July 2005 - Fig, Pistachio & Ginger Muffins

I had so many things marked in issue #40 that I wanted to try and it was very hard to pick just one thing out. The Thai-style pumpkin soup on the cover looked really nice. However I make pumpkin soup regularly. I have also done a Thai inspired one after having it at a cafe a number of years ago. I normally fry off some red curry paste before adding stock. It is very nice.

Glenn Reid's Field mushroom tarte tatin with cress salad was the first recipe to catch my eye but I cannot get cress so decided to move on to one of the other options.

I have had Valli Little's bean trenchers marked to make ever since I got this issue. It is basically a baked bean mixture cooked on the stove served on toast. I have made my own baked beans before. No matter how hard I try I always end up with a massive pot of beans and get sick of eating it before I get through it all. This recipe sounds great but serves 6 and I am sure that even if I cut the recipe in half I would end up with more than 3 serves as I find that most recipes give more servings than they say they do.

Another marked recipe is Valli's chunky potato corn & bacon soup. I have made this one before and it is a wonderful hearty soup. Perfect in the winter time. However since I have already made it before I decided to go with one of the many other options.

When I made up my blog menu plan for the month I had opted for Nancy Duran's date, gorgonzola & prosciutto tart. It is an easy recipe and perfect for lunch. I was going to make one change, substituting goat's cheese for the gorgonzola. This was for two reasons, firstly I am not overly keen on blue cheese and it is hard to get a nice gorgonzola here and secondly, I had some goat's cheese left over from another recipe. I ended up not making this because I used the goat's cheese for some thing else and it was another recipe that had a cress topping to the tart. I may have to look into how to grow some cress. On the couple of occasions that I have been able to purchase it, I have quite enjoyed it so if it is easy to grow it would be a nice addition to the edible garden.

I ended up making fig, pistachio & ginger muffins. A recipe from Tanya Beard, it was included as part of an article on Toby Smith, owner of Toby's Estate coffee. These were fabulous muffins. I uses pecans instead of pistachios as that is what I had on hand. I am sure the pistachios would be terrific in there too. The reconstituted figs soft and almost caramelised. Even though I burnt my hand while removing the pan from the oven. I am not sure that they were worth it exactly but they are extremely good. So good I have already bought more figs to make them again. This time I am planning to use macadamia nuts, again because I have them on hand. They store and reheat well too. I think that they could also be very successfully frozen.

Fig, Pistachio & Ginger Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients

• 350 g dried figs
• 3 1/3 c (500g) plain flour
• 2 tsp bicarb soda
  
• 1 c (220 g) caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 c (560g) thick natural yoghurt
• 150 g unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
• 3/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, chopped (I used pecans)
  
• 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 1/3 c (80 ml) milk

Method

• Preheat oven to 200 C. Grease 12-hole muffin pan.
  
• Soak figs in boiling water for 15 minutes then drain and chop.
  
• In a bowl combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk eggs and then add yoghurt and butter and stir well to combine.
  
• Pour egg mix into flour mix and stir with a metal spoon until just combined.
• Add figs, ginger and nuts and gently stir to combine adding milk if the mixture is too dry.
  
• Spoon mixture into muffin pan until 2/3 - 3/4 full.
  
• Bake 25 - 30 minutes.
  

February 2008 - Strawberry Muffins

There were two recipes that I have had marked to try since I bought issue #68 the first is Belinda Jeffery's Star Anise Chicken with Gingered Red Cabbage. I had intended all along to make it to post here. However when I was looking red cabbage was really expensive. I have, however found half a tiny head that was reasonably priced so I will probably make it this weekend. I may even post it as an extra, so stay tuned.

The other recipe that I have had marked to make were some lush looking Strawberry Muffins that are part of a feature by Valli Little on healthy back to school lunch boxes. There are a number of other recipes in there that I may try at some point too as I am always looking for something nice for lunch. The Spicy Felafel Wraps sound great although I am very partial to Simon Bryant's Felafel with Yoghurt sauce that he made on The Cook and The Chef show on the ABC here in Oz. The Lamb Pasties definite sound like something to try and have in the freezer for when I can't be bothered doing anything but turn the oven on. The Potato Frittata sounds great but I am reluctant to use 8 eggs in anything that doesn't involve sugar.

In the end the decision to make the Strawberry Muffins wasn't hard as my local IGA supermarket had strawberries on a very good special so I picked up a punnet or 6. I used some of them to make a Glazed Strawberry Tart on the weekend from my Gramma's recipe. It was beautiful.

That took almost 4 punnets but I still had another 2 and a bit to use up. I had some for breakfast with cereal but I decided that I would take one of the extra punnets and make the muffins. They are soft and have a subtle strawberry flavour with the chunks of berry disintegrating slightly. They have the right amount of sweetness. Perhaps the only complaint is that there is a bit much butter. I think I would reduce it to 60 g next time. Although with the giant mint slice, the pie and now muffins I certainly will not be making them again any time soon. I have put most of the muffins in the freezer so that there is something sweet when a craving hits.

Strawberry Muffins

Makes 12 (I actually got 20)

Ingredients

• 400g plain flour, sifted
• 165g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 punnet strawberries, chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 300ml buttermilk
• 80g unsalted butter, melted, cooled

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 190 C (fan-forced).
  
• Line muffin trays with papers.
  
• Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and stir well.
  
• Add strawberries and stir to coat in the flour.
  
• Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. (I used my 500ml measuring jug)
• Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until only just combined.
  
• Fill papers 2/3 to 3/4 full.
  
• Bake 18 - 20 minutes or until risen and slightly golden.
  

January 2002 - Fruit Mince Muffins

As I said in my first post delicious. magazine launched in November 2001 and since I am using each month's previous magazines I will have to start with issue 2 which was for Jan/Feb 2002.

After having a through look through the magazine there seemed to be an extraordinary amount of seafood recipes in it. I am not a huge fan of seafood. I think part of it is because my mother did not like seafood at all and the other part is that since I live in a inland rural area it is difficult to get good fresh seafood that is not outrageously priced. I did manage to find a few recipes that piqued my interest along with one that I had made before but had forgotten about.


Valli Little's Fruit Mince Muffins on page 53 are a great way to use up the last of the fruit mince from Christmas. It is a great recipe that produces a soft, moist muffin which is great for breakfast. I decided to go with this recipe as I made my own fruit mince in October last year but I never got around to making any fruit mince tarts for Christmas so I have a very large jar of it in the fridge to use up. I think I will definitely be making several batches of these muffins.

Fruit Mince Muffins

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour
• 75g brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 250g fruit mince
• 300ml buttermilk
• 75ml milk
• 4 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• Icing sugar, to dust

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease or line the muffin pans.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a bowl. Add the cinnamon, pecans and fruit mince and stir to combine.
3. In a separate jug, mix together the buttermilk, milk, oil and egg. Fold into the dry ingredients until just combined.
4. Fill the greased muffin pans with the mixture and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. Set aside to cool slightly. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

The recipes says that it makes 6 however they must be huge as I made 19 and they are wonderful. If you find yourself with some leftover fruit mince I would definitely recommend giving them a try.