More Scones with an Interesting ingredient

I do love scones. As it happens, my husband also loves my scones, eagerly awaiting them as I make them most weekends. The fact that I have been experimenting with alternative flours has not stopped our appreciation of these wonderful breakfast (or any time) treats. Ever since using the recipe template for scones that I posted here, I have turned out more fabulous combinations than I would have believed possible. 

Finger Miller & Almond Scones with Craisins & White Baking Chips

This template for scones is simple. Keep to the amounts for the dry ingredients, barring small changes in amounts for salt or sugar, and when using whole grain flours, the amount of cream seems to lessen to ¾ cup, more often than not, so start with ¾ cup to be safe, then add in a bit more, up to one full cup in total, if needed. 

This is the formula, once again:

• 2 cups flour: Whether all purpose, whole wheat, whole spelt or Kamut, or other alternate grain flour mixed in such as buckwheat, teff, amaranth, millet, etc. Check out these Teff Amaranth Scones or Whole Grain Kamut Maple Pecan Scones. In general, I keep a small amount of all purpose flour, with up to 1½ cups of alternate flours. The one exception to date is buckwheat, which tastes wonderful, but too much buckwheat flour make the scones far too delicate, with a tendency to disintegrate. A little buckwheat flour makes amazingly melt-in-the-mouth tender scones, such as in these Buckwheat Spelt Scones, Buckwheat Scones with Romano Cheese, Dried Figs, Fresh Thyme & Walnuts. *Another great substitute is a small amount of almond meal or hazelnut meal. Keep in mind that these nut meals are not flour and do not act like flour, so keep amounts smaller.
• 1 to 4 tablespoons sugar. Depending on the other flavor components, less sugar, even only 1 tablespoon can be more than enough. This is purely to taste.
• 1 tablespoon baking powder.
• 1 to 1¼ teaspoons salt.
• Optional: ½ teaspoon cream of tartar.
• 5 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter.
• ¾ to 1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream.

So, back to the idea of alternate flours. In the past couple of blog posts, I have mentioned going to a Patel's Grocery in Chandler, AZ. They have the most amazing selection of lentils, grams and beans I have ever seen. And as the Indians market their lentils/grams/beans in any of three different ways EACH, it can quickly get confusing. Thankfully, I unraveled much of that particular conundrum some little while back (read about that here). And then there are an equally amazing array of different types of millets used in Indian cooking. I have used "white" millet before, in such recipes as these Buckwheat Millet Pancakes. This is the same kind found in bird seed mixes, simply called white millet, likely Proso Millet. This is only one variety. In the Patel's grocery I also found Pearl Millet, Foxtail Millet, Sorghum, Finger Millet, Koda Millet, Little Millet and Barnyard Millet - in addition to the Proso Millet! The choices then are whether to buy it whole or broken or in the form of flour. In order to begin familiarizing myself with some of the other types, I bought Kodo Millet whole, and Finger Millet pre-ground into flour. 

Finger Miller & Almond Scones
with Craisins & White Baking Chips

I added about ¼ or maybe ⅓-cup of Kodo Millet (very light colored) to a large pot (12 cups) of vegetable soup I was cooking, and it totally thickened the pot of soup! I opened the Finger Millet Flour, and added some to my Scones this past Saturday. They were absolutely delightful. Finger Millet ("Ragi" in Hindi) is a very dark little seed, and the flour is also dark. It adds significant color to anything it is used in. I used only ⅔ cup in the scone mix, an amount I think is just perfect. The scones grew beautifully and tasted amazing. I will be making these again and again.

Should you have access to Finger Millet in flour form, do try out this recipe as one way to use this flavorful grain/seed. Incidentally, this grain is naturally gluten free.

Finger Millet & Almond Flour Scones

(with Craisins and White Baking Chips)

Makes 8 Scones

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a 12 - 14-inch round pan or other baking pan with parchment. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 7 dry ingredients, whisking to combine. With a pastry cutter, cut in the cold butter until it is well broken down to bits smaller than peas. Stir in the craisins and white baking chips, then pour in the whipping cream. With a fork, stir in the cream until the mass begins to hold together. Grease a clean, non-porous surface and turn the mixture out onto the greased area. Using hands, bring the mass together into a single mass about 8-inches in diameter. Using a large knife, cut across the circle, then across again the opposite way, making 4 wedges, Now, cut across each way again to form 8 equally sized wedges. Use the knife as a spatula to transfer the wedges to the prepared baking sheet, keeping them at least 1-inch apart. If desired, use a small amount of cream and using a pastry brush, brush the cream over the tops of the scones. Sprinkle with sugar to make a pretty finish, though this is not necessary; they are great without the extra cream and sugar on top.

Bake the scones for about 15 to 18 minutes, until golden and set. Serve warm or at room temperature. These scones keep well at room temperature, sealed in a zip-top bag, for at least one day.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Wholesome Pancakes and Blackberry Compote

Some time ago, a friend hand printed out a recipe for waffles she thought I would like. I am always interested in alternative ingredients, and any time a recipe uses ingredients other than the constant wheat and sugar, I am hooked. Add to this the healthier side of things and I am all over it. The recipe she gave me was copied from somewhere, so what I am posting here as "my recipe", was first based on this one I was given. I did make the recipe "as is" a couple of times, but I was not personally crazy about some of the flavors. On the absolute plus side, they have no wheat or other gluten based product and they need no eggs, so they can be vegan as well. Buckwheat, despite the word "wheat" in the name, is not wheat, not related to wheat, and is not a grain at all. See my blog of April 5th for more on buckwheat.

Buckwheat Millet Pancakes with Blackberry Compote: gluten free, egg-free

The idea that some flavors just did not seem to work for me was interesting, because there was nothing in these waffles that I did not like. And yet. I had an objection to the cinnamon flavor, as well as the coconut. Since I am really wild about cinnamon and coconut, this seems awfully strange, but so it is. I started getting a craving for these waffles again, and wondered about using the batter for pancakes instead of waffles. The first thing I did was look at the recipe and see what flavors I could use to substitute for these two things. I thought for a while and finally decided on nutmeg and coriander seed. Coriander seed has a nice citrus-y type of flavor. It can be used well in many sweet applications, although the use I most often have for coriander is in Indian cooking. Still, since the cinnamon was just wrong (for me) in this application, I felt that coriander would be a good substitute. Nutmeg would not compete with coriander either, so I went with these two. The original recipe had an egg "optional". I did not use the egg, but did add in some ground flax seed, even though egg was in no way needed in the original recipe.
 

Lovely texture in Buckwheat Millet Pancakes

One other ingredient I wanted to sub out was the brown sugar. When thinking about a recipe that uses 1 cup each of whole, uncooked millet and buckwheat, using brown sugar seemed odd. In this case, I used stevia ("Stevia in the Raw"). The original recipe also did not use baking powder, but I opted to add some in, hoping for a little bit of rise in the pancakes I wanted to make from this recipe. 

I found this same recipe all over the internet, though I do not really know who it was attributed to originally. I do not mean to act like this is totally my recipe, because soaking the millet and buckwheat and processing them into a batter would possibly never have occurred to me. All the recipes I saw online specified to NOT use a Vita Mix blender to blend this batter, as it makes it too dense. All I have for a blender is my Vita Mix. How long one has it running and at what speed will have a large impact on how fine, or not, a batter will be. I have absolutely no problem with the consistency of these as pancakes or waffles, having blended the batters in my Vita Mix blender. Maybe others are more fussy than I but I really love the consistency and the flavors; most particularly now that I made some exchanges for ingredients. Today, the pancakes really hit the spot.


Please understand that any of my substitutions can be left out or you might look up the recipe somewhere online and make them as in what appears may be the original recipe, here. I did not drain and rinse the millet and buckwheat on any of the occasions I used this recipe, but just placed them right in my blender container and let them soak overnight there. One less dirty container. My version of this recipe is very easily cut in half if needed, but I have refrigerated or frozen these and other pancakes or waffles and they kept fine. Often, rather than using the microwave to potentially do harm to some of the nourishment, I pop them in the toaster. If straight from the freezer it may take a second or even a third time toasting to heat them through, but they are wonderful this way.

Buckwheat Millet Pancakes or Waffles

Buckwheat Millet Pancakes
with Blackberry Compote

Made twenty (4- to 5-inch) pancakes

1 cup of whole, raw buckwheat (not Kasha, which is toasted)
1 cup whole millet
2 cups water
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Place these ingredients into a blender container. Stir a bit, cover the container and let them soak overnight on the counter.

In the morning, add to the blender container the following:

2 packets Stevia
1½ teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil

Blend the mixture to the fineness desired. Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle to medium heat. Spray the surface with nonstick spray or use more coconut oil or butter to lightly grease the surface. Ladle the batter as for any pancakes and watch for small bubbles that burst and stay open, and the edges look dry. Flip and cook for just a minute more. Adjust temperature up or down as necessary for even cooking.

Making the pancakes                      |                             Pancakes finished

I had made some Blackberry Compote one morning a few months back; a totally spur-of-the-moment idea, having some blackberries left int he fridge. I kept meaning to put the recipe out here, but other things seemed to take precedence. And now I know why! That last time I made the compote (also to pour over pancakes), I used a little white sugar in the recipe. It was fabulous. But with these interesting pancakes, made so wholesomely, I wanted to see if the compote could also be palatable using Stevia instead of the sugar. And now I have my answer. For me, while this batch of the compote, made with Stevia, was less sweet overall, it was also very much palatable and went so perfectly on the pancakes. I was so happy when I finished breakfast this morning, I tell you! The compote would be most excellent over pound cake or ice cream or any other application. If you want to make it with sugar instead of Stevia: add in ¼ cup of granulated sugar at the beginning, with the cornstarch and cook as directed. Do not add in the Stevia at the end. 

Blackberry Compote

Makes about 2+ cups

Blackberry Compote

6 ounces blackberries (or raspberries or blueberries)
2 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca starch
1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon rosewater (or just use an extra teaspoon vanilla)
4 packets Stevia

In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch with the lime juice, salt and water and stir to completely dissolve. Add the blackberries and crush them lightly. Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring often. Once boiling, stir constantly for about 5 minutes more, until the compote is thickened and the sauce is translucent. Add in the vanilla, rosewater if using and the Stevia and stir well. Can be used immediately.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

A New Twist on a Pilaf and a New Recipe for Cod

I am always interested in going back to basics when  making foods, partly because it was something I had to do in Guatemala and that is how I learned. When what is locally available is all you can use, one learns quickly. Back in the 1970s there was no availability of every thing one could imagine on the internet. There was no internet. No cell phones. It is hard to even remember what we did back then. No remotes for the TV. Two or three channels at most. Foods that were available locally were what could be used. Period.

When I came back to the US, it was the time when using whole grains, higher fiber and jogging came into vogue. I never got the jogging bug, but was always interested in being healthy. Using foods with higher fiber seemed natural. I really liked all those things, so there was no difficulty in it for me. But, just because something is high fiber does not immediately turn out tasting good. We have to try new ways to make some foods taste marvelous. Now, here we are, 40 years later. I am still experimenting. I buy foods like whole oat groats or raw buckwheat, raw cashews, millet, teff, amaranth. The list goes on and on. Not all of those were immediate hits. Not all of those were even something I tried more than once. Still, because once they weren't my cup of tea, doesn't mean that at some point they won't taste really good made in a different way.

Green Lentil and Millet Pilaf with Baked Crusted Cod

Recently a friend gave me a recipe for waffles using soaked buckwheat and millet. No cooking of the grains beforehand. I loved those waffles. I wish I could claim that recipe as my own, but it is not. I have been meaning to get them out and make those waffles again, but have yet to get to it. Meanwhile, I keep seeing the bags of the seeds in my freezer (where I keep anything that doesn't get used too often), and was thinking what I might do with them. A few days ago, I got an idea for a sort of pilaf with less-used or -known grains, lentils or seeds. I ended up making a Green Lentil and Millet Pilaf, which I just loved. I have been eating it the past few days, all on my own, as it is not a dish my husband would touch, though I keep hoping. I had green De Puy lentils because I had used them in another dish from the Food and Wine magazine. Their recipe was with these little green lentils, red quinoa and cauliflower and I loved that too. So, the lentils were there in the cabinet, and the millet was in the freezer and I decided they would make a nice looking dish; it remained to see what I could do with the flavor. 

Green Lentil and Millet Pilaf

Green Lentil and Millet Pilaf

Serves 4 - 6
 
½ cup green (De Puy) lentils
1 small carrot, grated
1¼ cup water
½ cup millet
1 cup water
1 small knob fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large shallot, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon salt
1 - 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced thinly
½ green pepper, chopped
½ teaspoon salt, or more, to taste
 
Place the first 3 ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes, until cooked through. In another small saucepan, bring the next 3 ingredients to boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about 15 to 18 minutes or until tender.
 
While these are cooking, heat a skillet and add the olive oil. Add in the shallot with the first half teaspoon salt and saute until soft. Add in the garlic, celery and green pepper and saute for another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are softened. Add in the drained lentils and the millet and the second half teaspoon of salt. Stir to combine.

A few weeks back, I bought some frozen cod. The pieces were individually wrapped so they were just fine in the freezer. But, I like fish and my husband doesn't, unless there is enough breading, it is fried and there is plenty of ketchup to smother it in. I like fried fish just fine. Just not as the only way. I like eating fish made in other creative ways. So, there is this cod. I had made Beef Vegetable Soup, which is a favorite of my husband's, so I left the soup for him and made myself a piece of fish. Mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese make a nice topping for things. I have long made pork chops by setting them onto a baking sheet, setting one (¼-inch thick) onion slice on top of each, placing a dollop of mayo onto the onion, and then Parmesan over the top of the mayo. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes at 350 and o-m-g! So, with a little play on that concept, I made my cod. The recipe was just for the one piece, so if making more than one, just multiply the recipe as needed. It took longer in the oven than I anticipated, so the next time I might set the oven to 400 degrees and bake for less time.

Baked Crusted Cod

Baked Crusted Cod

Serves 1

1 cod filet, (about 5 ounces)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
3 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (350 on Convection). If the cod filet is very thick in the center, butterfly so it lays flat with a more even thickness all along the length. Salt and pepper both sides of the fish. If you have white pepper, try using that instead of black.

In a little bowl, combine the mayonnaise and the 2 tablespoons of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Spread this paste over the top of the fish, evenly. In another small bowl, combine the panko, 1 tablespoon of Parmigiano-Reggiano and the olive oil. Press these crumbs onto the mayonnaise mixture on the fish. Set the filet onto a rack over a rimmed baking sheet. [To prevent messy cleanup, line the baking sheet with foil first.] Set the filet into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until it flakes in the center.
The cod was delightful. I smeared some tartar sauce onto my plate and set the fish on top of the tartar sauce to serve. It made for a prettier photo. You can always serve more tartar sauce on the side. Together these two recipes were just wonderful for dinner.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.