Wedding Day Scones

Here is our special breakfast treat for the Royal Wedding. I adapted the recipe from this one found at Allrecipes and the scones are delicious.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup unbleached white flour)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup hard butter
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sour cream ( I used 0% fat Greek Yogurt)
• 1 large egg
• Finely grated rind of one orange

Put dry ingredients and butter in a food processor and pulse until butter is finely mixed in with flour mixture. Add sour cream, egg and orange rind and process until dough comes together. Remove dough from bowl and fold in dried cranberries.

Make a circle with the dough (about 8 inches in diameter) and cut into 8 wedges. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 F for approximately 15 minutes.

Variations:

Raisin Scones
Add raisins instead of cranberries and omit orange peel

Lemon-Blueberry Scones
Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding a generous teaspoon of finely grated lemon rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried blueberries for the raisins.

Cherry-Almond Scones 
Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding 1/2 tsp. almond extract to the sour cream mixture and substituting dried cherries for the raisins.

Stuffed Pasta Shells

I made these shells for a buffet meal during the Christmas season but did not post the recipe at that time. We had them for dinner again tonight and I took note of the ingredients.

1 pound (475g) container ricotta cheese
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cloves minced garlic
1-2 teaspoons dried oregano, basil or herbs of choice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese or 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Mix ingredients together and set aside

Prepare 8 ounces (250g) large pasta shells according to  package directions. You can also use manicotti or other large tube pasta.

Fill cooked pasta with filling and place in a 9x13 pan. Cover pasta with a pasta sauce of your choice. I have noticed that jars of pasta sauce are getting smaller and I used 1-1/2 jars (650 ml jars) for this recipe quantity. Bake covered at 350F for 30-40 minutes until heated through.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Someone in the household had a craving for something sweet on a Thursday afternoon when the pantry was rather bare. We were completely out of eggs, a fact I did not notice until I started making these muffins. So for an egg replacer I used 2 tablespoons of chia seeds mixed in 1/2 cup of water, which is allowed to thicken for a few minutes. The chia seeds added a nice crunch and the recipe turned out well. Here is the basic recipe. I suppose a couple of teaspoons of poppy seeds could be added for a less expensive crunch, but poppy seeds cannot be used in place of eggs.

The recipe is modified from one in Muffin Mania.

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup milk of choice (I use soy milk)
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
1 egg (or equivalent egg replacer)

Mix dry ingredients and add chocolate chips. Combine wet ingredients and stir into flour mixture until dry ingredients are moistened.

Place in prepared muffin cups and bake at 375F for 20 minutes or until tops are firm.