Scones, Potato-Leek Soup and Duck Eggs

New Strawberry Scones

We had some guests stay at the cabana who were “in and out”; I think we got to spend ten minutes talking to them!  They arrived a bit late, and left early the next day; he had to be in place between 7-7:15 to take the MCAT – general Medical School entrance exam. I offered to make them a “take-away” breakfast so they would have a good start to the day, and Sally suggested scones. 

 I had strawberries and found a new recipe to try – these turned out great! Much simpler than the previous strawberry scone recipe I've used.

4 cups AP Flour

1/3 cup + 3 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/8 tsp Salt

6 Tbsp unsalted Butter

1 cup chopped Strawberries

1 Egg, beaten

1/2 cup Half & Half

Earlier in the day (4-6 hours) dice the strawberries and place them in a container with 3 Tbsp of sugar and 2/3 – 3/4 cup of cold water. Shake to dissolve the sugar, and refrigerate until ready to make the scones. This gives a chance for the strawberry syrup to develop, so the berries can be prepped even a day ahead. When ready to make the scones, separate the strawberries from the syrup; you should have a bit more than 2/3 cup of liquid reserved -- to give the batter extra flavor.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Cut the butter into the mixture to get a fine grain texture. Add the strawberries and toss them so they get coated with the flour/butter mixture.

Beat the egg into the half & half, and pour that over the flour/berry mixture, and begin folding the flour/berries into the liquid using a rubber spatula. As things start to combine, add the reserved berry syrup. Continue folding until the mixture comes together into a dough, adding a bit more flour or dairy as needed until you get a firm, not wet, dough.

Use a 1/3 cup measure to scoop the dough onto a parchment covered baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between dollops of dough. Pat the scones down into 5-6” disks about 3/4” thick; you should get six nice large, thick scones. 

 Brush the tops with a bit of milk and add a sprinkle of sugar to get nice crisp tops. Bake 20-30 minutes until GB&D.

Potato Leek Soup

We've had a “cold snap” for the past couple days, and Sally wanted this soup for our Sunday dinner, served with a crispy baguette. It went well for lunch on Monday too!

3 Tbsp Butter

2 Leeks, white and light green parts only, roughly chopped

1-2 sticks Celery, sliced thin

3 cloves Garlic, peeled and smashed

2 lbs Potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

4 cups (1 box) low sodium Chicken Broth

2 Bay leaves

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp White Pepper

1 cup Half & Half

Precook the potatoes until nearly soft enough to mash. Drain and reserve.

Melt butter in a large soup pot. Add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until soft and wilted, about 10 minutes. Do not allow to burn/brown or the garlic will be harsh.

Add the potatoes, stock, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Fish out the bay leaves. Purée the soup with a food processor or immersion blender until smooth – or as smooth as you like it, return to the pot.

Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. If soup is too thin, simmer until thickened. If too thick, add water or stock to thin it out. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired.

Duck, Duck, Egg

All these years and I've never had a duck egg! One of Sally's co-workers has Peking ducks which have started laying, and we were gifted with four beautiful eggs. 

The shells and inner membrane were definitely thicker and tougher, and the yolk a bit darker (not dark enough to show difference in a photo though). The eggs were slightly larger than our usual Large chicken eggs, too.

Saturday morning I made our one-egg mushroom omelet-wiches with duck eggs rather than the usual chicken eggs.

Taste-wise the resulting omelets were “richer”. I originally said “more eggy” but Sally didn't like that phrase. If you get the opportunity, get your hands on some duck eggs – you'll be glad you did!