Recipe: Feta & olive scones

[Grimmie]

I got a sweet-ass book a little while ago called <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baking-Frame-By ... 030">Frame by frame baking</a>. It's brilliant.
I like to bake things (caeks, pies, etc) and the book is clear and easy to understand with full-bleed images on every page.

Feta & olive scones
Makes 8 scones

<b>Ingredients & preparation</b>
400g self raising flour
200ml milk
85g butter
85g feta cheese (drained weight)
40g pitted black olives
40g sun dried tomatoes in oil
Salt and black pepper

Get your shit sorted out. I like to have stuff ready beforehand so that I'm just reaching for the next ingredient when I need it. There's a lot of flour in this recipe, so make sure you have a full bag to play with before you start.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576445636/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/457 ... 8e55_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a>

* Weigh the ingredients
* Drain the feta cheese if it comes in a lot of liquid. Mine came in rectangles that I was able to slice into lines and then break into rough 1cm cubes.
* Drain the sun dried tomatoes on a piece of kitchen roll to remove the excess oil and then cut them into strips with scissors.
* Chop the olives up into tasty olive chops.

<b>Method</b>
Preheat oven at 220c / 425f / Gas Mark 7

The book says you should grease a baking sheet, but we just use Baking paper, which does the same job by stopping your scones from refusing to leave the thing you're cooking them on. Do whatever you find easiest.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576445940/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/457 ... 77ff_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a>

Chuck 1/4 tsp of salt and a generous few grinds of black pepper into your flour, and then sieve it into a bowl. Push any big pepper bits through the sieve until they break up.

Rub the butter into the flour mix with your fingers until it's all rubbed in and looking fine and tasty. DO NOT EAT YET. You may be swayed by the flour's sudden golden allure, but you must resist the temptation to push your head into the bowl and inhale.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4575811613/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/457 ... cf05_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576446610/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/457 ... 338e_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576446896/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/457 ... 179c_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a>

Throw the olives, feta and tomatoes into the flour mix, and add the milk. It's best to do this in stages as you don't want a big sludgy dough. I found I needed just a little extra to get the flour sitting at the bottom of the bowl to join in with the bread party. It's easy enough to stir it with a fork or something, as this shit is STICKY. The finished dough should be soft and smooth.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576447250/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/457 ... d89b_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576447596/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/457 ... 813f_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4575813267/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/457 ... f310_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a>

Flour your surface and work the dough out onto it. The book says you should roll it out, but you can probably just mash it down with your hands and shape it into an oblong at this point. It's quicker and you have more control over the shape this way. I made mine just over an inch thick.

Cut them into eight.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576448292/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3407/457 ... a927_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4575814111/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/457 ... 42ed_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4575814425/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/457 ... 6268_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a>

MAREVEL AT YOUR HANDIWORK.

I brushed the flour from the bottom of these before I transferred them to the baking sheet, 'cause otherwise they would turn into hard-asses, literally. Glaze with milk.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576449558/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/457 ... 9c7d_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4575815165/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3342/457 ... 892a_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576450276/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3331/457 ... c9af_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a>

Stick into your preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.
If you're using a fan oven you might want to check on them sooner, or turn the temperature down by 10c or so. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack so that they don't go soggy and nasty.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimmie/4576450998/" title="Feta & olive scones by Grimmie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/457 ... f66488.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Feta & olive scones"></a>

OM NOM NOM at your leisure. I ate mine warm from the oven with a bit of butter, but you can probably fill it with cold meats or other savoury fillings.

[buzzmong]

I'm conflicted. One part of me wants to be indignant at the massacre of a traditional recipe for scones. The other part realises that olives and feta is lovely and the combo in a scone sounds fecking lovely.

Good work Glorious Leader.

[Legoshoes]

Traditional recipes are boring!

I am SO making these.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Get your shit sorted out. I like to have stuff ready beforehand so that I'm just reaching for the next ingredient when I need it.

Pointless information: The cheffy term for this is Mise en place, which is french for having your shit together

edit: oh, and added to wiki

[Legoshoes]

I can vouch for their yomminess.

OM NOM NOM NOM


tip top. cheers for posting this recipe.