Showing posts with label Cook like a Star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cook like a Star. Show all posts

26.9.13

Blueberry Corn Mini-Muffins (Pioneer Woman)

This month, Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Anuja from Simple Baking. chose Ree Drummondas, the Pioneer Woman as the star chef  for the event Cook Like a Star. Initially I wasn't very excited about it. the thing is Food Network telecasts her cooking shows at odd hours... meaning the show timings are not at all convenient for me. in fact all i remembered of her show was the fact that I "had to" switch off the TV exactly when Ree Drummondas came on the screen. I had forgotten the reason and had somehow assumed that I probably hadn't liked the little bit I had ever seen of it.. so I wasn't planning on Cooking like a Star this month. but then i thought of trying out just the simplest of the recipes.. only to find out that her recipes just like her website is adorable-addictive. ever since I have been visiting her website regularly for her recipes and other stories.. she always keeps it real and yet entertaining enough for you to want to go back for another scoop. 

while i have tried a few other recipes by the Pioneer Woman in the last couple of weeks, i do not have many pretty pictures to show. they just didn't turn out right. however husband has been asking me to cook some of them again.. so most likely there will be many more Pioneer Woman recipes on the blog soon. now the first of her recipes that i tried... the Blueberry Corn Muffins.


since it is currently the blueberry season, i am sure everyone around is baking their favorite version of these corn muffins.. just in case your recipe isn't the one that PW shared, reconsider it... for hers is really good. the thing that sets it apart from the other recipes that I have seen and tried is the fact that she uses dried blueberries instead of fresh ones. Oh don't cringe at the idea of dried blueberries. they are really good. i oven dried a cup of blueberries using this recipe and was duly rewarded. now its your turn. trust me. these muffins are worth that extra step and oven drying the blueberries isn't that complicated. simply toss a cup of blueberries with a teaspoon of honey and bake them on a sheet of parchment paper at 225 degrees F for about 2 hours or until shriveled but still supple. while PW does not mention the honey coated version of dried blueberries, I think it is a nice addition to the recipe since the honey coating helps the blueberries stay afloat instead of sinking into the batter...  

okay now PW's recipe for the Blueberry Corn Mini-Muffins...
Blueberry Corn Mini-Muffins (makes 24)
Recipe Source : The Pioneer Woman
 ingredients 


  • 1 cup yellow corn meal
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 cup buttermilk (1 used the combination: 1 tbsp + 1 cup minus 1 tbsp of milk )
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup shortening, melted (i used unsalted butter)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup oven dried blueberries(see discussion above for oven dried blueberries)* 
*PW suggests using 8oz of dried blueberries by weight.
-
 the method

  • preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease a mini-muffin pan.
  • in a bowl, combine corn meal, flour, salt and baking powder. 
  • in a separate bowl add buttermilk, milk, baking soda and egg and beat the sugar into it. now stir in the dry ingredient mixture into it. 
  • then stirring constantly add the melted butter into the batter. 
  • add the vanilla extract and with a light hand stir in the dried blueberries into the batter.
  • pour the batter into the prepared mini-muffin pan, trying to make sure that the blueberries get distributed evenly.
  • transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes, until the muffins turn golden brown. 
  • then enjoy with Vanilla flavored butter as PW does or slather some jam and serve...you'll enjoy it either way..


by the way, if you are wondering about my choice of props for the photographs... 
well  thats what happens in a house where you are out numbered by beings of the opposite gender.. sometimes the only fancy props available are shiny toy cars and action figures ;-)

Have a good day !

I am linking this post to the event Cook like a Star, organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids,  Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake.    

You can read more about the event here.

Also sharing this with the following food events...
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes ,Super Saturday Link Party
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23.8.13

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (Nigella Lawson)

Yesterday evening I might have spent a good half an hour debating between Nigella's Everyday Brownie and Chocolate Olive Oil Cake... It finally boiled down to a battle between butter and olive oil.. and since health ranks above all in every homemakers' world, olive oil won... well in this case extra virgin olive oil won, because that is what i had in hand. The outcome was a sheer delight. though there wasn't any occasion to celebrate, with a cake like that in hand, yesterday felt special. husband was grinning-happy, baby asked for more... and i was glad that i chose to bake the chocolate olive oil cake..


just wanted to note a few things before i go onto the recipe... i mostly followed Nigella's recipe except that i used EVO instead of regular olive oil and granulated sugar instead of superfine sugar. also, because i did not have enough almonds, i used plain flour and sprinkled some roasted almonds on top for flavor... and as you can imagine it gave a nice crunch to the cake without making it very heavy. 

another thing, if you can, control your urges of digging into the cake right away. for whatever reason... this cake gets better every hour.  the soda smell which was obvious in the first hour magically vanished by the time we put our baby to sleep and cut ourselves nice big slices of the cake ... and the cake tasted awesome with ice-cream and cherries...

Chocolate Olive Oil CakeRecipe Source : Nigella Lawson Express
 ingredients
  • ⅔ cup regular olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
  • 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ cup boiling water
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  •  3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or 1 ½ cups almond meal 
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 cup superfine sugar (I used granulated sugar)
  • 3 large eggs
  • chopped roasted almonds for garnish (optional)
-
  the method
  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch spring-form tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment or line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. (I used my cake pan.)
  • Measure out the unsweetened cocoa into a bowl and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolate-y, runny paste. stir in the vanilla extract and set the mixture aside to cool a little.
  • In another bowl, sift in the flour along with baking soda and a pinch of salt.
  • Beat the sugar and olive oil (preferably with a hand-mixer) till the mixture looks smooth and creamy. then beating continuously add the eggs one by one. continue beating until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream, about 5 minutes.
  • then turning the speed down, add the cocoa mixture. once that is well incorporated, slowly add the flour mixture and beat lightly till a smooth uniform batter is formed.
  • now pour the batter into the prepared tin, sprinkle the chopped almonds on top, in case you are using them and bake the cake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until the sides are set and the center, on top, looks slightly damp. (my cake tester came out clean at 42 minutes. however Nigella says that the tester should mostly be clean but can have a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.)
  • Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin. then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin.(since i had lined the cake pan with parchment paper I did not have to use metal spatula, it came off the pan easily.)
  • Leave the cake to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a pudding. however as i noted above the cake gets better every hour so try and hold yourself back and you'll be fairly rewarded ;-)

Happy Baking and have a nice weekend !

I am linking this post to the event Cook like a Star, organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Anuja from Simple Baking. 


You can read more about the event here.

Also sharing this with the following food events...
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes, Friday Link Party @ The Pin Junkie, TGIF LinkParty@I WantCrazy
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22.8.13

Nigella's Maple Chicken

Maple Chicken was the first Nigella Lawson recipe that i tried and immediately fell in love with. It was a breeze to pull off and it tasted restaurant-­good. yes. it was that good. juicy, succulent and delicious ! I was more than delighted with it. however my husband did not share my enthusiasm. the thing is, true to his nature, ignoring all my warnings, he reheated his dish in the microwave just before digging in. and that spoilt it all. it dried off the chicken and him sad and grumpy... so in case you decide on this recipe (and you must)... be warned right now.. do not reheat it in the microwave. bake it, serve it and dig into it right away and relish the awesomeness of this chicken dish...


before i share the recipe let me mention the changes that i made. the original recipe from Nigella Lawson Express was Maple Chicken and Ribs. since i do not eat pork or beef so i left it out and halved the remaining ingredients. also i used boneless chicken since that is what i had in hand. also i sprinkled some sea salt over the chicken just before i put the skillet in the oven. i kind of liked the added salt but you can skip it if you like....

now the recipe...

Nigella's Maple Chicken
Recipe Source: Nigella Lawson Express
 ingredients

  • 1/2 boneless chicken cut into 8 pieces
  • 125 ml apple juice
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick (halved)
  • 3 cloves garlic, grated
  • sea salt to taste (optional)
-
  the method

  • Put the chicken pieces in a freezer bag or a dish.
  • Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl, crushing in the star anise and cinnamon sticks into it. then add this mixture to the freezer bag/dish, seal/cover it and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or up to 2 days.(I left it for 2 days).
  • when ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, pour the contents of the freezer bag/dish into a large enough oven dish or an iron skillet (as i did), sprinkle some salt on it and bake the chicken in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. then reducing the oven temperature to 400 degrees F, bake for another 15 minutes, until the glossy and sticky.
  • serve immediately and enjoy !

I am linking this post to the event Cook like a Star, organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Anuja from Simple Baking. 


You can read more about the event here.

Also sharing this with the following food events...
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes 
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