Sunday Morning Scones

When TT and I sleep in Scarsdale, we almost always cook breakfast for the fam the next morning. It's like an unwritten agreement. "Thank you for providing us with free jars of Rao's and unsalted mixed nuts. Here is your breakfast to pay you back."

Usually we make a big batch of scrambled eggs, cook up some sausage or bacon, and make some fancy pancakes (fancy ie blueberry/banana/strawberry/chocolate). My parents always seem to have tins of pancake mix lining the pantry so it's simple but comes out looking pretttttty impressive.

One time we even put bacon IN the pancakes. More on that later.

This past Sunday, I woke up ready to tackle the usual breakfast menu. TT was still snuggling with the cats upstairs so I headed to the kitchen when I realized how much I love scones.

I LOVE scones. I love every type of scone. I've never had a scone I didn't love. Give me a sweet, airy one with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. Or maybe an eggs and chive option when I'm not leaning sweet (when does that ever happen, though?). Honestly, I just love them all. And how can they not be healthy?? They taste like 80% air and 100% delicious.

So back to the story - I was coming down the stairs thinking about how much I love scones when I figured hey, maybe I could sub in scones for pancakes and chalk breakfast up to an immediate win! I opened Pinterest and started browsing recipes and came to this one for Glazed Lemon Blueberry Scones from The Love Nerds. I tweaked it a bit but the foundations of the recipe were perfect!

Bake for 17 minutes? DEF IN! These would be done before my parents rolled out of bed.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
7 tbsp butter
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk (+4 tablespoons)
juice of 2 lemons or 1/4 cup lemon juice (or a mix of both!)
generous handful of blueberries
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Everything was already in my kitchen. It was like the scone gods were looking down on me, cheering on my morning, urging me to attempt my first #sconehustle.

I secured my paddle attachment to my KitchenAid mixer as instructed and mixed up the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. I cut up the butter into small, cold, pieces, sprinkled it on top of the flour mixture, and slowly mixed at medium speed until the butter had broken down a bit and was mostly incorporated into the flour.

** I added a bit more butter than the original recipe calls for to make them more flaky!

Once incorporated, I took the mixing bowl out of the KitchenAid and stirred in the wet ingredients (milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest) with a wooden spoon. I finished by stirring the blueberries into the mixture slowly.

I ended up adding about 4 tablespoons more milk to the recipe than originally outlined. The dough was too dry and wouldn't stick together otherwise. While it is definitely a "dry dough," it needs to be moist enough to hold its form so you can cut it into triangles to bake.

I turned the dough out onto a floured cutting board, smooshed it down a bit into a rectangle, and cut it into triangles. I arranged these about 2 inches apart on parchment paper (they definitely expand so give them room!) and brushed them each with some melted butter and sugar.

Popped them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 17 minutes and VOILA - scone heaven! I turned the oven light on but couldn't resist taking a peek to see how they were browning.

While they bake, I mixed together the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to form the glaze which I then drizzled all over the scones once they were out of the oven.

My guests (parents and boyfriend) who have to support me no matter what I do could barely hold back their WOWs and OMGs. The scones were light and not too sweet. The lemon drizzle was divine and between the four of us we finished the entire batch in less than one sitting.

I truly couldn't believe how easy they were to make. Thank you, Maggie (aka Love Nerd) for introducing this super simple, amazing recipe. I can't wait to keep making them and tweaking the recipe to get them to be even fluffier, and filled with even more amazing things!

MY LOVE OF SCONES CONTINUES!!!

Lazy Morning Shakshuka

Brunch is a big deal in NYC.

But unfortunately, continuous brunch can burn a pretty big hole in your pocket.

A gal needs a steady brunch recipe to wow her guests with on a sunny Sunday morning and I have the perfect one!

I first tried shakshuka on a trip to Israel a few years back. It's the simplest dish - made up of eggs poached in a thick, creamy tomato sauce and served with some type of bread to dip on the side. You use the bread to stab through the eggs, letting the poached yolks drip down into the tomato sauce. Then you sop it all up together and dig in!

Here's what you'll need.

olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 of 1 large onion, sliced
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper
feta cheese
cilantro
eggs! (enough for however many people you're serving)
and a big ol' fat baguette

I forgot to snap some pics before everything got going so give your onion a rough dice, slice up your bell peppers and throw them all in a pan with some olive oil until they start to go soft. This usually takes about 15-20min. Don't get greedy! You want the onion and pepper to be soft and mix into the rest of the tomato sauce.

Next, give your garlic a smash and toss it in until it gets a little golden and you really start to smell it!

That's one of my favorite smells, you know. The first few moments where the garlic starts to sizzle and releases all of its delicious aromas. I think I like it because it reminds me so much of my mom cooking up her masterful dinners each night at home!

This is when you'll want to add in your spices as well. It's really up to you to determine how spicy you want it so feel free to mix up the combinations. I just threw in a good pinch of cumin and paprika for the smokiness, and a little cayenne pepper. I'd imagine some red chili flakes would bring the heat up a bit as well!

Once everything's nice and brown, pour in your canned tomatoes. These can be diced, chopped, or whole, really. If you go with whole, just mush them up a little either with your hands before they go in the pan or once they're in there with a fork.

A good grind of pepper and you're ready to crank the heat! You want to bring the sauce up to a boil and then drop the heat to let it simmer until the sauce thickens.

While the tomatoes do their thing, prep your bread!

Slice up a nice sturdy loaf. Remember, you want the bread to be thick and stable enough to scoop up the sauce!

I chose to toast my slices for a few minutes in the oven. Next time, I'll either get a nicer loaf of bread, or forgo this step entirely. They turned out a bit too crispy. I think I'd rather have them soft to really soak up the juices.

Hopefully you've got a good strong sous chef that's been stirring the tomatoes while you focused on the bread.

If you can't seem to find your sous, now's the time to give the pan a good, hearty stir. You should be noticing it thickening by now.

Grab as many eggs as you need to fill your crowd, or as many will fit in the pan. Crack them in right on top of the tomato sauce!

Woops! Try and be a little daintier than me and keep your yolks whole.

Season with some salt and pepper and put a cover over the whole thing. I couldn't find my pan lid, so opted for a nice baking sheet instead!

Don't let them sit for too long! You want the eggs to be jussssssssssssst set enough to let the yolk run down and into the tomatoes.

I sprinkled a little cilantro and parsley on top of the eggs for an added flavor and for the final touch, throw some feta cheese on there.

Set your table and your done!

A dangerously delicious and surprisingly easy brunch worthy of any bottomless menu price tag.

I haven't met anyone yet who hasn't been wholly impressed by shakshuka. It's a deep and comforting flavor, like eating spaghetti....but for breakfast!

and with eggs!

Plus - you don't even need plates! Share it right out of the pan and don't forget to use the bread to scoop up any leftovers.

Your move, NYC.