John Kettler Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Got some scones on clearance from Tom Thumb and, as per usual, they were dry. Believe I've had the Trader Joe's variety once (not on clearance) which I also found dry, though not quite as much. This led me to Google the matter of the dryness of scones, which produced this little gem on, of all places. Slate.com It goes into the significant differences between the American scone and the British or Scottish type, their different purposes and even provides a recipes for the US sort. Don't know where Michael Emrys, who has invited me for tea should I wind up again in his neck of the woods, stands on all this. Perhaps he prefers crumpets? http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/11/07/american_vs_british_scones_why_the_sweet_american_kind_are_a_delicious_pastry.html Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Scone is in Scotland.....End of story. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 I once bought a box of scone mix in a grocery store. I made it up using the directions on the box and the result was not at all unpleasant, although I had no way of confirming their authenticity having never traveled to the land of scones to sample the real item. What struck me was how much the final product resembled Southern biscuits, which I grew up on and still love quite a lot. Since baking biscuits by a familiar recipe was easier and cheaper, that is what I continued to do. But I suspect that I would find true scones very satisfactory. Re crumpets: Once again I have had no access to the freshly made authentic item, but once on a whim I bought a package of ready mades in a store and gave them a try. They were truly wretched and I make no claim for them being representative of the real McCoy. The inhabitants of the British Isles sometimes have peculiar tastes, but I seriously doubt that they would have partaken of these monstrosities with any degree of gusto whatsoever. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 (edited) http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/scones_with_jam_and_10035 This is the archetype summer time scone with jam and clotted cream as prescribed by cardiac consultants on the Brit NHS to keep waiting lists down... Jam / conserve ideally should be from Tiptree (by Royal appointment) just 5 miles up the road... https://www.tiptree.com Edited June 9, 2017 by Wicky 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 I have a question about clotted cream that I hope someone can enlighten me on. I was told rather emphatically once that it is not at all the same as sour cream (which I rather suspected) but when I asked what then it was like, my correspondent got all vague and wouldn't give me a proper answer. I suppose my not knowing the secret handshake or something condemned me to perpetual darkness. If however my fears on that account are unfounded, and that some kind soul will lead me into the light. In the pics above, it looks a whole lot like whipped cream. Would that be close? Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Clotted cream is a lot thicker and buttery than whipped cream - the softish texture in the photo could be as a result of using whipped cream for aesthetic purposes or the clotted cream melting under lights. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8744000/8744481.stm How to make mock 'Devonshire' clotted cream > http://thepioneerwoman.com/food-and-friends/how-to-make-mock-devonshire-clotted-cream/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 10 hours ago, Wicky said: Clotted cream is a lot thicker and buttery than whipped cream - the softish texture in the photo could be as a result of using whipped cream for aesthetic purposes or the clotted cream melting under lights. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8744000/8744481.stm How to make mock 'Devonshire' clotted cream > http://thepioneerwoman.com/food-and-friends/how-to-make-mock-devonshire-clotted-cream/ Very interesting! I might try some of those techniques. Thank you, Wicky. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 My not knowing the secret handshake, condemned me perpetual darkness. All now lifted thanks to Wicky ? Looks tasty and will give this a go. Buzz 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 17, 2017 Author Share Posted June 17, 2017 (edited) If that's what a proper scone looks like, then I suspect merely looking at it, never mind devouring it (what a delightful thought), could cause a weight spike. Puts the "D" in "decadent." Where's mine? As for cardiac consultants, they may be the ones getting heart attacks and strokes, since they're so stressed about delicious satisfying food. Recall reading years ago about a nutritional uptake study (metric was vitamins in the blood, I believe) of health nuts vs couch potatoes. The chill couch potatoes actually had more nutrients in their blood than their oh so uptight opposite numbers. Researchers concluded the health nuts were stressing so much about their food that they were neutralizing the food in their guts and not properly assimilating it! Have to say that scone seems infinitely more appealing than that staple of high tea known as the, urp, cucumber sandwich. Got to watch a cooking competition once where the chefs were sent off to make all the goodies for high tea. Looked longingly at the screen and wept silently in gustatory frustration! Michael Emrys, On 6/9/2017 at 5:11 PM, Michael Emrys said: I suppose my not knowing the secret handshake or something condemned me to perpetual darkness. Totally cracked me up. If you're right about the spooky nature of Double Devon clotted cream, then special precautions (to be discussed shortly) may be required. Meanwhile, having broken cipher and skipped the handshake, here's what you need to know about the mysterious substance, complete with how to make your own. Please sign the waiver!https://www.chowhound.com/post/clotted-cream-486730?page=2 You can get imported English Lemon Curd at Trader Joe's, which evidently sells/did sell a heavy baking cream which you can use to make your own Double Devon style (since it's obviously not from Devon) clotted cream. Apparently, regular grocery stores have Double Devon clotted cream. If you can't be bothered with leaving the house, Amazon and any number of other suppliers will be happy to provide. Meanwhile, in case you do get the secret handshake, the rest of us need to be prepared. As one fellow put it in an entirely unrelated discussion "I must run indoors -- a squadron of pigs is about to overfly my house!" Regards, John Kettler Edited June 17, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 While on the subject of British breads, can anyone tell me anything about a bread or roll called a bap? That might well be a slang term for something more formally called something else. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) Michael Emrys, Not a challenging search at all! Bap is a bread roll particularly ideal for simple meat sandwiches. Understand that to mean some sort of meat, the bap, and that's the sandwich. They're also called Scottish Morning Rolls. Brother Charles is in Cardiff and shall have to find out whether he's had a bap yet. The keyframe for the video has me salivating. They look so good I can practically smell them! http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/10/british-bites-sausage-bap.html Regards, John Kettler Edited June 21, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Well, that all fits. I first came across the term in a work of fiction set in Scotland sometime in the early 1950s. One character speaks glowingly of them at breakfast. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 26, 2017 Author Share Posted June 26, 2017 Michael Emrys, Time for an update. I spoke to Charles. He'd never heard of a bap, but was familiar with the pastry as the basis for a sandwich. His favorite is a slow roast rolled pork belly, which he got in Cardiff at something approximating a deli next door to a posh butcher, and which sells by the pound. A slice of that in a bap is just heaven for my brother, who loves pork. As he so eloquently puts it of his sandwich, "So good!" Here's the dish on that makes me drool on sight pork belly.https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/775672/slowroast-rolled-pork-belly- Though he's now I Cambridge, he raved about these. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/welsh-cakes-recipe Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 14 hours ago, John Kettler said: A slice of that in a bap is just heaven for my brother, who loves pork. As he so eloquently puts it of his sandwich, "So good!" Here's the dish on that makes me drool on sight pork belly.https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/775672/slowroast-rolled-pork-belly- You're killing me, John. Things like this make me wish I could travel and try out local cuisines. In all my life I have never eaten—or even laid eyes on—pork belly. I have eaten several different cuts of pork prepared in a variety of ways, and generally liked them all, but that one has eluded me. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 Michael Emrys, 53 minutes ago, Michael Emrys said: In all my life I have never eaten—or even laid eyes on—pork belly. Nor have I, but I recall being absolutely mystified the first time I heard about it via TV reporting of commodity news. Speculating and trading in pork bellies? Did a bit of research, and Trader Joe's did/still has cooked pork belly, but that would not do for that roulade I described, would it? If it's any consolation to you, I've not had a single thing my brother has waxed lyrical over. Also, I've had numerous calls with him at home in which he's preparing pork to grill, cooking pork, about to eat it. On top of that, his wife makes killer crock pot Kahlua pork! I did some research, from which I learned you can buy pork belly at Asian markets, such as the incredible (not exaggerating even slightly; you may lose your mind in food ecstasy--before visiting the food court) H-mart, specialty butchers, Whole Foods ($$$), even Walmart. No need to suffer! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 (edited) Aha! All things come to him who waits...maybe. While cruising down the sidewalk of the main retail district in my town this afternoon, I was passing a cafe with a sign out front advertising some of their specialties. I had gotten about ten yards past when a light went on in my head and I asked myself what was it I had just read. So I turned around and went back, this time giving it my full attention. "Tea, scones, with real clotted cream," it said. Hmmm. I shall be returning some afternoon soon to try it out. Of course, I won't be able to judge if it's the real deal or not, but I will be sure to notice whether I like what I eat or not. Will report on the experience. Michael Edited June 30, 2017 by Michael Emrys 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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