Isn't it just amazing what you can find on the internet. I just had a mad idea cross my mind the other day - how about making sundried tomato and goats cheese muffins. And upon googling I came across a recipe for just that. I'm starting to wonder if there is any recipe at all that you wouldn't find on Google. I dare you!
Anyhow, I found a recipe that looked very good on Domestic Sluttery. I made a few changes to accomodate the ingredients I had available. These muffins were so easy to put together, it only takes a few minutes. I served them as a side to a wonderful soup I made (more on that soon) and it was so easy to put the dough together and assemble the muffins in the muffin tin before my guests arrived, and then just pop them in the oven half an hour before dinner.
Sundried tomato and goats cheese muffins (makes 10-12 muffins):
75 g wholewheat flour
325 g strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 eggs
250 ml milk
1 jar (190 g) sundried tomato paste, or chopped sundried tomatoes
100 g goats cheese
2-3 tbsp grated cheddar
The howto:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. In a bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, salt, pepper and oregano. In another bowl, mix eggs, milk and sundried tomatoes. Combine the liquid into the dry ingredients. Don't mix more than needed to, just enough to combine the ingredients. Take a heaped tablespoon of batter and place at the bottom of 10-12 muffin tins. I didn't butter or line my muffin tin, but if you want your muffins to come off the tins easily, use paper or silicon muffin liners. Divide the goats cheese into as many pieces as you have muffins, pop the cheese in the middle of the muffin, and add another heaped tablespoon of batter on top. Sprinkle lightly with grated cheddar. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden and well risen.
The verdict:
These muffins turned out absolutely fantastic. They rose beautifully in the oven, were fluffy and light. The sun dried tomato added a fantastic flavour and the heart of goats cheese was a perfect little surprised. However, to have a more even distribution of goats cheese, next time I think I might cut the cheese in small cubes and add it to the batter itself.
The muffins are best when eaten warm. You can pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds or so if you have any leftovers for the next day. You can replace the sundried tomatoes and goats cheese with pretty much any savoury flavourings you like, for example olives, any other cheese, nuts, smoked salmon, pieces of pepperoni or chorizo or anything else you can think of. I loved the wonderful flavour of the sundried tomato, and the lovely red colour it gave the muffins.
You know how Pinterest is full of chicken recipes? When you browse your feed, all you get is chicken recipes. Or is it just me? But why is it that when you go looking for chicken recipes you can't find a single one of them? It's like shopping. If you go for a browse, you find the most amazing things. But just try to go out there looking for a pair of black trousers and you are guaranteed to find nothing. I actually had to look up "chicken recipes" on the find function in Pinterest to find something worth making. And boy am I glad I did. I stumbled upon this recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen, and it is amazing. Without trying to brag, I'm usually a decent cook and most of what I cook goes down without a problem. But this was just out of this world good!! I was actually going to post another recipe today, but that one got re-scheduled because I just had to share this. That is how good it is!
This recipe is dedicated to by Bestie. I think she would love this. She is a pastaholic. And she really doesn't like onions. I usually never cook anything without onions, so I really notice if they aren't there. It's like a cooking ritual, starting by chopping up that onion and sauteeing it. But this time it was garlic and the wonderful flavour of sun-dried tomatoes that were the stars of this show. As usual, the picture doesn't do the food justice.
Chicken in sun-dried tomato sauce (serves 4):
1 tbsp butter
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cups chicken stock
4-5 chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup double cream
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red peppers
black pepper
2-3 tbsp of oil from the sun-dried tomatoes
4 chicken breasts
cooked pasta
1 cup peas or sweetcorn
The howto:
Finely chop the garlic clove. Melt the butter in a frying pan, cook the garlic until it starts to soften. Add the flour and mix, cook for a minute or so. Add 1/2 cup of the broth, a little bit at a time and mixing thoroughly to avoid any lumps. Add the finely chopped tomatoes, double cream, thyme and peppers and cook for a few minutes. Set aside in a bowl or small saucepan. Clean the pan, add the sun-dried tomato oil and cook the chicken breasts until cooked through (but make sure not to over-cook to avoid them becoming rubbery). Remove the chicken from the pan, add the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken stock, and scrape all the browned goodies from the pan to dissolve in the stock. Add the sauce and mix. Return the chicken to the pan, mix everything and cook until everything is heated thoroughly. Serve with pasta and peas or sweetcorn.
The verdict:
This is without a doubt one of the best chicken recipes ever! I just wanted to eat the sauce with a spoon straight from the pan. Double cream tends to do that... But it's worth every single calorie, I promise you. By a fluke I managed to cook the chicken to perfection, it was cooked through but very moist and juicy. And did I mention the sauce? Garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and just a pinch of heat from the red peppers. Trust me, you have to try this! The sooner the better. I may just make another batch this weekend again. Unless Pinterest pops up with another chicken recipe I want to try. But I find it hard to believe anything can be better than this!
