Another recipe?

Wowsers! Another recipe? I'll bet you thought this was supposed to be a blog about herb gardening. And what's with all the little inspirational quotations, and the poems! Well, folks, that's herbs for ya! The little "useful plants" can be just about anything you want them to be. And for a Michigan gardener, in the winter, we read and cook, and walk down our own figurative garden paths. Spring is returning, though...

First a little seasonal quote, what I call "inspiration." Then on, to the recipe.

"In a garden _ growth has its season. There are
spring and summer, but there are also fall and
winter. And then spring and summer again.
As long as the roots are not severed, all is well
and all will be well."
by Jerry Kosinski, from 'Being There'

Last evening my herb class focus was on growing herbal tea gardens and making herbal tisanes (including my take on medicinal herbs and safety issues. We also talked about low impact spring cleaning. Lots of handouts.)
Along the tea theme, I brought in my Rosemary Scones for sampling.

This short scone recipe is quite old, I was making these before the trendy food people popularized the scones that look and taste like big oatmeal cookies. Not that I have a problem with trendy foodies. I can't! because Comcast doesn't provide Food tv on its basic plan, just a lot of very bad programming. But back to the scones.
These are more along the lines of a biscuit, and like biscuits, their success depends on your technique.
Practice makes perfect. Last night they were pretty good.
Oh, shoot! I forgot the photo. I'll take that right now. Mind these are day-old.

Back. Call me shakey...

I just ate one, still very good. Nice fresh rosemary flavor. My Scottish grandparents (via Nova Scotia, CA) would be proud.

Short Rosemary Scones

Yield: 16 scones.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine in large bowl:

2 cups flour
1 T sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. ground black pepper
1 T. chopped fresh rosemary

Cut in:

1/4 cup butter (chilled)

Combine in small bowl:

1 egg yolk (reserve white for glaze)
8-oz. container 'real' sour cream (NOTE: I've also used 'real' 1/2 yogurt (not 'lite') in place of the sour cream. You could experiment with heavy cream or buttermilk.)

1/3- 1/2 cup reconstituted dried apricots, snipped into small bits

Method:
Make a well in dry ingredients. Add egg-sour cream mixture all at once and stir until combined . (Mixture will seem dry. But stir until all ingredients are incorporated.) While stirring, add fruit.
Turn dough onto floured surface and quickly knead 8-10 times, until smooth.. Divide into four pieces. Form each piece into a ball, and flatten slightly.
Cut each piece into 4 wedges. Arrange on baking sheet 1" apart. Brush with egg white, sprinkle with sugar and finely chopped rosemary.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until light brown. cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, serve warm.

NOTE: I like to add reconstituted dried cherries, dried cranberries, or snipped dried apricots. The batch I made yesterday had apricots.

Rosemary tips and Betsy's Rosemary Scones

Small fresh rosemary plants have been showing up in the produce department at the grocery store - 2 for $3! I've got several under my gro-lights right now, to plant out this summer. Cheaper than the herb farms or nurseries.

The three potted rosemaries I overwintered in the window up and died in the past two months. Probably the typical low light, needed-repotting pathology common in Michigan in the winter. However, One or two I had in large combination pots in our unheated, barely lit garage are looking like they might recover.

Here is the basic short Rosemary Scone Recipe.
(I like to add dried cherries, dried cranberries, or snipped dried apricots.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine in large bowl:

2 cups flour
1 T sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. ground black pepper
1 T. chopped fresh rosemary

Cut in:

1/4 cup butter (chilled)

Combine in small bowl:

1 egg yolk
8-oz. container real sour cream (I've used 1/2 real yogurt*)

Make a well in dry ingredients. Add egg mixture all at once and stir until combined (will seem dry).
Turn dough onto floured surface and quickly knead 10-12 times. Pat to a 7" circle.
Cut into 12 wedges. Arrange on baking sheet 1" apart. Brush with egg white, sprinkle with sugar and finely chopped rosemary.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until light brown. cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, serve warm.

Makes 12.

* Using so-called low-fat dairy products in shortbreads will give uneven results! Look at the ingredients list on the label to see the gums and fillers. They don't serve the same purpose in baking as the natural product, so I recommend buying full fat ingredients, or don't bother making your own scones.