Scones

You can't have a tearoom without having scones. That would be madness.

If you're not familiar with them, scones are a kind of quick bread - usually made with flour, fat and baking powder (you could argue that they are actually a form of pastry, but I'd recommend that you quit taking things so seriously). 

Opinion is divided on the pronunciation of the word scone at the tearoom. Mike favours rhyming it with cone (which is the Southern English and American pronunciation), I prefer rhyming it with gone, like the rest of the North of England, Scotland and Canada). We have reached a compromise where whoever makes them decides. Which is me. Buahaha*

We make two types of scone - sweet and savoury. The savoury scone I'll write about another day, but the sweet scone is a classic tearoom treat. Light, fluffy and slathered with butter and jam is my favoured method of eating them, but the classic jam and cream is always popular.

To paraphrase the old saying, a good scone is hard to find. I've eaten far too many that are dry, doughy or tough. A scone should be light, buttery and melt in the mouth. The secret is to use butter (sorry vegans! Though coconut butter makes a rich, exotic scone that is pretty awesome too), to take care rubbing the four and butter together (lumps of butter left in there will give the scone a slightly weird flaky texture) and to handle the dough as little as possible (easier said than done!)

Scones

300g strong white flour

75g butter 

2tsp baking powder

50g sugar (though you an use a substitute like apple syrup or stevia if you want it sugar free)

1 egg, whisked

75ml cream

50ml milk (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190C. Rub together the four and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. This will take about 5 minutes but feel like 10,000 lifetimes.  To the radio. John Finnemore's souvenir programme is about half an hour long, you'll have scones by the end of an episode! As the baking powder cand sugar (for sugar free scones you could add apple syrup or sugar free jam for a fruity scone). Whisk together the egg and cream and add to the flour. Quickly mix into a soft dough, adding a little milk if it seems dry.

There are two ways you can proceed. Option one is the traditional method - roll out about 3 - 4cm thick and cut into rounds with a 7cm cutter (pressing sharply down rather than twisting to ensure an even rise) and arrange on a baking tray. Brush with milk if you want to be fancy and bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops are pale gold.

Method two is good if you don't have a suitable cutter. Roll the dough into a rough circle 3 - 4cm thick. Brush with milk if you feel like it. Then using a sharp knife, mark the circle into 6 pieces radiating out from the centre like the spokes of a wheel. Game for 20 - 25 minutes, or until golden and will risen.

Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool. Serve with jam and cream, or a smear of butter, and cup of tea.

Variations
Of course, a plain scone is a thing of beauty, but that doesn't mean you can't mix things up. Try adding chopped dried fruit and nuts, or grated cheese mixed with diced chillies or finely shredded spring onions. Here are a few other ideas.
Cherry Scones: Replace the sugar with 50g of diced glace cherries
Date & Walnut: Replace the sugar with 30g chopped dates & 20g chopped walnuts
Spiced: 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon & mixed spice and 50g dried mixed fruit (my favourite!)

*Simple pleasures, my friends 

Pumpkin Chutney

One of the most popular items on our menu at the tearoom is Cheese & Chutney Panini. I've been surprised by how many people have never tried the combination of toasty bread, cheese & chutney before, as it is delicious, and has been the post-pub meal of choice for myself & Mike for as long as I can remember.
But then, I have always been a fun of chutneys & pickles over jams & curds.

Ahh, chutney. Friend of cheese, saviour of the boring sandwich, secret ingredient of savoury dishes from stew to tagine (I'm not kidding, try stirring a heaped tablespoon of good chutney into pie fillings, curries or casseroles. It makes all the difference). I make several types of chutney for the tearoom, a good flavourful Winter Ale chutney for the aforementioned Panini, Tomato & Ale to accompany the Calzones & summery specials, Lincolnshire Pickle for the Ploughmans Lunch, plus seasonal specials depending on what I have an abundance of in the garden or the local hedgerows.

It's All Hallows Eve next week, which means that there are pumpkins everywhere (yay!). Most folks will be suggesting you make soup from your pumpkin (yawn), but soup is such a simple, sparse recipe, it needs a really good squash (like Kabocha, Onion or the mighty Crown Prince to make it worthwhile (and those big orange numbers in the supermarket are a little lacking in flavour). So make some Pumpkin Chutney!

 

Pumpkin Chutney

700g pumpkin (any variety will do, really), peeled, deseeded & chopped (the size of the pieces is up to you. I like quite a chunky chutney, but if you have nothing better to do you could painstakingly chop it into 1cm cubes).

700g apples, peeled, cored & chopped

1 large onion, peeled & diced

300g demerera sugar (or any brown sugar)

450ml cider vinegar
250g raisins
1tsp salt
1tbs chilli flakes
1" ginger, peeled & chopped

Pile all of that into your preserving pan. I know it doesn't look like there's enough vinegar in there, but there is.
In a piece of muslin (though I used a reusable teabag here. A crazy little invention from Whittards) tie up 1tsp peppercorns, 1 cinnamon stick (you can break it up if you need to) & 6 or 7 cloves. Or you can add 1/2 tsp mixed spice. Chuck into the preserving pan & bring everything slowly to the boil. This will occupy you for the next hour or so. Listen to some music. Or the radio. Go on iPlayer and listen to Cabin Pressure, a radio comedy about an airline (well, airdot, you need more than one plane to make a line) and play 'Brians* of Britain'. I don't encourage knitting, you'll get onion on the yarn.

Stir occasionally, and when it reaches a boil reduce to a simmer & give it the odd stir to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom or burns (unlikely to happen at the start, but after an hour it'll get thick & tricksy). After about an hour (maybe more, maybe less depending on how watery your pumpkin is) it will have darkened in colour and thickened up, and you can draw your spoon across the bottom and see the base of the pan briefly, like Moses parting the Red Sea. Only it's a chutney sea.

You have Chutney! Spoon into clean, sterilised jars & seal. Waste half an hour on Google images looking for a good picture to go on the label, then store in a cool, dark place for a couple of months to mature (though you'll probably have one jar that's only half full. That can be used straight away. Future jars will be more matured and well rounded in flavour, but it will still be tasty.

*Name famous Brits called Brian. Like Blessed, or Cox.