It Must Be Spring, Bunnies, Carrots and Eggs

Easter has come and gone but I'm looking back on what I've cooked in the last few weeks and it's definitely showing signs of Spring.  I went to Williams-Sonoma to get a minor thing and came out with a cute bunny cake mold for Easter.  I've been obsessed with timbales lately and a carrot/parsnip
version has been on my dinner menu frequently with rave reviews.

Ah! Eggs are a seasonal theme and a new way to use them is in the sensational soup Avgeolmono. A Greek version of chicken and rice soup thickened with a puree of rice and eggs then seasoned with dill and coriander.  It's a new fav.

Carrot Timbal

1 lb carrots peeled and grated
1 parsnip peeled and grated
4 tbls butter
1 egg
1 cup chicken broth
2 oz heavy cream
grated nutmeg
salt to taste

Saute grated carrots and parsnip in butter until softened, about 5 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes then transfer to a blender or food processor.  Add remaining ingredients and puree' until smooth.  Spoon puree into timbal molds sprayed with cooking spray. Place in a roasting pan and add hot water half way up mold.  Bake until set about 30-40 minutes. Invert onto a plate and serve hot or cold.

Tea and Sympathy

Sometimes you just need a good cup of tea and a little sympathy when things aren't going your way.  I invited a couple of close friends one grey afternoon for tea, along with cinnamon scones and gougrères. If that and some girl talk doesn't improve things, I don't know what will.  We all felt better and brighter.  The scones and gougères(see Alex Hitz's, My Beverly Hills Kitchen) in bite size are just the right thing to go with a cup of Harney's Darjeeling.

Cinnamon Scones:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place oven rack in bottom third of oven.

1 cup cake flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cold butter cut in cubes
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp cinnamon

Pulse the flour, sugar, salt, soda, cinnamon  and baking powder to mix.  Added the cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles small peas.  Pour into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add:

1/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup cream

Fold the dry mixture into the wet with a spatula a mix to a shaggy mess. Turn dough onto a floured counter and shape to an 8x13 inch rectangle. Fold over in thirds like you are folding a letter.  Dough should be 1 1/4 inches in height. Cut with a 2 1/4 inch floured biscuit cutter.  Brush tops only with cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar in desired.  Bake 18-20 minutes, rotating half way through baking.  Serve immediately.