One Day I'll Be Nostalgic for Cheddar-Rosemary Scones
Have you ever eaten something that made you particularly nostalgic? My nearly-spiritual relationship with food means most of my meals stir up some sort of feeling of another meal; an earlier year; a changing season. But this morning when I took a bite of a fresh-out-the-oven Cheddar-Rosemary Scone, I was immediately transported back to a small farmers' market in northern Minnesota. I was 10.
My mother's budding handmade soap business was something my whole family got excited about, especially when it meant getting up at 4 in the morning to drive an hour and set up our booth at this market before the flocks of customers arrived. No sarcasm intended--this was exactly my kind of adventure. I worked diligently for hours restocking our booth and keeping it looking snazzy while my mother chatted with customers and my brother slept in the parked car with a blank ledger book open in his lap dutifully played accountant. But eventually, I would get bored, tired, and most of all--hungry. First, I would visit the lady at the booth next to ours who sold too-big (or, not-big-enough, depending on your age) cookies for $1. But then I would inevitably return to our booth to devour several dilly rolls that my mother baked to sell every week.
They. Were. So. Good. If you've never had a homemade bread roll, you probably should. Add a touch of fragrant dill and you'll wonder how you went your whole life without eating the likes.
Or, you could make a batch of Cheddar-Rosemary Scones, as I did this morning. The fresh rosemary combined with a buttery dough was just the nudge I needed to bring me back to those farmers' market days, and to appreciate freshly herbed bread in general. As it were, I had on hand a jar of tomato-basil jam from a farmers' market in Minnesota. I threw that in the middle of a scone along with a fried egg. My Saturday morning had no idea that one was coming its way. Some future day I will undoubtedly be nostalgic for this creation.
Cheddar-Rosemary Scones
Makes 8 triangle scones
Ingredients
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1cup heavy cream
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375F. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Mix the cold butter in with your fingertips until the dough crumbles in pea-sized pieces. Add the cream, cheddar and rosemary stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Form dough into a large circle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut into triangles with a butter knife. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before recutting. Eat up!