Saturday, September 19, 2009

Coffee and scones for a greyish day

Our first Saturday in the new house: grey, but I can smell a blueberry pastry of some kind wafting over from the neighbor's. I want coffee and scones. 

Someday I will unpack my other cookbooks, but for now I'm still living by Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. His basic creme scone recipe was fairly simple and quick, but the "little bit sticky" texture of the dough was more a "unmanagable oozing blob of dough/batter" and I added way more extra flour than the recipe intended. I also left out the currants (who keeps currants around?) and added about half a tablespoon of cinnamon.

Despite the messy sticky-dough issues, 9 minutes after putting them in the oven the scones emerged warm, soft, just a bit sugary and perfect with coffee. 


I'm taking a break from 'real' coffee, and so picked up decaf from my favorite Seattle roaster. Tony's Coffee has been around since 1971, and according to their website, they've created "the equivalent of more than 10,000,000 pounds of coffee (enough to blanket Mt. Rainier like a hot fudge sundae)." The Sumatra Gayoland organic fair trade is my favorite, and they make a decaf version. 

I also make my coffee with a french press, which yeilds the perfect small amount of excellent coffee. 


I've read various methods for french press brewing, but my standard comes from Martha Stewart (who else?) and requires first adding just enough cold water just to cover the grounds. Supposedly this keeps the beans from being shocked at the nearly-boiling water, which you add next. Let the coffee steep as long as you like (maybe two minutes, I don't really time it), then press the strainer to the bottom and pour. Serve with cinnamon scones and stare happily out the kitchen window. :)

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