Well, actually this was Saturday brunch for the First Reader and I, and it's partly because when I'm writing and it's not going well, I bake. And cook, and clean, and… Anyway. About a week ago, while visiting in Kentucky, I realized that the funny little tufts of green in the folk's yard, sticking up above the dormant lawn grass, were wild onions. I spent rather a lot of my early years in search of wild edible foods, so I was tickled at the discovery of these fragrant chive-like leaves. I didn't have wild onions in NH, or AK, although there were other things. And of course, chives will take over in a garden if you divide them enough. Flash forward a few days, when I took a look at our Ohio lawn, it's been mild and all the snow is gone, and sure enough, there were tufts of bright green wild onions. Combine that with the arrival in the early morning of a new baking pan (Nordic Ware ordered off Amazon, I'm VERY pleased with the heft of these pans) and a hankering for scones, and well, here you are. You can, of course, substitute in chives for the wild onions.
Wild onions: fragrantly oniony with a hint of garlic, but not at all overwhelming.
Colorful ingredients, shredded cheddar, bacon, and the snipped wild onions.
Wild Onion, Cheese, and Bacon Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 tsp hungarian paprika (the sort with flavor!)
1/3 cup butter, chilled
3/4 cup milk
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated (a cheese with robust flavor is good, and maybe some parmesan to mix in)
4 slices bacon, cooked, cooled and chopped into small pieces (or real bacon bits, if you’re in a hurry, don't use the soy ones, those things are nasty)
1 tablespoon wild onions, finely chopped
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 °F
Run out to yard and clip a handful of wild onions, bring in and rinse quickly, set aside.
Grease a baking pan
Make glaze by combining beaten egg with 1 tbsp milk. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper.
Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Or pulse 3-4 times in food processor.
Add the grated cheese, chopped cooked bacon and snip wild onions finely with kitchen shears into the dry ingredients.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the milk, and stir gently with a wooden spoon, until mixture just forms a ball.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface roll or pat dough 1 inch thick , then cut to desired shapes.
Place on the prepared baking pan and brush with glaze.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of grated cheddar cheese on the top of each scone (if desired).
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top and cheese has melted
The finished scones, so rich, flaky, and delicious!