Sunday, May 9, 2010

Avocado-Bacon Scones with Smokey Tomato Butter


The challenge: to create an original recipe showcasing avocados from Mexico in a new and different way. No tacos, no cilantro, no salsa....emphasis on new and different. Was I up for it? You betcha! Did I know what I was doing. No way! Did it work anyway? Yup!

It's funny how I go about creating recipes sometimes. I think up a name first. Scones were on my mind lately--I had just had a really tasty, albeit caloric little sucker, from, of all places, Target. They carry little mini-scones in some pretty tasty variations. So, as I was digesting my tasty little morsel (honey-almond, I believe), I was thinking about how I could make an avocado into a scone. It would have to be savory and have a really cool sounding spread to go on top. Hmmm....avocados, tomatoes, bacon, onions, chives....I could make this work. Plus---avocados (from Mexico!) were on sale for a dollar apiece! The fates were with me.....

Truth be told, I've never in my life made a scone. This meant that a little research was in order. Oh, I googled "avocado scone" and nothing much came up (which was kind of good, seeing that this had to be original). I figured that avocados kind of had the consistency of a banana, so I started there. When it was all said and done, this is what I came up with:

Avocado-Bacon Scones with Smokey Tomato Butter

Printable Recipe

Smokey Tomato Butter

1 plum tomato
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon chopped chives
½ teaspoon liquid smoke
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Avocado-Bacon Scones

4 thick slices bacon
1 ripe avocado
½ cup buttermilk, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped chives
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Coarse salt for sprinkling



Cut an X into the bottom of the tomato. Blanche the tomato in a pan of boiling water for 10 seconds, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water. Peel and core the tomato, remove the seeds and chop coarsely. Place the chopped tomato into the bowl of a food processor, along with ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon chives, ½ teaspoon liquid smoke and ¼ teaspoon sea salt. Pulse until well-blended. Set aside.



My daughter gave me a food processor for Mother's Day....I had to put it to good use. I imagine that you could blend the butter mixture with a hand mixer or a blender.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Fry the bacon until crisp; crumble and set aside.

Mash the avocado in a small bowl; stir in 1/2 cup buttermilk and the chives.



Into a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt; add the butter and blend the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.



I also used the food processor to blend the butter into the flour mixture...I went ahead and put the bacon and chives in with the flour and blended it all together. I'm guessing that not everyone will want to use a food processor, though, so I wrote the recipe as if I still didn't have one.

Stir in the crumbled bacon and then add the avocado mixture, stirring until the mixture is sticky, yet manageable. If the dough is too sticky, add additional flour, one tablespoon at a time. If too dry, add more buttermilk. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for just a few seconds. Divide the dough in half and pat each half into a circle, about 6 inches in diameter. Place the circles of dough on a large baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Cut each circle into 8 wedges and separate slightly. Brush each wedge with buttermilk and sprinkle with coarse salt.





Many of the scone recipes I was looking at used heavy cream to make a nice crumb. I chose buttermilk since the avocado provides some good healthy fats (we'll ignore the fact that I also put bacon and butter in there, lol).

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just starting to turn brown. Serve warm with tomato butter.



They weren't as green as I thought they would be. Probably a good thing....



All in all, a pretty tasty little appetizer....or bread course to serve with a salad....or a good side to have with soup....


15 comments:

  1. Those look absolutely divine! What a great savory spin on scones... I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. avocado aficionado here. although i love the pretty green things in mexican dishes, i'm glad to see some new uses for them! these scones have the perfect combination of goodies in them--well done!
    and wow--you got a food processor for mother's day? atta girl! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Cathy, have just recently found your blog and am looking forward to trying some more of your recipes. I made speculaas using your recipe and they were sensational! The spice mix is perfect. My work colleagues and I are making great headway through all the biscuits I made!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love what you did here. I am sure the avocados gave the scones an extra moistness and that tomato butter sounds lovely. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow...I mean seriously, WOW. These sound absolutely to die for... a must try!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I never thought I would like a scone, until I saw these. How could this get any better?? You seem to have incorporated all things savory and delicious. I am a huge fan of avocados and have trouble getting anyone else here to eat them. I am SURE they would eat this. MMMmmm and the buttery goodness that you have come up with for the topping,mmmmmmmmm.

    ReplyDelete
  7. These scones look wonderful and the tomato butter puts your recipe in another league. I found your blog by chance but was lured by your prior post. I ended up staying far longer than I had intended. The food you prepare is really interesting. I'll be back as often as I can to see what you've been fixin'. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ooooh, how yummy is that! I love the butter you have there too. I'm not sure if I'm happy with what I came up with. I have 2 more ideas that I'm toying with but I'm running out of time (and avocadoes) LOL

    ReplyDelete
  9. OMG those look AMAZING!!!! What a unique, creative and delicious recipe!! I can't wait to try them!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am a totally devoted scone lover, and these look incredible! I would never have thought to make an avocado scone, and having run a B+B, I have mande a ton of scones in my day! So creative.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello Cathty...gotta tell you that scones have never really been within my favorite foods to eat. However, these certainly caught my attention. They look very appetizing...maybe with a little more cheese and a great glass of Porto on the side ;o)
    Thanks for sharing and flavourful wishes, Claudia

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a good idea- I like it. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  13. These look insanely good! I have to try them! Beautiful photos too!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh my goodness these are fabulous! Thank you for sharing your recipe! I didn't try the butter but it sounds AMAZING! Thank you! These scones gave me just the pick me up I needed.

    ReplyDelete