Scottish Fare: Imported Tea and Marmalade

This week we are continuing our adventure with imported goodies. Because we like tea so much, we chose Edinburgh looseleaf tea to try. And to go with the tea, some marmalade.

Why marmalade when I make my own? Because while marmalade has been made with quince fruit since Ancient Roman times... ORANGE marmalade, as it turns out, is legendarily Scottish!

This week I prepared breakfast for dinner. We love breakfast foods, but when your son works retail and a pandemic forces him to work overtime - breakfast looks like whatever I can bake with my eyes half-opened at 5am. So every few weeks or so, we have a full breakfast... at dinnertime.

For dinner, I made a broccoli and Dubliner cheese crustless quiche and our favorite oatmeal scones.

The scones are my own recipe. Years ago, when gluten-free foods were still more of a novelty and recipes were few and far between, I wanted a hearty breakfast scone rather than a cakelike dessert scone. But I couldn't find a single recipe! It took several tries, but here is our recipe:

1 1/2 c gluten-free oat flour
1 1/2 c gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 c potato starch
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 c applesauce (for extra protein, substitute 2 eggs)
2/3 c almond milk soured with
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (for extra protein and probiotics, substitute 2/3 c buttermilk)

Preheat oven to 400F
Mix together dry ingredients, then add wet ingredients and mix just until blended.
Turn out onto a silpat or parchment-paper covered baking sheet and with greased hands, pat into a circle 3/4" thick. It WILL be wet!!!
Using a greased knife or pastry cutter, slice into 8 wedges - separating slightly.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until edges just begin to brown.
Serve hot or cold... but we think hot is best!

We found the tea to be much milder than we expected. Being used to Irish Breakfast tea we were expecting a powerfully bold tea and instead, this was a very nice "basic" tea that would go with anything.

The marmalade was wonderful! I make my own jellies, jams, and preserves because American condiments tend to be too sweet for my liking. This was NOT too sweet; it was nice and tangy, with a good dose of the bitterness left intact from the orange peel. If I had made it myself, this is what I would have made... and now I'm inspired to try adding honey to my own marmalade recipes!

These were foods that we eat all the time, and we really only tried the imported versions out of curiosity. While I might not buy them again simply because of their higher prices, they were both quite delicious and we enjoyed them very much!