There’s a restaurant in Minneapolis called Bar Lurcat, and my friends and I used to go there in high school. It’s a loungey joint with couches instead of chairs and big poufs surrounding coffee tables. As far as we were concerned, there were just two things on the menu: mini burgers and an apple, cheese, and chive salad. We ordered a couple of each and passed the plates around from pouf to pouf. There is also a regular dining room, but as most of us had just passed our driving tests, we felt especially cool eating in the bar area. We were definitely not the intended clientele.
Meredith and I have been friends since kindergarten. Our friendship had a brief hiatus when we went to different elementary schools, but middle school brought us back together. She lives in Philadelphia and doesn’t care when I take over her kitchen when I visit. She came to New York this weekend and we turned our beloved Bar Lurcat salad into scones.
apple, cheese and chive scones
makes 8
3 cups ap flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cut in cubes
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
½ cup granny smith apple chunks
½ cup manchego cheese in cubes
1 tablespoon chopped chives, plus more for topping scones
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon baking mat.
- Stir together the flour, powder, soda and salt.
- Using a pastry or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is in pea-sized chunks.
- Add the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Gently knead the dough a few times in the bowl, then transfer to a lightly floured surface.
- Chop the apple and cheese into small cubes, then chop the chives. In a small bowl, or right on your cutting board, mix them all together.
- Pat the dough into a rectangle and dump the apple, cheese and chives onto one half of the dough, making sure it gets all the way to the edges. Fold the other half of the dough over the filling, like you’re making a sandwich. Flatten the dough into a long, thin rectangle, about an inch thick. Cut into triangles.
- Place the scones on the baking sheet and top with some more chopped chives. Bake for 17-20 minutes until they are golden brown.
