Maple Scones

I made maple scones on Sunday morning from a recipe I noticed in The New York Times last week. They came out soft, light and airy, as opposed to dense and thick, and I thought they were perfect. I loved the color of them too (they really turned golden brown), though Lou said he thought he could taste a little too much baking powder. We ate them immediately after I pulled them out of the oven with hot coffee.

Here's the recipe:

MAPLE SCONES
Adapted from the Samuel Sewall Inn, Brookline, Mass.
Time: 30 minutes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour (more as needed)
2 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) chilled butter
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts or cooked wheat berries
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk, or as needed
Vegetable oil or nonstick spray for greasing baking sheet.

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, or two knives scissors-fashion, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
2. Add nuts or wheat berries. Stir in the maple syrup and egg and just enough milk so that dough leaves side of bowl and forms a ball. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead lightly; if dough is very soft, roll in flour again. Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet. Pat or roll into an 8-inch disk; cut into 8 wedges, but do not separate.
3. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet, and carefully separate. Serve warm.

Yield: 8 servings.

(from The New York Times)

And here are a few more pics:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apples, Fennel and Spices

Well, faithful foodphiles readers, I'm finally getting around to posting again after a few weeks away. Don't fear, I've been cooking these last few weeks. I just haven't managed to set aside the time to post on here. Please forgive me.

Last Sunday night I prepared a fantastic recipe for slow roasted pork shoulder from the current issue of Bon Appetit. I adapted the recipe slightly to use a pork tenderloin--basically I altered the cooking time so as to not completely overcook the meat--and it worked out well. The combined flavors of the fennel, coriander seeds and garlic, along with the hint of apple, were magnificent. I'll have to post the recipe later because I could not find it on epicurious. I suspect that they do not post the recipes published in RSVP on the web because they did not create the recipes. I'll post it on here and give full credit to the chefs.

Slow-Roasted Pork with Apple-Fennel Jus (from The Kitchen in Boulder, Colorado, Chef Hugo Metheson)

2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
6 garlic cloves, corsely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 6 1/2 to 6 3/4 pound boneless pork butt (shoulder) roast (I used the tenderloin)

1 750 ml bottle dry white wine
3 Fuji apples (about 1 3/4 pounds), peeled and chopped
2 cups coarsely chopped fennel tops and fronds (bulbs reserved for another use)
1 large onion, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using spice mill or coffee grinder, process coriander seeds, fennel seeds, salt and peppercorns until coarsely ground. Add garlic and grind until paste forms. Transfer mixture to small bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Rub spice paste all over pork.

Boil wine in heavy medium saucepan 3 minute. Place chopped apples, fennel and onion in large roasting pan, spreading evenly. Pour boiled wine into pan. Place pork atop apple mixture. Cover roasting pan tightly with foil (or lid). Roast pork until tender, 3 hours (or 20 minutes per pound for tenderloin).

Carefully remove foil from pan. Transfer pork shoulder to platter; tent with foil to keep warm. Strain liquid from roasting pan into large saucepan, pressing on solids to release any liguid. Discard solids in strainer. Spoon off fat from surface of pan juices. Boil juices until reduced to 3 cups, about 25 minutes.

Slice pork. Serve, passing apple-fennel jus alongside.

Finally, since it's so easy to post photos of me cooking, here are a few of me and my loin: