Corned Beef Scone

When I mentioned this dish in this week's meal plan, several people were interested in it so I thought I'd share the recipe.

The original idea came off a corned beef label back in the mid 1960s, and the dish has a very "retro" feel that makes it great winter comfort food.  As well as that, it is made almost entirely from store cupboard ingredients, handy for the recent snow  days we've been having in the UK.

Although the price of corned beef seems to have soared recently, it is still a pretty economical source of protein. It is also often on special offer and because it is canned, can be bought cheaply on a BOGOF deal and stored until needed, making it an ideal candidate for Credit Crunch Munch at Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All - especially as the photos have been kept "frugal" too,

 

This quantity is rather more than two greedy adults can manage - it would feed three with more normal appetites, or two adults and two children.

The ingredients don't look too promising do they? But the sum, as with so many recipes, is greater than the parts.

Ingredients

1 small tin of corned beef
1 tin of tomato-flavour condensed soup
2 tablespoons Branston pickle
200 grams self-raising flour
50 grams hard vegetable fat, butter, or margarine
1 egg
A small quantity of milk

Method:
Set oven to 170degrees C.
Cut the corned beef into small pieces, place it in a large bowl, along with the Branston pickle and 2 tablespoons of the soup. Mash the whole lot together.
Rub the fat into the flour, stir in the egg and a small quantity of milk, then form the mixture into a soft dough.
Tip the dough onto a greased baking sheet, and roll it out into a rough rectangle.
Spread the corned beef / Branston mixture over the dough base, leaving a decent margin all around the edges.
Bring the scone dough together to form a "sausage" shape, enclosing the meat / pickle mixture. Brush the surface with some milk, particularly around the edges, which will help to seal them. Score a few slashes in the top to allow some of the steam to escape.
Bake in the oven at 170C for approx 30 minutes, until the dough has risen and taken on a nice golden colour.
Shortly before the scone is due to be ready, make the sauce by heating the remaining soup with a little added milk.
The finished dish will look something like this. Don't worry if it cracks open -- this is not meant to be a pretty dish!

Being such a retro dish,  I like to serve it on a retro style plate. This is part of a set we bought when we first married, 35 years ago. Very few items are left now, having suffered from being shipped all around the world in Mark's Army days, but I still love them. The range was called Kalabar and made by Palissy, part of the Royal Worcester company. I think the design would be popular again today if it was still in production.