Figs (or the substitute of), lime and rosemary. Those 3 ingredients are not to be used in the main dish. While this shouts madness, it turns out that this was not an impossible feat after all!
Gen couldn’t source out for figs, but that don’t matter for she has, very courageously substituted that with an ingredient she has not cooked with before! She’s made magic using grapefruit instead and it makes me wonder what magical dish she’d come up with if she had managed to get her hands on some figs! Look at these:
Photo credit: Gen @Eat, Play, ClovePhoto credit: Gen @Eat, Play, Clove
I am completely blown away by her enthusiasm and the fact that this month’s challenge thrilled her. In her words,
I’ve been jonesing to get my bake on for a while, but I needed a good excuse. So, now that I have afore-mentioned excuse, why not make pastry? Cool, good idea. Why stop there, you ask? Indeed, I agree. Homemade custard. It’s too easy. I mean, I couldn’t believe how easy it was, and how absolutely delicious it tasted. See, I’m obsessed with custard. I blame my gran. She used to give me one (two) bowls every Sunday after lunch”
She’s right about curd – too easy; as in I share her sentiments at how easy it was to make curd. That gave me a good chuckle when I read what she made because we both must have been feeling curdy this month for us to come up with lime curd. It’s the first time we have made something similar in the form of a curd but with completely different ingredients!
What a riot! Despite the distance, maybe there’s some telepathy in the air with me making Figs, Rosemary and Lime-Drizzled Scones with Lime Curd since we are now in the same time zone as I have recently discovered, thanks to Gen.
Okay, that was lame.
Back to food, her curd with grapefruit and lime zest along with rosemary must have tasted delish. Plus she has put in such massive effort in making the pastries AND THEN making the vanilla custard. Insanity! And this is why I love her.
With figs as my single motivation and inspiration, I thought hey! that would go pretty well with rosemary, wouldn’t it? Then I thought: how about we add another must-use ingredient…something citrusy like lime instead of lemon to it?
That was how this month’s monthly mystery munchies was born. The challenge: Use 3 ingredients comprising of figs (or a substitute of), rosemary and lime. Sounds good?
Ingredients for mere mortals: Figs, Rosemary, Lime
Those ingredients would work great with meat but I thought that would be too easy. Plus that would mean another main meal dish which we have been doing in the last few months. So, here comes the twist – they are not to be used with meat or main dishes for meals.
Aha!
Gen enthusiastically accepted it when I put my thoughts out to her. Whaaaa…aat! Really?
Then I realised I probably have gone a little wacko there for I haven’t got a clue as to what I could do with them as ingredients that are not used for main meals. Or meat! It doesn’t even make sense.
I think I have shot myself in the foot and I struggled with the challenge. For a while, apart from snacking on figs which I love to do, I haven’t the slightest idea what I could create. I mean, figs are one of the healthiest fruits around. They have a wealth of nutritional benefits and they come packed with minerals. Also, a very useful food if you are a weight-watcher. (Source: BBC Good Food). Plus, that crunchiness as you bite them..oooh la la! What’s not to like?
The thought of figs continues to enthuse me. I settled on dried as I couldn’t get my hands on the fresh ones and ate some along the way as I cut them into pieces to make Figs, Rosemary and Lime-Drizzled Scones with Lime Curd.
Scones, people! Scones! And curd!
Scones fresh from the ovenWhen curd curdles…look at that!
What a mad challenge to use the 3 ingredients with no meat or as a main meal! It took me a while to get to scones and curd, mind you, but! Bingo. I had something.
These scones came out light, crumbly and not at all too dry. I made sure that the figs and rosemary were lightly drizzled with some lime before mixing them into the batter. I guess I didn’t want to just add into the batter for fear of it being too over-powering.
That was another craziness of my first scones and curd blinded by the superficial confidence I must say! Have you tried eating scones with curd? Pretty damn good!
Figs, Rosemary & Drizzled Lime Scones with Lime Curd
2016-06-21 22:13:24
Serves 8
Light, crumbly and not-at-all dry scones peppered with the crunchiness of figs and a tinge of rosemary and lime. Smear with lime curd for goodness!
1 stick cold, unsalted butter (cut into small cubes and to be used cold, cold, cold)
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
8-10 dried figs, cut small or chopped
A quarter lime - juiced and zested
1 egg
200g sour cream (or 1 small pack)
200g whipping cream
Lime Curd with Rosemary
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
100g granulated sugar
2-3 limes - squeeze juice to make at least half to 3/4 of a cup and zested
3-4 tbsp unsalted butter
Some fresh rosemary (optional)
Scones
Pre heat oven to 180 degree celcius
Squeeze lime juice and mix in the zest with the rosemary. Set aside.
In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients (except figs, rosemary and lime) well
Add in the cold, cubed butter to the dry ingredients along with the figs and rosemary. Mix well by only rubbing the butter in. The texture should be coarse
In a separate bowl, whisk egg, sour cream and whipped cream together till smooth
Then with a fork, stir the cream mixture into the bowl of coarse mixture until you get a large clump of dough
Do not over mix, but a little sticky is a good thing
Lightly flour a large surface on a wax paper on a baking tray.
Pat the dough flat in a circular shape. Using a knife to cut them into triangles and keep them slightly apart
Put them into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown
Serve warm
Lime Curd
In saucepan, whisk eggs, sugar, salt, lime juice and zest together until smooth
Turn on the fire and cook on low heat. Stir constantly
About 2 minutes in, add in rosemary (optional) and stir till the mixture thicken
Add in the butter and continue to stir on low heat
Turn off the heat after 10-15 minutes until the curd is thick enough
Remove from heat then pour into jars to cool off
Keep the curd in the fridge thereafter and enjoy with scones/bread and/or crackers
Notes
It is recommended that very cold butter is used for scones as it helps with the texture and never to over mix the dough.
For the curd, I cannot believe how easy it is to make!
Grubbs n Critters https://grubbsncritters.com/
Every step of the way has been enjoyable! Nothing and I mean NOTHING is more satisfying than being able to fill our home with the aroma of freshly baked scones at 11 p.m…all ready for breakfast the next day and then seeing my family devouring every single crumb of the scones on their plates going “So yummy, Mama!”. It’s a great feeling!
This has been immensely pleasurable and I bet you that Gen would double the pleasure with her creation for this month. Let’s pop over to check what’s cooking at Gen’s #15 Monthly Mystery Munchies using Figs, Rosemary and Lime that’s made with this crazy, little twist.
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Monthly Mystery Munchies features every first Friday of the month in collaboration with Gen, Author of Eat, Play, Clove. and I’m waiting in anticipation on what Gen would unleash for next month’s challenge. Stay tuned!
If there’s one thing that’s really amazing about the English language is the rich diversity of their insults. Pure, cold and colourful.
Now, while this blog is apolitical (and generally so am I), I do indulge in the occasional guffaws of politicians and/or politics because they are sometimes just too funny (or stupid) as in the case of the recent Brexit and the tweet associated with it by a certain someone whom I’m not very fond of.
The hurls of insults in response to that just one tweet were unbelievably grand. It’s the English language at its best. Have a look at these:
Source: Buzzfeed
My favourite?The harmless sounding “spoon”!
Best delivered with a British or Scottish accent for maximum impact methinks (and not that I could do an accent for the life of me!) So there! I’ll leave you with some psychedelic use of English words to add to your vocabulary for the week in case you find a need for them.
Oh! wait. If you have about 4 minutes to spare before you go, below is a brilliant sketch from Patrick Stewart I just have to share. I almost peed in my pants watching this:
OK. I’m sorry, I’m not from the UK (but have loads of friends who are). No more of such things, I promise. Have a superb week peops!
