Herb scones

We had these scones for breakfast this sunday along with scrambled eggs. I still have this lovely aroma of the fresh hebs in my mind. It is a wonderful recipe from my old cookbook, it being one of the first cookbooks with a lot of baking recipes. And I had made these scones before, about 5 or 6 years ago. While going through the book, I found it again. This is the original recipe with my modified version at the end. So, here it goes:


Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 15 minutes
Oven temp: 225 ° C (convection oven: 200 °C)

Ingredients:

6 tbsp mixed fresh herbs, washed and chopped finely (like oregano, lemon balm, cress, other wild herbs)
200 g flour
50 g wheatflakes
1 tsp baking powder
1 level tsp salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
50 g butter
5 tbsp sour cream (10 % fat)
1 egg
butter for the baking tray

My eggless recipe:
6 tbsp herbs - oregano, lemon balm and mint (all from my garden), washed and chopped finely
200 g wheatflour
50 g oatflakes, soft
1 tsp baking powder
1 level tsp salt
1 pinch chilli powder
50 g butter, cut into small cubes
3 level tsp sourcream (10 % fat)
3 level tsp sourcream / schmand (24 % fat)
4 tbsp milk
butter for the baking try


Method:

• wash and finely chop the herbs.
• Preheat oven to 225 °C (200°C). Put butter on the baking tray.
• Mix flour, oatflakes, salt, pepper and baking powder thoroughly.
• put small cubes of butter over it.
• add both the sour creams and the herbs.
• Knead the dough and roll out 2 cm thick (1/2 ") on a flat surface with the help of some flour.
• Cut out 12 circles and put on the baking tray. OR:
  
• make 12 balls and press them flat with the help of some oil on the hands.
• I skipped this step: whisk the egg a little bit and brush the scones with it.
  
• Bake them in the oven for 15 minutes.
  
• Instead of the eggs I used: After about a minute, put some milk over the scones with a brush.
  
• Serve warm with chutneys, or sauces or just fresh cheese.
  

Vegetable stew with black bread

This was a simple but a really tasty midday meal for me a couple of days back- the left over stew from the day before and a slice of black bread heated in the toaster for short and spread with creamcheese with herbs.
I enjoyed it to the full. The vegetables tasted even better than the day before.

BTW, I have to mention that it was my 3 year old son who gave me this idea. He insisted on cutting the vegetables and this was how he did it. He uses a sharp cutlery knife, which is quite harmless. I cut the kholrabi though and a part of the carrots and the onion of course. He does not like the onion as it irritates his eyes a lot. We had eaten it with fish made by my hubby and baked potato croquettes. That tasted good too. But I enjoyed the stew the day after so very much. The weather wa also perfect. Clear sky and sunny at 26°C and I could sit at my garden table and enjoy it.

This is how I made the stew:

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingriedients:
1 kohlrabi
3 medium carrots, rounds or large chunks
1 1/2 zucchini, lengthwise or just thick rounds
2-3 small onion, sliced lengthwise
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp, heaped, Coriander powder (seeds)
1 tsp Kitchen King from Everest, a curry spice mixture
salt to taste
1-2 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp mustard or rapeseed oil

Method:

Clean and cut the vegetables. Heat 1/2 tbsp butter in a large saucepan. Add the spices, stir once and then quickly add the vegetables except for zucchini and stir to mix on high heat for a minute. Add the rest of butter and oil and 1/2 cup water and Let cook for about 5-10 minutes on medium heat, stirring in between. Add Zucchini when the vegetables are not completely done and stir once and let cook further till done. Don't make Zucchini too mushy. They should still remain a bit firm and still retain a good colour. Switch off the heat and let it cook further for a while before serving. If you want garnish with finely chopped parsely or coriander (cilantro).

Note: I used a readymade spice mixture which is very much like any curry powder found outside India. And can be replaced with many other varieties of spice blends available in Indian shops.
Butter gives the stew a good flavor, but can be replaced with any type of plant oil or reduced in amount.