By Michele
Recently while on vacation in Vero Beach Florida, I discovered Sealantro British Café and Market. This charming little café features British fare with a variety of pasties and pies as well as afternoon tea, which includes delicate scones and clotted cream. Chef Michael Clifford created all of the menu items. Curried Chicken Pasty and Cheese & Onion Pasty delighted my taste as did Shepherd’s Pie and Chicken & Leek Pie.
I’ve made my own version of shepherd’s pie, but was not familiar with pasties. A pasty is classically made by placing an uncooked savory filling, typically meat and vegetables, on one half of a pastry circle, folding the pastry in half to wrap the filling in a semicircle, crimping the curved edge and baking until golden. The pasty could also be sweet. For instance, an apple pie mixture would fit the bill.
A fascinating fact about pasties - they are an ancient method of cooking and of carrying cooked food. After tasting one, long live pasties!
Once home, pasties were on my mind! After researching recipes, I created my first pasty and was delightfully transported back to Sealantro. They were not as luscious as Chef Michael’s. After all, he is a pastry chef. So, I had to cheat! Yes, cheated because I used store bought puff pastry sheets.
Easy as pie! I made a curried chicken salad (Ina Garten has a great one on her website - https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/curried-chicken-salad-recipe-2014291), wrapped it in puff pastry and baked. Delicious! The puff pastry worked as a delicate and flaky vehicle for the curried chicken salad.
Now that I’m satisfied that I can recreate pasties, on to making a batch of scones. Years ago, a friend who owned and operated a B&B gave me her scone recipe. As a host, she had to rise early to ready all her breakfast goods for her guests and created an amazing and easy scone recipe. I’ve made it dozens of times. One mixing bowl, no beating, no kneading, just mixing, shaping and baking. These scones are light and fluffy with a slight crunchy exterior. Enjoy with accoutrements, such as clotted cream, jam or butter.
Scones out of the oven, tea brewing, I take leave.
Cheerio!
Scone Recipe Ingredients
2 cups flour
3 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
(whatever add-ins you choose....mini chips, toffee bits, dried fruit, toasted nuts etc).
Preparation
Stir all only until just combined. Pat into a circle about 1 1/2-inches thick. Cut into 6 wedges. Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on top.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.