Tuesday 4 October 2011

Back to Britain

It seems like I have been away for the whole summer, although according to most people I speak to I really didn't miss the summer at all, and luckily enough for me we seem to be having it now!
One of the things I really do miss when I am travelling is not getting the opportunity to cook, especially if I visit good markets full of great ingredients.  I do get inspired, but often the inspiration wears off by the time I have returned to a (normally) cold, wet England.
Before leaving Turkey this time a friend gave me a big bag of fresh walnuts from some of his many trees, so these wonderful nuts were brought home to be used in my first batch of baking.

Walnut and Celery Scones

Makes 6-8

225g self-raising flour
40g butter
1 stick celery, diced
15g walnuts, finely chopped
10g Stilton, crumbled, plus more to serve
150ml milk

Pre-heat the oven to 220C/Gas mark 7.
Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Stir in the celery, walnuts and crumbled stilton, then pour in the milk and mix gently with a palette knife until the mixture comes together.
Turn out onto a floured work surface and gently roll out (or you can just pat it down with your fingers), to a thickness of about 2cm.
Cut into scones with a pastry cutter and place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until they are light golden.
Serve warm, cut open and topped with a slice of Stilton.

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