(No Words) Pumpkin Scones
I spent the afternoon of Friday, November 13th nattering on about Pumpkin Scones. By 3:30 I’d polished a snappy lead-in.The recipe was set to go. There were lots of pretty photos. For once, I was ahead of schedule.
Hoping to resolve my lingering confusion over linking, I opened a new window and typed “David Lebovitz”.
And then the bottom dropped out.
There’s a new expression bandied about these days, used when a child’s body washes up on a beach, at the photographs of people walking away from their bombed homeland, at the sight of a woman’s sheeted body lying outside a Parisian cafe. Only her shoes were visible, a pair of chic pumps. Paris is chilly in early November. I thought about that nameless woman dressing for an evening out, opening her closet doors and surveying her many pairs of elegant shoes, choosing on those pretty heeled pumps. Did the decision to be sexy rather than warm take more than a moment’s thought? Or like women the world over, did she need less than a half-second?
The new expression is “no words.” Our adjectives for disaster have crumbled from overuse, their expressive powers lost.
“No words” seems about right.
As promised last Thursday, a scone recipe for leftover Butternut squash gratin. Should you find eating at this moment callous, remember that gratins are French, and that French cuisine is one of civilization’s grand achievements.
Pumpkin Scones
adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Kitchen
yield: 12-16 scones
3/4 cup leftover butternut squash gratin, or cooked winter squash of your choice. Canned pumpkin also works fine.
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese: real cheese, please, not the product in cardboard canisters. Some markets sell quality pre-ground parmesan; if yours doesn’t, grind the cheese yourself with a microplane or food processor.
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 scallion, minced (optional)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus a little more to dust over work surface
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
If you are using leftover butternut squash gratin, mash it with a fork or potato masher.
In a large bowl, mix the squash, cheese, egg, salt, olive oil, and scallion, if using, until blended.
In a second bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda (I do this in a large measuring cup.). Fold the flour mixture into the squash mixture and work until it becomes a dough. I find this easiest to do with my hands, but a wooden spoon is also fine. Be patient: the dough will come together.
Lightly flour a work surface. Pat the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick.
Using a 2-inch cookie cutter or glass, cut 12-14 rounds. You may need to reshape the trimmings. That’s fine. This is a malleable dough.
Place the rounds on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Best eaten the day they’re made or cooled and frozen, in which case they’ll reheat well.
Although this recipe is an excellent way to use up leftover Butternut Squash Gratin, “Butternut Squash Scones,” sounded so unappetizing that I stayed with Nigella Lawson’s recipe title.
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