Wednesday 25 March 2015

"150 Fast & Simple Recipes" *REVIEW* from Parragon Books (March). Plus: Lucy's Modified Olive & Feta Scones *RECIPE*

Today I'm bringing you a scrumptious and super-easy savoury bake inspired by a recipe from '150 Fast & Simple Recipes' by Parragon Books. 


This gorgeous little hardback, full colour cookbook is full to bursting with super-easy recipes centred on speedy cooking - perfect for a busy family, or working couple who don't have much time to create in the kitchen. 

The book is divided into the following chapters:

-Introduction

-Light Bites 

-Meat and Poultry

-Fish and Seafood

-Vegetarian

-Baking and Desserts 

It really does cover every base, and includes yummy recipes such as:

Tuna Noodle Casserole - Creamy Turkey and Broccoli Gnocchi - Chipotle Pork Fajitas - Egg Tortilla with Feta and Sweetcorn - Potato & Chive Pancakes - Spaghetti with Bacon & Crispy Breadcrumbs - Hot Sesame Beef - Baked Mushrooms with Herbed Ricotta - Chocolate Baked Alaska - Apple Fritters - Blueberry & Lemon Friands - Banoffee Meringue Pie

...to name but a few! 

As per usual, I wanted to give the book a test drive and of course, a baking recipe caught my eye...

Olive & Feta Scones

I'm a HUGE fan of Greek food and flavours, especially during Spring and Summer - my favourite family meal to cook is a slow cooked Lamb Kleftiko (Lamb shoulder, new potatoes, olives, feta, lemons, rosemary, tomatoes, oregano, shallots - all cooked in a big parchment paper bag for 4-6 hours!). I usually serve it with a huge Greek Salad and homemade pitta breads - however, when I saw the recipe for these simple scones I instantly imagined baking them alongside my Kleftiko - yum! 

The recipe for the scone dough is bursting with fresh pitted olives and loads of crumbled feta cheese - they come together so quickly and bake in just 15 minutes! Perfect for an impressive but speedy bake! 

We ate ours warm from the oven for a weekend lunch - we smothered them in salty butter and they were simply divine!! We reheated the leftover scones on Sunday in the oven for 5 minutes, and enjoyed them the same way for our Sunday lunch - they tasted even better after a day so the flavours could develop even further. 

These will definitely become a regular bake in The Bishop household, even Bert devoured one! 

I have adapted the recipe from the book to accommodate my own tastes (I find it virtually impossible to stick exactly to a recipe: I have taken out 40g of sun-dried tomatoes  and replaced with extra olives) and I've altered the method from the one in the book to make it a speedier rolling out/cutting process...alternatively you can roll out and use a traditional round scone cutter, if you prefer. 

*Lucy's Modified Recipe* for Olive & Feta Scones

The dough makes 8 generous scones, and each one is 298 calories. 

Ingredients:

400g self raising flour
¼ teaspoon salt
85g butter, cold, cubed (plus extra for greasing)
80g pitted green & black olives, chopped
85g feta cheese, crumbled
200ml milk (plus extra for glazing)
pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Pre heat oven to 220℃. Grease a baking sheet. 

2. Sift flour and salt/pepper into a bowl and rub in the butter evenly with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs.


3. Stir in the olives and feta, then stir in the milk to make a smooth, soft dough. 


4. Roll out on a floured surface into a large circle until it is about 3cm thick. 

5. Divide the large circle into quarters, then into eights like you would a pizza (see below).


6. Place each triangle scone onto the pre-greased baking tray and brush the tops (not the sides) lightly with milk. 


7. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and firm. 


8. Leave to cool for a few minutes and then smother them in butter & stuff them in your gob! Ha! 

These scones were completely delicious - they melted in your mouth and were soft, buttery and so satisfying. This sort of simple and speedy bake really is a perfect place to start if you're a newbie in the kitchen and a little afraid of getting your bake on. 

Olive and Feta Scones, fresh from the oven! 

A marvellous weekend lunch, or dinner-time addition - these scones would also make any picnic perfect: a truly versatile make which will have your tastebuds doing a little dance!

Don't miss out trying these super simple and ultra fast savoury scones! 

What have you been baking this week? 

Mrs B

xxx

Disclaimer: I received this product from the publisher for free. However, they have not paid me for this review, and they do not exercise any editorial control over my review or anything else on this site.