Tuesday 9 August 2022

Aunty Kath's Savoury Scones - International Scone Week 2022 (#ISW2022)

I love lighthouses!  There, I've said it.  I don't know why, but they really speak to me.  We've holidayed in the lighthouse keepers' cottages at Byron Bay a few times, and visited many more.  It's wonderful when the sun goes down, the gate is locked, and you have the whole ocean to yourselves.  There used to be goats on the cliffs, but they got rid of them due to soil erosion, and damage to the native plants.  But I liked them!  So nimble, so clever, so smelly.

Lighthouses?  But this is about scones, is't it?  Yes - yes, it is.  This recipe is from The Lighthouse Cookbook, and the recipe is by Jan Rhodes.  Profits from this book went to restoration work on Deal and Tasman Islands in Tasmania.  The compiler Shirley Baker and her husband Dallas settle(d) on Deal Island for three months every year to caretake voluntarily.  Such a wonderful project!



even Sully and Mikey want some of these!


A big thanks to Tandy from Lavender and Lime blog, for her annual hosting of #InternationalSconeWeek2022, first started by Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.  Every year it has been a fun search to find an interesting scone recipe.  I think my fave was the one where you actually beat the bejabbers out of the dough with a rolling pin!


Makes about 17:

ingredients:


3 cups (465g./16.4 oz) self-raising flour

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

1 Tbs (20g./0.7 oz) butter

1 large brown onion, finely chopped - (my onion was about 185g./6.5 oz)

2 rashers bacon (around 50g./1.8 oz), finely chopped

3 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped

2 cups (250g./8.8 oz) cheese, grated

1/2-1 tsp cracked black pepper

around 250 mL/8 oz 'ish milk


Method:

Whack your oven on to 220C/430F to heat

Grab a large mixing bowl, tip in the flour and salt, and give it a stir

Rub the butter into the flour between your fingertips (or cut it in with a knife) so it ends up looking like breadcrumbs

Now stir in the onion, bacon, parsley, cheese and black pepper

Add the milk bit by bit, till you form a soft dough - you may need a bit more, or a bit less depending on your flour

Tip the dough out onto a floured surface, knead gently, then pat into a 2.5cm./1 inch round or rectangle

Use a flour-coated scone cutter or rim of a glass tumbler to cut into rounds; keep going till you run out of dough :-)

Place on a lined baking tray, and bake on a high shelf for about 12 minutes or till golden on top (mine took longer as our gas oven is sooooo moody)

Let cool on the trays for a few minutes, then put onto wire racks to cool - or eat 'em warm, as they're delish with melting butter


Notes:

I blitzed the onion in my wee food processor, which of course breaks down the water cells, so I then sat the onion in a sieve for a bit and pushed out the excess liquid with a spoon

Use other herbs (rosemary/thyme?) if you fancy - I added chives too

I used one cup of Parmesan, and one of Vintage Tasty cheese; my notes say I used only 180 grams of cheese (??) but more cheese can only be a good thing :-)


I chopped the bacon, and blitzed the herbs and onion the day before making the scones

ingredients into the bowl the next day

mixing up the dough

ready for the oven at 220C for c. 12 mins.

and out of the oven after 20 mins. (my oven is slooooow)

ready to eat

'gimme, gimme, gimme' ... 'a scone after midnight' (thanks Abba)


Deal Island Lighthouse (Wikimedia Public Domain)


Byron Bay Lighthouse (Wikimedia Commons)
                                              (Author Alistair Cunningham)


I do have photos of us at Byron Bay, but goodness knows where they are!  Thank heavens for Wikimedia Commons.



© Sherry M.

48 comments:

  1. We love scones dearly, sweet or savoury. These look absolutely irresistible, Sherry.

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  2. Oh my! Those biscuits look terrific! And everything on your table looks to die for. What an inspiring, delicious post!

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  3. These sound delicious and you are right, more cheese is always a good thing.

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    1. tee hee anne. i'm not a huge cheese fan in itself but it's great when cooked in foods.

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  4. I love lighthouses too! Michigan borders on four of the five Great Lakes; Superior, Huron, Erie and Michigan. We have lots of beautiful lighthouses! The scones look good too :)

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    1. oh how wonderful to have lots of lighthouses! thanks re scones.

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  5. I like that serving plate! And agree more cheese can only be a good thing. :-) Quite nice recipe -- thanks.

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  6. Sherry I love a good savoury scone and yours look amazing, I'll be making these. And I love lighthouses too. We could be down around Byron after Christmas so I must look up those lighthouse cottages, sound like a wonderful place to stay. I'll be posting my scone recipe tonight hopefully so hope you receive it. I'm going to sign up again to your blog, as I didn't receive this one via email, just my blogger reading list, just have to remember to check that. Hope you are slowly feeling better. Sigh!

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    1. oh blogspot drives me nuts with its cantankerous goings-on! yep slowly getting better thanks. the physio just left. she gave my leg a workout!

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  7. Your aunt's scones look really good and very different from any that I've seen.

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  8. The scones look delish Sherry - I need some! I miss the goats around the BB lighthouse too, they added character.

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    1. yep i miss 'em too. they were such fun to watch even tho i know they wrecked the environment.

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  9. Am roaring with laughter as my second, rather briefly espoused, husband wanted to establish a restaurant in the Byron Lighthouse cottages !! Yes, well !! I had a home at the time at Ocean Shores - guess not an alien name ro you !!! Don't make scones often but do like your recipe !!

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    1. yes i know ocean shores well. there is a cafe in the residences up at the lighthouse, as you may know. i am intrigued by your story of a second husband. i still have my old one :-)

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    2. *huge smile* Sherry - somehow I ended up with a long partnership and a rather short one . . . by now both have managed to cross the river . . . oh, the second one was a hugely charming Hungarian baron . . . yes, well !!!

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    3. sounds like some interesting stories there Eha.

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  10. I have never had a savory scone! It seems like it’s time to remedy that looking at these beauties!

    I love that you stay in lighthouses — I wonder if there is a program like that here in the States? I would love to fall to sleep with the sounds of the waves crashing around me.

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    1. yep david definitely try a savoury scone. I think i have read you can stay in lighthouse cottages over your way:)

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  11. Oh yum! I would have to cook the onions down first for Dave, but these would be ideal for lunch at work :) Thank you so much for taking part!

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    1. really? does he not like raw onions? tho they do get baked in the oven and you don't notice them as such.

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  12. These look fantastic Sherry! How are you feeling? I love lighthouses too (although I hate wind so IDK about living in one). There is something v romantic about them.

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    1. slowly getting better thanks lorraine. they are indeed romantic!

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  13. I do love scones, both savoury and sweet varieties. These look amazing. Your story about the goats being removed from around the lighthouse reminds me of when I was in Bournemouth a few weeks ago and I saw goats eating the shrubs on the side of the cliff and it was erroding away. I bet those goats are taken away soon as well!

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    1. yes i bet you are right neil. i loved the goats but i could see they were doing terrible harm to the environment.

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  14. Lighthouses are wonderful - if you haven't encountered them already I highly recommend Blessed (film with james nesbitt) and the Pulp song My Lighthouse. They both continue to delight me. The only thing that I would worry about would be all the stairs because when I think of living in a light house I think of living at the top (would it sway in the wind too?)

    As for your scones - I love a savoury scone and this recipe has a lovely back story - they look great! (I hope to get into International Scone Week if I can find time!)

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    1. yes I find lighthouse stairs very scary, esp. when you get to the top:) Thank heavens the cottages are on solid ground. thanks re scones.

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  15. Your scones look fantastic. Happy International Scone Week!

    Velva

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  16. Beautiful scones. Wish I could grab one through the computer screen. Lol!

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  17. I would devour those scones!

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  18. What an interesting scone recipe! And there is definitely something about lighthouses!

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  19. I enjoy lighthouses, too, Sherry - they are so majestic! One of my favorites is located off the North Carolina coast, and I'm hoping we can take a family trip down there sometime now that we live in NC. Either way, I digress. These scones are calling my name - I love the ingredients! Bacon + cheese make everything better!!

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    1. hope your move has gone well. yes bacon and cheese are the go!

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  20. Cheese scones are my absolute favourite. Lighthouses have a romantic appeal for sure. But gosh what a hard life it must have been for the keeper's when they lived in them.

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    1. Savoury scones are good! and yes a lighthouse keeper's life must have been very hard!

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