Evergreen herbs are some of the most reliable plants, soldiering on through all weathers, and great at this time of year when there’s not much growing at the allotment.
Rosemary is easy to grow, it loves sun and a well-drained soil, think mediterranean. Grow it in a large pot filled with a mix of multi-purpose compost, loam-based compost and a couple of hand-fulls of grit if your garden soil is heavy.
I use rosemary a lot in casseroles, with red roast meat and it’s also very good in savoury scones.
They’re really quick to make too, all you need is:
200g white self-raising & 25g wholemeal self-raising flour
55g butter
100g cheddar cheese
1 beaten egg & 75ml of milk combined together
half teaspoon of baking powder
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of fresh, chopped rosemary leaves
- turn the oven on to 200 degrees C
- mix all the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper together in a bowl
- cut the butter into small cubes
- tip the butter into the bowl and rub it into the flour mixture with your finger-tips till it looks like fine breadcrumbs
- mix in the cheese & rosemary
- gradually add the eggy-milk mixture ( you may not need it all) and gently mix together to make a soft dough
- put the dough onto a floured surface, flatten it a little with the heel of your hand and cut into 6 even-sized pieces
- put them onto the oven-tray and bake them for 10-15 minutes
- tip them onto a wire-rack to cool
- then cut them in half, spread with ice-cold butter and scoff
My recipe is adapted from BBC Good Food cheese scones, I always use an egg in scones for a richer flavour.
Happy gardening and baking
Jill
photos: Jill Anderson
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