Secret ingredient scones

Yogurt scones

I am continuing with my theme of simple pleasures. The work with the bathroom is dragging on, it has been 6 weeks with out a shower and I'm pretty sure that even the flies are avoiding me now. I’ve been to too busy and when I've not been busy I've been too lethargic to do any "serious" cooking this week. I got big into cooking through being big into eating so I would consider myself a "eater" first and a "cook" second so my desire for that foodie hit is still very much present. 

These scones are rather lovely. Very light and fluffy, which demand to be eaten with raspberry jam, clotted cream and a cup of tea. Simple pleasure personified. To achieve these scones' full potential they would be best enjoyed on some quiet mid summer afternoon in the garden. I, however, did not have that luxury. I brought them to work to cheer everyone up. Even in a windowless staffroom in Fife they were still pleasant enough for me to have 3 at morning break. 

I made a less successful version of these scones at the weekend to welcome the awesome M. and her new man S. who were staying for the weekend. In my excitement of seeing them I forgot to add in bicarb and sugar. Doh! Still edible but this is a much better recipe. I thought about making another batch but 30 minutes later they were all gone with only a few crumbs left as evidence of their existence. It was a classic case of "it was the thought that counted". Nothing brings warmth and welcome to a home more than scones fresh out the oven.

The secret ingredient, in case you are wondering, is yogurt.

Yogurt scones with raspberry jam and extra yogurt (clotted cream is better)

Secret ingredient scones/yogurt scones/my best scone recipe

Makes about 20 mini scones (I think, to be honest I'm not sure as I ate a few before I had the chance to count - ma bad)

Oven set to 200 degrees

500g self-raising flour

80g butter at room temperature

6 dsp caster sugar

8 dsp natural yogurt

8dsp milk plus a little extra from painting on top

Sift the flour into a big mixing bowl.

Rub in the butter until there are no more lumps.

Add in the sugar and mix.

Add the yogurt and milk to the flour mixture and stir.

Use your hands to make it into a ball.

Roll out till approx 2-3 cm thick.

Cut out yer scones and brush them with a little extra milk.

Bake for 10-12 mins

Enjoy.

Roast rack of lamb with fancy potato boulanger

Why is lamb associated with Easter? Obviously Easter is about the time of year that we start to see lambs springing around the lush, bright fields but why does that equate to lamb on the plate? I don't really have any answers I'm afraid but what I do know is that a local farm shop had some lamb in and I couldn’t resist. Lamb is ready for eating when it is 4 months old, about the time it is weaned from its mother. Simple maths therefore, would make you wonder why lamb was in the shop in April.  This involved a small amount of detective work... It was from the Scottish borders where it can be fairly chilly so it was probably born in late April, May last year. This makes it just under a year old. Hogget minus a few months. As the meat was a little older than the majority of lamb you might buy I splashed out for a rack, possibly the most tender cut. Lamb is one of those meats where you sacrifice tenderness for taste and taste for tenderness; a fine tuned balance. It was fed on grass with lots of herb so it was a pretty special dinner. 

Early season lamb is bred in southern England through artificially "horneying up" the sheep in the autumn time for the lambs to be born in December, January time. These lambs will then be kept inside till late February when it is warm enough for them in get out in the open. These lambs will get fed hay and soy to fatten them up quickly for the Easter market in the supermarkets. This surely has got to be an inferior product compared to its more natural cousin.

I got the inspiration for this recipe from Tom Kitchin who did a version of this on Saturday kitchen. He cooked it with smoking hay which sounds interesting but having splashed out for such an expensive cut I wanted to keep it quite honest and let the flavour of the herb fed lamb shine. You can get this recipe from the BBC food website, http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lamb_cooked_on_hay_64832.

When I first met my boyfriend I spent the first few years trying to whoo him with food. Having now settled into domestic cohabiting bliss(ish) this is now a less regular occurrence. I wanted to give the boy a wee treat. He deserves it. 

Roast rack of lamb serves a greedy 2

Oven set to 180 degrees

french trimmed rack of lamb 0.6kg or 1.5lb; this is quite an average size

seasoning 

700g waxy new potatoes, finely sliced

2 onions finely sliced

1 fennel bulb finely sliced

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

500ml chicken stock

couple of bay leaves

few springs of thyme

few knobs of butter

seasoning

Cook the onions, fennel off in a heavy bottomed pan till nice and brown. This will take about 8-10 minutes. Add in the herbs and season. 

Add in the garlic and cook till softened. 

Arrange layers of potato then a layer of onions minus the herbs, I think I did 3 layers. 

Season each layer with salt and pepper.

Add a few knobs of butter on top and pour the stock over. 

Cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes. 

You may need to cover it with a bit of tinfoil if it is getting a bit burnt. 

For the lamb, rub with olive oil, season and seal in a heavy bottomed pan. 

Pop in the oven for 14-18 minutes.

The best way to get perfectly cooked lamb is to invest in a meat thermometer; we served ours rare, very rare, almost baahing.

120-125degrees for rare

125-130 degrees for medium rare

Let in rest for 8-10 minutes with some tinfoil and tea towels to keep warm. I like using my cast iron shallow casserole pan as it keeps the heat in with the lid.

Carve and enjoy.