Leftovers and Experimentation

I hate leftovers with a passion. I really dislike having to buy something for a recipe and then having tons left. I think part of this is need to use up leftovers is a deep-seated desire to experiment. (My dad will be pleased to see I have used the term “experiment”, as he always did think I should become a scientist!)

Recently I was left with rosemary and buttermilk from a couple of the recipes previously on the blog, and that of course means I have to use them. I stumbled across this recipe at tastespotting.com and adapted it to the quantities I had, and some very rough conversions of cups to grams, based on what it ‘felt’ like. Anyway, Camilla did a great job in creating these, so thanks to her for my Sunday morning inspiration.

Cheddar and Rosemary Scones (makes 6)

180g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
Large pinch salt
110 g butter
70g Cheddar (grated)
3 sticks fresh rosemary
150ml buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 180C

Prepare your rosemary first – I stripped the leaves and then placed them in my stick blender pot with a small handful of the cheese until the rosemary was in small pieces. I did try chopping the rosemary in there on its own, but it just span around without getting any smaller, hence adding the cheese.

Place the flour, salt, baking powder and bicarb in a large bowl and rub in the butter until it looks like breadcrumbs. Then tip in the grated cheese, cheese and rosemary and the buttermilk and fold together.

The mix is slightly sticky, so drop the mix onto a baking sheet in six blobs (with a bit of room for spreading) and bake them for around 15 minutes until they are golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Hubby and I ate one whilst it was still scorching fresh out of the oven and it was divine. We packed up some of the others for a picnic and ate them about 3 hours later and they were just as good. I ate mine plain and as they were, but Mr B, who has to have butter on everything, did just that.

These were super quick to whip up and had a wonderful taste and texture. You could sprinkle them with sea salt before they go in the oven (I forgot!) to give them an extra salty taste. You could also make miniature ones topped with soft cheese as a canapé. Mmmm.