0. Take a cup of raisins, or a little less because they’ll expand. Soak them in some water. Dark spiced rum would be better. I used water spiked with vanilla but it wasn’t ultimately noticeable. Mine were sort of acceptable around 1 hour and deliciously gushy around 10 hours (I started baking in the morning but then there was Cream Fail and I couldn’t come back till much later – probably overkill though.) This is to prevent the raisins from soaking up lots of the scones’ moisture as they bake. Alternately, you could use golden raisins or special “baking raisins,” which are less dehydrated.

0b. No really, preheat the oven well in advance. I never remember but it is KEY, I’m increasingly sure, for baking.

1. Scone recipe, as per usual, but doubled, AND ALSO:

2. To the dry ingredients, add “some” cinnamon (maybe 1/2 tsp? I would try a full tsp though.)

3. After adding the cream , just as the dough is starting to come together, add the raisins, which you will have appropriately drained.

4. After scones are thoroughly cool, glaze lightly and let dry.

For the glaze: about 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, maybe half a teaspoon of lemon zest, a teaspoon or two of lemon juice. Whisk furiously! It’s better if you start up with less lemon juice and add more slowly so as not to make it too runny. Also be sure not to use too much glaze because the stuff is really sweet. Enjoy!

Corn cherry scones (adapted from The Cheese Board Collective Works, makes 10-12 scones)

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda*
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2/3 cup and also 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups medium-grind cornmeal*
• 2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut into small “pea-sized” cubes
• 3/4 cup dried sweet cherries
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk*

Preheat the oven to 425˚F, bitches! Mix the flour, baking powder and soda together and then sift it into a mixing bowl of highest quality. Add the salt, 2/3 cup of sugar, and cornmeal, and mix with a wooden spoon until it is nigh on homogeneous. Add the butter and use your fingertips to incorporate the little butter-chunks into the dough (don’t mix it too much, though, just get the dry ingredients to adhere nicely to the outside of the butter). Mix the cherries in so that they are mingling casually with the dry ingredients, then make a well in the center of the bowl, pour the buttermilk in, and mix/fold until just combined.

Separate the dough into 10-12 scone-sized rounded chunks and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle them with the remaining sugar so the tops are coated nicely and then stick ‘em in the oven and immediately bring the temperature down to 375˚F. Bake for 20 minutes or until they are done. [Mine needed 25 minutes or so.]

* Notes on the ingredients: I think these might need a smidgen more baking soda. I couldn’t find any gradations of cornmeal other than “cornmeal” and “polenta,” but the latter is probably too coarse, so use the former (which seems right). I used %1 buttermilk and that also seems to have worked fine; who knows what difference whole buttermilk would make though?

rosemary bread yet again

First I baked rosemary bread yet again, for a dinner party, following this recipe for an unkneaded peasant bread. This time it came out much much lighter, fluffier, and more delicious. Basically I followed the directions more carefully and this worked (who knew!) although I also stuck my roommate’s pizza stone in the oven while it was preheating, then stuck the bread pan right on top of it to while baking, which may have helped.

I infused some olive oil with garlic and left-over fresh rosemary while it was baking, too, for dipping purposes. This was a good idea.

mm breakfast!

Hungry grad students ate all my bread at once, so the next day I made scones, using my current favorite recipe (via Smitten Kitchen, with modifications here), only lemon-zest-and-cranberry this time (I had no oranges). A nice thing I’d forgotten about this recipe is it involves no eggs, except for the glaze, so licking the spoon is completely acceptable.

Finally, I made tomatoes filled with rice again (for the third time!) and yet again, they were devoured before photographic evidence could be acquired. You’ll just have to trust me on them.

Here's the bread rising, looking bizarre

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.

Our apartment is conveniently close to Berkeley’s “Gourmet Ghetto,” where places like Chez Panisse (the one-star-in-Michelin birthplace of “California cuisine”) and the Cheese Board Collective (delicious communist pizza) are located. One of my favorite places down in the Gourmet Ghetto is Gregoire, a self-described “artisan takeout” joint. While the term ‘artisan’ makes me barf from over-pretension, this description is pretty apt: During lunch, they principally serve tasty sandwiches with weird ingredients, salads, and quiche. The menu changes monthly, so I try to go at least once every month to try the item that sounds most delicious.

Three cheers for distorted iPhone pictures.

February’s choice was easy: Duck breast and jícama and blood orange salad on Dutch crunch (the Dutch actually call “Dutch crunch” tijgerbrood, which means “BREAD OF THE TIGER”). I was not disappointed—the delicious and unmistakable smoothness of duck meat paired well with the crisp jícama and tart blood orange. Here are some pictures:

My sandwich!

Real ginger ale! Behind the ginger ale, a gaysian couple.

Your food is made for you by attractive short-order cooks with full-sleeve tattoos, and then served through the window. Innovation in the extreme.

I do not live so close to this next restaurant, but my non-grad student friends Caylin and Duncan do. Bakesale Betty is located in the Temescal area of Oakland, one of the more gentrified areas of San Francisco’s scrappy kid sister. Bakesale Betty mainly offers (1) baked goods, (2) fried chicken sandwiches, and (3) iced lemonade. I don’t really know what the deal is with restaurants in this area having limited menus, but the results speak for themselves. I mean, just look at this line:

Here is a shibainu that was in line, not because it was food, but because it was fucking adorable.

The line snakes right past a window with tantalizing sights of the joys to come.

Once inside, you see the sandwich assembly line. Fall to your knees before your new gods.

I got a fried chicken sandwich and two scones: pear-ginger and apricot-almond. I was already full from ricotta and orange pancakes just an hour earlier, so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish my sandwich, but this theory proved to be incorrect. This is what the sandwiches from Bakesale Betty look like on the inside:

And oh my god, but are they fucking amazing. Someday I will reverse engineer this sandwich, but for now I can really only conjecture as to what goes in it: Thin patties of fried chicken breast, seasoned with the usual suspects (black and red pepper, mostly, I expect). This is accompanied with a salad which I believe consists of shredded fresh cabbage, sweet pickled red onion, thinly sliced jalapeños, minced parsley, and possibly some oil and vinegar (not sure). I do not know how these sandwiches are so good, but trust me when I tell you that all other fried chicken sandwiches are pedestrian crap.

The scones are delicious too, though I didn’t eat them until later. :v

Bacon and Cheddar Scones

Ingredients (makes about 8 large scones)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 4-6 slices of bacon, depending on the thickness
• 1/2 cup scallions, sliced very thinly
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, black pepper, cheddar and scallions together.  I decided to try a “stout cheddar”, which is basically aged cheddar with some stout beer in it. Cook the bacon in a pan  and then crumble into little bits.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers. The mixture should get a cornmeal-like texture once the butter is mostly cut in.  Add the bacon, mix, and then mix in the heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork.  Mix until it starts to be dough-like and a bit sticky, then put it on a lightly floured surface and pat it out into a circular shape about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut it like a pizza, and you’ll get 8 triangular scones! Stick in the oven for about 15 minutes.

The results: quite tasty! I love plain savory scones for breakfast. The cranberry ones definitely go well with clotted cream and some jam.  I think the savory scones ended up a bit salty, which I suspect is due to the cheese I picked. So if you’re trying a batch yourself, try adjusting the amt of cheese to account for how intense the cheese is.

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