Savoring Seattle Series #2

Another one of our stops in Pike's Place Market during our trip to Seattle was Market Spice. Market Spice is a spice and tea company and they had it all! As you can see below, they had hundreds of glass jars filled with every spice, seasoning, tea, coffee and sugar you could possibly imagine.

I was in heaven! You could buy the spices by the ounce and so I went wild. I purchased four different types of salt and several variations of sugar. One in particular that I found very interesting was the green chile sugar. I had never heard of of such a thing and was immediately intrigued. They let me have a taste and I was hooked. The green chili sugar had the smoky heat of a jalapeno but was perfectly balanced with the sweetness of the sugar. I was instantly sold. I didn't have the slightest idea of what to do with this spicy sugar, but I knew I needed to have it. After returning home and dedicating a little thought to uses I figured this was a great recipe that was screaming for a little sprinkling of my new spice rack resident.

Fresh Corn and Pepper Scones
Adapted from September 2007 Cooking Light

Yield

12 servings (serving size: 1 scone)

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 7 3/4 ounces)
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 1/2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 ear)
• 2 finely chopped seeded serrano pepper
• 1 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon green chile sugar
  
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk or pulse twice in a food processor.

Cut in butter with a pastry blender or food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir in corn and pepper.

Add buttermilk, stirring just until moist (dough will be slightly sticky).Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 2 or 3 times with lightly floured hands.

Pat the dough into a 9-inch circle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cut dough into 12 wedges, cutting to, but not through, dough.

Sprinkle with green chile sugar.

Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.