My third venture with  tomato powder was to make Lemon/Tomato/Herb Scones.  Scones are the English version of our American Biscuits.  They are usually more rustic in appearance and hearty with more flavor.  In recent years there has been a wave of popularity over scones and they have been made in many different ways.  The Lemon/Tomato/Herb Scone goes well with soup, salad or as a ‘stand alone’ snack.  The ones that I made were served with Seafood Bisque.  The scones themselves need nothing added to them when eating them, but if you like you can spread on some softened butter or some herb honey.

Scones are fairly simple to make, but the one thing you want to remember is that like Biscuits, you do not want to ‘over mix’ them.  You are going to mix only to get the ingredients moistened enough to form into a circle.  In this and the previous Tomato Odyssey articles, I keep talking about Tomato Powder.  The Tomato Powder I have was purchased ‘on-line’ from King Arthur but today upon checking their website I did not find Tomato Powder.  However, there are many other companies that do sell it on ‘on-line’ and you might even be able to find it in Health Food Stores.  If you do not want to purchase  Tomato Powder, you can substitute a tablespoon of tomato paste for each tablespoon of tomato powder in the recipe.  You may have to decrease the liquid by 1 tsp. for each tablespoon of tomato paste that you use.

If you wish, you can even leave out the tomato powder altogether.  Follow the recipe below and you will have a delightful snack or accompaniment for your next luncheon or supper.

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour

1 ½ cups Cake or Pastry Flour

2 Tbsp. Baking Powder

½ tsp. Baking Soda

¼ tsp. Salt

2 Tbsps. Brown Sugar

2 Tbsps. Tomato Powder

½ cup unsalted Butter, softened

¼ cup Sun-dried Tomatoes, diced

2/3 cup Candied Lemon Peel or 2 Tbsps. Lemon Zest

2 tsps. Fresh Basil, minced

1 cup Sour Milk*

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees;  grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper or silpat.
2. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Cut the Butter up into small pieces and cut or rub into the dry ingredients.

4.  Add the diced Sun-dried Tomatoes, the Lemon Peel or Zest and the minced Basil to the Flour mixture.

5.  Add the Milk and mix gently with a fork until all the ingredients are well-combined.

6.  Divide in half and form each half into a circle, one on each baking sheet.

7.  Cut the circles into eight portions but do not separate.

 

 

8.  Bake for 20 minutes;  remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

9.  Re-cut the scones, separate and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

10. Serve immediately.

 

Yield:  16 Scones

 

*To make Sour Milk, squeeze half a lemon into a 1 cup measure;  add milk to equal one cup;  mix and let stand for 5 – 10 minutes until the milk curdles.  Buttermilk may be used in place of sour milk.