Cravings: Scones

so, there aren't many things I've craved yet (at 31 weeks).  I drink a lot of milk mostly because of horrible heartburn - something I never did before I was pregnant.  I eat peppermint dark chocolate and am our freezer is stocked with Ciao Bella dark chocolate sorbet and coconut sorbet -- the best with freshly cut up strawberries and coconut flakes.

But the past few weeks I've been wanting a scone, and for some reason in Park Slope they are hard to come by.  I am not a baker - not in the least.  I can throw something together with completely random refrigerator ingredients, but I still get a little anxious baking.  I typically don't really enjoy baked goods - cakes, brownies, cupcakes, muffins, not usually my thing.  But I wanted freshly baked scones

So, I tried a new scone recipe and it is delicious!  I made them gluten free because my husband is gluten intolerant:

• 2 cups Pamela's Pancake Mix
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a food processor pulse the flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Cut up a frozen stick of butter and add to the food processor (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then add in raisins.
4. In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.
5. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
6. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a  knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Mulligatawny Soup

Yesterday Joe and I went to Fairway to pick up some weekly groceries.  We (I) decided that this week we'd have a lot of soups.  Entering my third trimester, I've noticed that I don't want a big meal at night because I'm not too hungry and it gives me horrid heartburn.

We tried a Mulligatawny Soup from the More Best Recipes cookbook and it does not disappoint.  I altered the ingredients a wee bit so as to avoid heartburn afterward (I was semi-successful).  We added leg of lamb to the soup to get some extra nutrients.  But the lentils, lamb, home made chicken stock and veggies make this particularly healthy -- you can add some kombu while it's cooking for extra minerals too!

Ingredients:
spices:
2.5 tsp. garam masala
1.5 tsp. ground cumin
1.5 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground turmeric

soup:
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions, minced
1/2 cup coconut flakes
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp. grated ginger (recommended to use a micro-plane)
1 tsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour (we used gluten free here)
7 cups chicken stock
2 medium carrots (peeled and chopped medium)
2 celery ribs (peeled and chopped medium)
1/2 cup french green lentils (these, unlike the brown lentils), do not fall apart when you cook them
sea salt and blaxk pepper
2 Tablespoons cilantro (minced), more to taste if you'd like
a dollop of Greek Yogurt
1 1/2 lbs. trimmed leg of lamb, cut into 1.5 x 1 inch chunks

1. Melt the butter in a large Dutch Oven (I love the Staub dutch ovens) over medium heat.  Saute the spices until fragrant, about 10 seconds.  Add the onions and coconut and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic, ginger, and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, bout 30 seconds.  Stir in the flour until evenly combined, about 1 minute.  Whisk in the stock.

2. Stir in the carrots and celery, increase the heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer until veggies are tender 20-25 minutes.

3.  Puree the soup (I recommend the VitaMix).  Add the lentils and  lamb and simmer for 30 minutes until lentils and lamb are tender.

Season with sea salt and pepper