Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

I made these scones on Australia Day, and learned two things in the process.

Firstly, buttermilk adds a delicious flavour to scones. Secondly, Small Man absolutely adores them.

As I couldn’t find my usual round cutter, I ended up making baby scones, and that mad child of mine ate about dozen of them over the course of the day. They were made with Pepe Saya buttermilk, and served with a sweetened dollop of Pepe’s creme fraiche.

• 300g (2 cups) plain (AP) flour
• 8g (2 generous teaspoons) baking powder
• pinch of fine sea salt
• 75g (5 US tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 50g (¼ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
• 125ml (½ cup) buttermilk
• 1 large free range egg

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (375F) with fan. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

3. In a small jug or large cup, beat the buttermilk and egg together until well combined. Pour off a little (a tablespoon or so) into a small bowl and reserve for later.  Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the liquid ingredients.

4. Using a butter knife, mix the wet and dry ingredients ingredients. Be careful not to overwork the mixture.  Scrape the dough onto a well floured surface, sprinkle a little flour on top, and gently pat it out to a thickness of approximately 2½cm (1″).

5. Using a floured cutter, cut out as many scones as you can and lay them side by side on the baking tray. Be careful not to twist as you cut, or the scones won’t rise well.  Gently gather the remaining dough together and repeat.

6. Brush the tops of the scones with the reserved egg/buttermilk, and bake for about 20 minutes until golden.  Enjoy!

Addendum: On the following Monday, I taught Small Man how to make these scones.  By that time we’d found our round cutter, and he made six large scones from the dough.  We used Pepe Saya buttermilk that had been frozen and defrosted (it worked perfectly), and they took a few extra minutes in the oven. I think his scones tasted better than mine!  Here’s a photo of them…

Read Full Post »

For as long as I can remember, my mother has kept a jar of these chillies in her fridge.

Unlike pickles designed for longer term storage, these aren’t heated in the pickling brine, but rather steeped in a cold vinegar-sugar-salt solution which diffuses the heat slightly and imbues the chopped chillies with a tangy edge.  We’ve always stored them in the fridge, and they’re usually eaten quite quickly, so I really can’t tell you how long they keep for.

Because of the way they’re made, the chillies retain their crunch. It’s the perfect accompaniment to Chinese dishes – a small bowl of these always graced the dinner table when I was growing up.

Chillies grow reasonably well in our garden, and this week I harvested a bowl of Jalapeños, several Serrano chillies, a few Cayennes, and the last of our mild Tasty Bites…

When I asked Mum for her recipe, she didn’t give me quantities for the pickling brine, but told me to make it “to taste”. Here are the amounts I used for this batch…

• hot chillies (as seen in the photo above)
• 2 cups vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
• 3 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 3 teaspoons sugar

1. In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.  Cool to room temperature.

2. Wash the chillies and slice then into rings (I wore latex gloves for this process).   Remove the seeds if preferred.  Tip the chopped chillies into a large bowl and pour boiling water over them.  Stir for about 10 seconds before draining into a colander.

3. Spoon the chillies into sterilised jars, and carefully pour over the cooled vinegar solution.  Store the jars in the fridge.  This quantity of chillies filled two 300ml jars.

I’m hoping to make more of these when the Bishop’s Crown chillies start fruiting!

Read Full Post »