It’s a blog for scanned pictures of sandwiches, as the name would suggest… at first it’s a bit gross but then it becomes kind of fascinating!

Ham and cheddar: Only 2 Tbs of sugar, because of the savory. N.b. the recipe only calls for 1/2 tsp of salt; this is not to be ignored – I added a few grinds of sea salt but it really didn’t need it. After cutting in the butter and before adding the cream, I added about  1/3 cup chopped lunchmeat ham, and about 1/2 cup finely grated smooth English cheddar with jalepenos in. I think using a rich but less sharp cheddar was key; the jalepenos weren’t really prominent enough to add much. In the future I might toss in some finely-chopped scallions as Gloria did. These came out super moist because of the cheese, and are my new favorite breakfast.

Cranberry orange: After cutting in butter and before the cream, I added ~1/2 cup cranberries and the zest of half a medium-sized orange. I also topped the glaze with more zest. Orange zest: the best.

The glaze: For both, even the savory ham-and-cheddar, I used the glaze from Joy of Cooking’s scone recipe. Whisk an egg. Maybe add a little cold water if it’s thick, and brush over the top of your beautifully triangular scones (triangles are key.) Sprinkle sugar on liberally. Delicious!

On attaining flakiness: The reason you cut the butter in is that you need it mixed, but not melted, so that when you bake it the butter melts and light, flaky pastry results (also why you use very cold ingredients for pie crusts.) Thus, chill the butter till right before use. A pastry blender is ideal for cutting it in because it is cold, heartless metal, unlike your hands, which melt things. I had to use my hands this time, but I ran them under cold water first, which I think helped. Handle the dough as little as possible while shaping, too.

I’m also a fan of Alton Brown’s scone recipe, but it requires you to have shortening on hand, and shortening is gross. Before that I used the one in Joy of Cooking, which makes arguably more traditional yet drier scones.

Anyway, today I made this curried lentil stew with sweet potatoes and chard, and it might be my new favorite. Kind of ugly, though! All I’ll say is you can fudge your own garam masala by googling it if you, say, live in an outer borough where they haven’t heard of such things. The lime and cilantro at the end might be a bit much – you could cut down either the lime juice or the zest, I think – but they make the whole thing much lighter and less overpoweringly dense than it could otherwise be. This dish is great also because it doesn’t really need accompaniment – it’s protein, starch, and green veggies all at once.

And for reference, here is my now second-favorite recipe for Lentils With Stuff In: Ethiopian spicy tomato lentil stew. I usually make this without 4-3 of the ingredients due to not having them on hand, but I’d say the peas are really non-negotiable. Mysteriously enough, they make the dish. I guess some other kind of sweet green would work as well, though.

The caponata from here (a friend recently got Giada de Laurentiis’s cookbook and it was a worthwhile investment in terms of deliciousness) – ingredients I didn’t have on hand (capers, celery) + a bed of arugula with a little olive oil and some crumbled feta = lunch.

The next day I made the leftover caponata into toasted sandwiches with cheese and it was even better. So it’s a pretty good investment of the time it takes to saute all that stuff, especially if you are like me and derive a somewhat unhealthy pleasure from reducing an entire eggplant into little squishy cubes.

The moral of the story is to never underestimate the power of Smarties.