electric whisk to whirl together the matcha and hemp milk with a pinch of cinnamon, then pour it over ice.
To be clear, I enjoyed all of my matcha in Japan with regular milk and it was spectacular, but if you’re looking for a fun alt-beverage, this is also very tasty.
Blackberry-Lemon Cornmeal Scones
I finally got my hands on Alison Roman’s Sweet Enough, and it’s such a lovely book. She shared a video last week for scones which looked so good that I needed an excuse to, immediately and for no reason at all, make a batch of my own. Everyone loves to hate on scones but I unapologetically love them. Sweet or savory, they are perfect to me.
In Alison’s recipe, she calls for a mix of heavy cream and sour cream, which differs from my normal practice of using exclusively heavy cream as the dairy component. Needless to say, I was intrigued to try a mix of the two because adding sour cream into baked goods is an elite move. It adds acidity, thickness, moisture, and cake-y deliciousness.
I have had a bag of cornmeal staring at me from the corner of my pantry for months, so I decided to put a little dent in that when I was mixing together the dry ingredients. So, here you have my cornmeal-ified version of Alison’s sour cream scones. Hiiiiiighly recommend eating them straight out of the oven with a big smear of butter.
Like any baking recipe, you can play around with the fruit and citrus mixture. Maybe strawberry grapefruit?! Blueberry orange?! Raspberry lime?! IDK, you get the point.
½ cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
⅓ cup sour cream
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup yellow cornmeal, plus more for garnish
½ cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 lemon, zested
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½-inch cubes
2 cups fresh (or frozen) blackberries, halved vertically (or quartered if they’re very large)
Preheat oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, mix heavy cream and sour cream.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Stir to mix well.
Use your hands to gently work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbles. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the blackberries until they’re coated in the flour mixture.
Gently stir in the heavy cream mixture (a few berries might get stomped here–that’s ok) with a rubber spatula until the dough is shaggy.
Flour a clean work surface. Empty the contents of the bowl onto the floured surface and use your hands to work the dough into a roughly 6x9 rectangle, folding the dough onto itself a couple times until it begins to come together. Flour the surface, dough, and your hands, as necessary.
Cut the rectangle into 4 quarters, then cut each rectangular quarter into 2 obtuse triangles. Transfer to prepared sheet pan (at this point, you can refrigerate or freeze the scones until you’re ready to bake them).
Before baking, brush each scone with heavy cream and sprinkle with a generous amount of sugar and cornmeal. Bake until deeply golden brown, 25-30 minutes (if baking from frozen, add a few extra minutes).