Seafood Made Simple: Seaweed scones and herb butter make for sea-deep flavours

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Seaweed, an often-forgotten food, has been eaten in Ireland for centuries. Approximately 40,000 tonnes of seaweed is harvested in Ireland every year.
When we consider the term seafood, we typically think of fish and shellfish, but the waters that surround our island offer us much more with sea vegetables and seaweeds.
This time of the year you'll find rock and marsh samphire, sea kale, sea spinach and smaller sea plants like purslane.
There are hundreds of varieties of seaweeds native to Ireland, pepper dulse being my most favourite. Also known as sea truffle, with wonderful black garlic undertones, it's a smaller sized seaweed but deeply savoury.
Anthony Irwin and Angela Healy are growing two fabulous varieties of Irish seaweed in the pristine waters off the Mullet Peninsula in North west county Mayo.
At their ocean farm, Dulra, they are cultivating winged kelp and sugar kelp seaweeds.
Rope-grown with locally sourced seeds, this form of aquaculture is regenerative creating safe nursery grounds for young fish and crustaceans, sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well as providing a nutritious food source.
Seaweed is an important ingredient in my store cupboard, delivering deep umami and meaty flavours to so many dishes.
It's a fantastic substitute for salt and makes a brilliant seasoning for spuds, vegetables and breads.
For this weekend's recipe, I've used some sugar kelp seaweed to flavour a brown scone mix. You can, of course, use any dried seaweed you can get your hands on.
Most varieties are available dried and powdered or flaked, which makes it an easy addition to any bake. Look for dilisk, nori and kelp.
Not just for afternoon tea, a savoury scone is the perfect accompaniment to a summer salad, seafood soup, smoked fish or pâtés.
There is nothing more satisfying than the waft of baked goods filling your kitchen.
Seaweed scones with herb butter
recipe by:Aishling Moore
Not just for afternoon tea, a savoury scone is the perfect accompaniment to a summer salad, seafood soup, smoked fish or pâtés. There is nothing more satisfying than the waft of baked goods filling your kitchen.
Servings
12
Preparation Time 
30 mins
Cooking Time 
15 mins
Total Time 
45 mins
Course 
Baking
Ingredients For the scones:
300g plain flour
150g wholemeal flour
30g baking powder
½ tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp dried seaweed flakes (such as kelp, dillisk or nori)
85g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
2 large eggs
225ml milk
Egg wash (1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp milk)
Sea salt flakes
For the herb butter:
250g unsalted butter at room temperature
50g soft herbs (such as dill, chervil, parsley, fennel fronds)
Zest of half a lemon
Sea salt flakes
Place the unsalted butter in a large bowl and beat using a spatula.
Roughly chop the herbs and add along with the lemon zest and sea salt.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve at room temperature.
Method
Preheat oven to 220°C/fan 220°C/gas mark 7.
Sieve the flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, salt and seaweed and mix well to evenly disperse.
Add the diced cubes of chilled butter and rub them in using clean and dry hands. Do this until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs.
In a separate bowl, add the eggs and milk and whisk to combine.
Make a well in the centre of the bowl, containing the dry ingredients and butter.
Add the egg and milk mixture.
Mix to bring together, forming a soft dough. Making sure there are no pockets of flour.
Dust your work surface with some plain flour. Place the scone dough on top and shape to form a round. It's important at this point not to knead the dough and handle it as little as possible.
Using a rolling pin, flatten out the dough to about 2cm and stamp out the scones using a cutter of your choice, wasting as little as possible working from the outside of the dough.
Place on a large baking sheet, brush with egg wash and finish with a sprinkling of sea salt and seaweed flakes.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
Serve warm with a generous helping of herb butter.
Fish tales
Chilled butter for the scone mixture is vital to achieve a tender-textured scone.
I love using wholemeal flour in scones for a more complex flavour, but you could just use plain flour.
It's important not to over work the dough and handle as little as possible to avoid developing the gluten in the flour.
It's always great to freeze half a dozen or so of the uncooked scones, which can be baked from frozen.
For best results making the herb butter, use a stand mixer with the butter at room temperature.
You'll find a great selection of native Irish seaweeds in most health food stores.