hurray for pantries

I love the farmer’s market. Love wonderful fruits and vegetables. They perish. Sometimes you wanna cook dinner out of the cupboard.

I wanted scones. It was rainy and gloomy. Furthermore, I’d purchased golden raisins at Trader Joe’s and dang I love golden raisins. They are so sweet! Then I thought about ginger, because when do I not?

So I consulted this Skinny Gourmet recipe, and came up with my own recipe.

Mmm, flaky loveliness.

Whole Wheat Raisin Spice Scones

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 packet stevia (since I still feel a somewhat silly resolve about no desserts. Use whatever sweet thing you like! But I recommend only using a little, as I really believe scones shouldn’t be a sweet, just a… carb-y nibble)
1/2 tablespoon flax
1 1/2 tablespoons cold butter
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup golden raisins

Combine dry ingredients (flour through flaxseed) in a large mixing bowl. Chop up butter into little pieces, then crumble it into the flour with your fingers until it looks like wet sand.

Then add oil, buttermilk, and vanilla, and stir just to coat dry ingredients with the wet.  Then fold in raisins.

Put the sticky mix into a floured work surface, and knead just a few times until it holds together (DO NOT OVERWORK!). Then pat it into a circle.

   

Butter chunks, nom!

Cut into that circle from the center out to make triangles (I made 7 scones; coincidentally my lucky number!). Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

So good in lunches! Or with tea. Not totally buttery like a traditional scone, but loverly!

My next pantry classic I got out of what my best friend calls my “Holy Cookbook”. A meatless, mostly vegan cookbook (with the odd exception of seafood, as you will see) with yummy, comfort food recipes.

A classic: linguini with clam sauce. The key to making this mondo delicious is having the time to simmer it for an hour. Essential!

 

Start by sauteeing 1/2 cup of chopped onion and a clove of garlic in 2 T olive oil. You are supposed to add 1 T fresh parsley, but I had none, so I added 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning.

 

Then add your pantry staples! 1 can of tomato paste, 1 can of tomato sauce, and the juice from two cans of clams (you’ll use the clams themselves later- they get added at the last minute. We always use whole clams because we think they are most delicious!)

 

Also 1 tsp. dried basil, 1/2 tsp. sugar, salt and pepper, and water. It called for a cup and a half, but I added that and my sauce was a little thin, so I’d recommend starting with 1.

 

It’s amazing… you cover and cook for an hour and the sauce gets so succulent!

    

This recipe makes a TON- you’re supposed to toss the sauce with a pound of pasta… which for some reason I went ahead and made despite the fact that my mother and I are the only two people in my house… I am ADORABLE.

Actually, my mom said “You are channeling your grandma.” Which I was. Back in the day she would
1. Always have a ton of people wandering in and out of her house who she was always able to feed something delicious and
2. Really liked to eat pasta!

This sauce is so wonderful. It tastes like those Italian restaurants with the red checkered tablecloths that wouldn’t actually pass muster back in Bella Italia but are just a wonderful cultural fusion with American comfort food.

And it tastes so deep, despite being mostly from cans!

I like it with an earthy whole wheat pasta.

With some fresh green things for health: farmer’s market greens, TJ’s Persian cucumbers, vinaigrette. Loverly!