Cheese & Ham Muffins

Last week I picked up a supermarket recipe card for these savoury muffins and it reminded me that when DS was little and just learning to eat, I used to make lots of savoury muffins for him in the hope that he would think he was eating "cakes" while he was actually getting some goodness inside him!  For the most part it worked too. 

Now times have changed and this week I am packing him a lunch box for his swimming club.  Last night I whipped these up and today I am sending DS off with two of these, and they look quite yummy!

Ingredients (makes 6)

125g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 egg

150ml buttermilk

25g mature cheddar, grated

25g ham, torn

50g courgette, grated

Method

Sift the flour, baking powder and paprika into a mixing bowl.  Whisk the egg & buttermilk together in another bowl then fold into the flour mixture along with the cheese, ham and courgette.  Mix well and grind in some black pepper.

Divide the mixture into 6 muffin cases and top with a sprinkling of grated cheddar.  Bake at 180 (160 fan) for 30 mins.

These should keep for a good few days in the fridge, and always freeze well so you can make them ahead.

Breadcrumbs

As I passed the packaged breadcrumbs in the supermarket this morning, I remembered back to the time when I would have bought them when a recipe called for them to be added...until somebody showed me how to make my own.  So just in case any of you are in the same boat, read on and you will never again need to buy them ;)

I always use the crusts from the loaf, mainly because nobody in our house eats them (unless we are really desperate!) but also because you get a good amount of crumbs from them.  Lay the slices out on a baking tray and "cook" them in the oven at 180 for around 20-30 mins.  If you can snap them in half with any trace of softness, they are ready - if not, pop them back in for another 10 mins but watch them closely so they don't burn.

Break the slices up into pieces so they fit into the food processor and give them a blitz.  Voila!  Easy as pie.

Store them in a Tupperware box in the fridge and they will last for weeks at a time.  You can also add Parmesan, herbs or spices to liven them up too.

Gingerbread Biscuits

I baked these for the kid's birthday party yesterday and they went down a treat! 

Ingredients

200g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground ginger

100g brown sugar

50g butter

1 small egg

1 tablespoon golden syrup

Method

Sieve the flour, baking powder and ginger into a bowl.  Rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs and stir in the sugar.  

Mix the egg and syrup in a small bowl and add to the centre of the dry mixture.  Mix well until you have a dough and knead until it becomes smooth.

Roll out the dough on a flour surface (or directly onto baking paper) and cut out your desired shapes.  Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180C until golden and let the biscuits cool on a wire rack before eating.

Slow-cooked Coq au Vin

I love Coq au Vin but have never attempted to make it myself.  Not sure why though as this was so easy!  Note that you can buy bouquet garni "tea-bags" in the supermarket (amongst the herb aisle) so don't worry about using the real deal.  Don't forget of course that you have to open red wine to make this dish & although that did make me a little queasy at 9.15am when I was putting this in the slow cooker, it was a bonus that evening that I already had an open bottle!

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 chicken breasts

50g butter

3 rashers of bacon, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 onion, chopped

225g button mushrooms, halved

1/3 bottle of red wine

1 tbsp plain flour

300ml chicken stock

1 bouquet garni

Method

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and brown the chicken on both sides.  Add the bacon for the last 2 mins then remove both and set aside.

Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook for 5 mins until soft.  Stir in the flour and add the red wine, then bring to a boil.

Put the mushrooms in the bottom of the slow cooker then add the chicken & bacon.  Pour over the hot wine mixture.

Add the chicken stock - there should be enough to cover the chicken completely.  Add the bouquet garni and ensure this also is underneath the liquid.

Cook on low for 8-9 hours.  Discard the bouquet garni before serving with rice.

More Playdough

I agreed to provide some play dough for a local Charity Fun Day so this week I've been busy making different batches.

Using the play dough recipe I previously featured, I tried some different variations including cinnamon scent and lavender water, and various colours of glitter and food colouring.  Here are the results:

Yellow with green glitter, red with black glitter, pale green scented with cinnamon, and turquoise with multi-coloured glitter and lavender water.

I also discovered that if the dough is too sticky, you can add more flour to get a better result.

I hope the kids at the Fun Day enjoy playing with them!