Strawberry Champagne Cocktail #BloggerCLUE

This twist on the classic peach Bellini uses strawberry simple syrup and strawberry puree to create a deliciously fresh Champagne cocktail, perfect for any celebration.

This month for Blogger C.L.U.E., my assigned blog is one that I am very familiar with and love. It is written by one of the most popular ladies on the interwebs because she is sweet, friendly, kind to a fault and makes the most sensational recipes. Despite all the deliciousness that comes out of her kitchen, she stays remarkably slim. Yep, my blog this month is That Skinny Chick Can Bake, written by my sweetheart of a friend, Liz.

Our theme is sparkles, so despite all the great recipes with shiny things, like her beautiful vanilla cupcakes sprinkled with silver balls or the glistening sheen of barbecue sauce on her Asian Baby Back Ribs, I had to go with the Strawberry Bellini Cocktail. Any excuse to open a bottle of bubbly, right?

Liz had been sent some simple syrups to use in cocktails when she made this originally and they looked great, but unfortunately I didn’t have any, so I made my own strawberry simple syrup from this recipe online, halving the ingredients. It was super easy and still made plenty! Or head on over to Liz’s post and check out the syrup she used. Also, Liz says this makes only two drinks but we had plenty enough strawberry puree for four or five drinks. That is to say, we drank the whole bottle of Champagne. Hey, we didn’t want it to get flat and go to waste, right?

Ingredients
7 oz or 200g ripe strawberries, stems removed (plus a few for garnish)
2 tablespoons strawberry simple syrup
Champagne

Method
Puree the strawberries in a blender with the simple syrup. Strain mixture. (I forgot this step so we were left with tiny little strawberries seeds at the bottom of our glasses. Not a big deal though.)

Put a couple tablespoons of puree in each glass.

Just look at that gorgeous red color!

Pour in some Champagne. It will bubble up so just wait till the bubbles subside and pour in a little more.

Stir to combine.

And then top up with more Champagne. Make sure to garnish each glass with a strawberry.

This Month’s Blogger CLUE Participants are

• Baked Ziti from Azmina at Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Blood Orange Margaritas from Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Brown Butter Brown Sugar Banana Bread from Christiane at Taking on Magazines
• Cardamon White Chocolate Panna Cotta from Debra at Eliot's Eats
• Cherry Pie and Cream Pavlova (Okie Pavlova) from Ramona at Curry and Comfort
• Cornish Game Hens with Whiskey Herb Citrus Glaze from Lea Ann at Cooking on the Ranch
• Delicious Savory Clafoutis from Christiane at Taking on Magazines
• Fingerling Potato Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette from Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lemon Ginger Crinkle Cookies from Jean at Lemons and Anchovies
• Maple Caramel Golden Sugar Blondies from Kelli at Kelli's Kitchen
• Milky Way Martini from Aly at Cooking in Stilettos
• Peach Buckle from Anna at Anna Dishes
• Pomegranate Champagne from Christy at Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Ramona's Mini Cinnamon Rolls from Kate at Kate's Kitchen
• Rosemary Peach Sparkling Cocktail from Alice at A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Salted Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Soft Pretzel Sticks with Spicy Mustard from Heather at girlichef
• Sparkling Mojitos from Heather at girlichef
• Sparkly Shortbread Cookies from Lisa at Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• Strawberry Champagne Cocktail from Stacy at Food Lust People Love

Find That Skinny Chick Can Bake online:

     

Tangzhong Rye Bread #BreadBakers

This rounded loaf with rye and wholemeal wheat flour is perfect for toasting, smearing with butter and dipping in hot soup. It also makes the best toast soldiers to accompany a soft-boiled egg or to spread with jam.

 

Living = Learning
To paraphrase Samuel Johnson’s ode to London, “When a man is tired of food, he is tired of life.” I never cease to be amazed that the more I know about food, the more I realize there is to learn. New techniques, new methods, new ingredients, even new combinations of old ingredients are a constant source of excitement for me, from learning how to debone a chicken while keeping it whole (Thanks, Dai!) to attempting a bread challenge from the Great British Bake Off to buying unfamiliar produce at the farmers’ market and using the Google to find out what it’s called, to exploring the recipes of my host country, this food thing is so much more than a hobby. It’s an intellectual and cross-cultural exercise that just happens to keep the family fed as well.

Fortune favors the brave
Sometimes I learn a thing but it takes me a while to put it to use. I give you the tangzhong or water roux method of bread dough making, for instance. Although it’s been used in Japan, whence it comes, for ages, I first heard about it when my friend, fellow Bread Baker and pastry chef Jenni Field wrote a great explanatory post on her wonderful blog, Pastry Chef Online last August, but it took this month’s rye bread challenge from Anshie of Spice Roots to get me going on it. 

Rye is notorious for its low gluten content so I decided that perhaps starting with a wholemeal wheat bread flour tangzhong for extra body would be helpful. Of course, since I am almost foolhardy in my disregard of normal baking rules, even in the face of no experience, I decided that I would make my tangzhong with beer and water instead of just water, as is typically done. A rye beer, natch. 

It was a pain to knead since rye dough, even with wholemeal flour added, is so sticky but overall, I was very pleased with how it turned out. I baked it on the same day as I made this lovely chickpea veggie soup for dinner and it was the perfect accompaniment.

If you’ve been meaning to challenge yourself to bake with rye flour, make sure to scroll down after the recipe to see the list of links to all the rye creations we have for you this month. Many thanks to our host, Anshie of Spice Roots, for this “out of my comfort zone” challenge!

Oh, and one last thing, let me share my earworm with you. The whole while I was making this bread, I kept singing in my head:

Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody Tang Zhong tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody Tang Zhong tonight

No need to thank me. You are welcome!

Ingredients

For the tangzhong
1/3 cup or 45g wholemeal bread flour
1/2 cup or 120ml Battersea Rye Beer (or other beer of your choice or replace with more water)
1/2 cup or 120ml water

For Dough
Scant 2/3 cup or 140ml milk
2 tablespoons Battersea Rye Beer
250g wholemeal bread flour
1 1/4 cups or 125g rye flour (plus possibly more for kneading)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 oz or 7g Rapid Rise yeast (I used one packet of Fleischmann’s.)
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup + 1/8 cup or 100g tangzhong (which coincidentally is 100ml, if that helps you measure by volume)
1/4 cup or 60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
Olive oil (for greasing the proofing vessel)

Method
First make your tangzhong by mixing the flour with the water and beer in a small pot. Whisk till all the lumps are gone.

Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent sticking or burning. As the mixture heats, it gets very thick. Keep stirring and cooking until the spoon or whisk handle leaves furrows in the tangzhong. If you are a thermometer-using type (and I strongly encourage you to become one, if you aren’t already) you want the tangzhong to reach 150°F or 65°C.

Remove from the heat and transfer your tangzhong into another vessel to allow it to cool. I measured out the amount for my bread at this point and put the tangzhong in two bowls. The tangzhong is enough for a little more than two loaves though, so you can leave it all in one bowl if you are doubling this recipe. I just figured it would cool faster if it were separated.

Once the tangzhong has cooled to room temperature, you can proceed with the bread dough. (If you refrigerate it, let it return to room temperature before continuing.)

Slightly warm your milk and beer together in a small pot or in a measuring cup in the microwave.

Whisk your flours, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer.

Add in the warm milk/beer and the tangzhong.

Mix with the bread hook until all the ingredients come together and form a dough.

Add the butter and knead until the butter is incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic.

I found mine too sticky to knead effectively so after about 10 minutes, I took it out of the mixer and kneaded by hand for at least another 10 minutes, sprinkling on just the tiniest bit more rye flour as needed.

Put the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket and cover with plastic wrap or the lid. Leave in a warm place until doubled. Mine took about one hour.

Before

After

Punch the dough down and form it into a round loaf. Place it on parchment on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the top with a little more rye flour.

Put it inside a clean, new garbage bag and leave to rise until doubled again. This took about another hour so set your timer for 45 minutes and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C when it goes off.

When the rising time is finished, bake the loaf in your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until golden.

Ready to bake!

Enjoy!

Need a rye bread or cracker recipe? This is your Bread Bakers month!

• Artisan Dark Rye Bread by Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writing
• Banana Rye Muffins by Adam at Bakers and Best
• Boston Brown Bread by Holly at A Baker's House
• Caraway Rye Crackers with Reuben Spread by Jenni at Pastry Chef Online
• Chocolate Rye Bread by Rocío at Kidsandchic
• Danish Rye Bread by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Potato Onion Rye Meteil by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Rye Fennel Crackers by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Rye and Whole Wheat Bread by Kelly at Passion Kneaded
• Slow Cooker Boston Brown Bread by Mireille at Chef Mireille's East West Realm
• Sourdough Rye Bread by Anshie at Spice Roots
• Swedish Rye Bread (Limpa) by Nicole at The 2nd 35 Years
• Tangzhong Rye Bread by Stacy at Food Lust People Love

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.  

Christmas Stocking Candy Muffins #MuffinMonday

These muffins are the perfect use for the Christmas stocking candy you’ve got hanging around and subverting your vows to make better food choices in the New Year. Now you can eat candy with impunity and call it breakfast. Let’s just pretend you don’t already. :)

When I was growing up, Santa came and filled our stockings on New Year’s Eve. I have no idea how my parents got us to believe that Santa came by twice, but that was the way it was. I was a trusting child. What a stocking on New Year’s Eve meant was children with candy and little toys to keep them quiet on New Year’s Day, I’m guessing, when the grownups were no doubt wanting to sleep in and sleep off the late night bubbly. In my husband’s family, Father Christmas left your stocking on the foot of your bed as you slept on Christmas Eve. Children were supposed to wake up on Christmas Day and explore the stockings before coming in to disturb their parents. Same objective, different days. For our girls, we went with option 2.

When they were little, I tried to balance the candy out with more little toys but as they’ve gotten older, there seems to be more candy than stuff. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, until they leave and I’ve got a great big bowl of Christmas stocking candy leftovers. Why do they not take it with them? Excellent question and one I cannot answer for you. I’ve been giving it away right and left. But there is STILL candy in the bowl, so something had to be done. And that something is muffins.

By all means, keep your favorites out. You will notice that there is not a single Butterfinger in there, for instance, although Butterfingers would be superb chopped up in a muffin. And that is because I have already eaten them all. Those are my favorites and they go first. Chop the rest up and let’s make muffins!

A small selection of leftovers

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 generous cup, roughly chopped, or about 200g random leftover Christmas stocking candy

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and generously grease cups of your 12-cup muffin pan or line them with paper liners.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl.

Whisk together milk, oil, vanilla and eggs in another smaller bowl.

Add all the milk/egg mixture to the dry ingredients.

Gently fold until dry ingredients are just moistened.  Now fold in your chopped candy.

Divide your batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups in your prepared pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until the muffins are golden.

Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing the muffins from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Empty stockings but full muffins!

When does Santa come, if at all, to your house? Do you have a favorite candy that you hope for or hoard around Christmas time?

Baked Lemon Dessert

Fresh lemon zest and lemon juice are the stars of this tart, sweet baked lemon dessert spooned into a buttered casserole dish and baked until light and fluffy. The supporting role is played by the raspberries or whatever berry you can get your hands on this time of year.

 

Gin and bear it
Over the weekend, which regular readers might remember is Friday and Saturday here in the United Arab Emirates, we went out sailing offshore Abu Dhabi and then stayed over at a friend’s house on Friday night. 

Our friend is quite a collector of gin so it is not uncommon for the evening cocktail hour to start with a tasting of the new additions to his collection. One gin and tonic is mixed with each new gin and then we pass the glasses around, sipping the cocktails and discussing the attributes of the different gins. 

One in particular caught my fancy. It was made in Wales and contained an unusual ingredient: kelp or seaweed. After enjoying the gin and tonic and to extrapolate on the suggestion that we serve it in an oyster shell, we mixed a small shot of the Dà Mhìle seaweed gin with ice, a squeeze of fresh lemon and a sprinkle of sea salt, which really brought out the kelp. 

Which led to a discussion of whether Americans use the word kelp. Or do we just call it seaweed? I honestly could not remember so if anyone wants to weigh in, please leave me a comment. What do you call the green stuff on the seashore?

Pudding is dessert, pudding as dessert
As I straddle UK/US divide both in my home and with friends, I often lose track of whom uses which word for what but as a majority of my readers are US-based, I tend to name dishes in a way that they will understand. 

Way back in October, when I was trolling the internet and my cookbooks for a dessert to fit our budget friendly Sunday Supper theme, I came across a recipe on All Recipes UK. It was called lemon pudding in the British sense, meaning dessert. Because if they were actually making what we Americans call pudding, they’d call it custard and eat it for pudding. If you know what I mean. Anyway, I ended up making profiteroles for that occasion in October but this dish has been on my list of “things to make” every since, no matter what you want to call it.

Captivating Casseroles
Lemons are like eating a healthy dose of sunshine and while we get that almost every day here in Dubai, I know that there are a lot of folks in the northern hemisphere that could use some sunlight and warmth right about now. 

If you are trying to keep warm, may I suggest you turn the oven on to bake a casserole or two? Scroll on down to the Sunday Supper link list to see all the fabulous captivating casseroles we are sharing, along with our talented, over-achiever of a host, Alice from A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen, who is in the middle of an international move but still stepped forward to host. You are a star, Alice!

Ingredients
4 eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons or 90ml fresh lemon juice
Zest 1 lemon
1/8 cup or 30g butter, softened, plus extra for buttering casserole
1 cup or 230g sugar
4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups or 350ml milk

Optional for serving: fresh berries and a sprig or three of mint

Method
Butter your casserole dish (about 8x8in or 20x20cm square – or equivalent volume in another shape) and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Separate your eggs and put the whites in the bowl of your stand mixer or in one that is deep enough to use electric beaters. You can certainly whisk egg whites to stiff peaks by hand but it’s hard work!

In another mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest and butter until well combined. If your eggs are too cold, the butter is going to break up into little pieces again rather than whisking in. If you’ve made this mistake, just keep whisking. Eventually it will all soften again and create a homogeneous mixture.

How you know your eggs were still too cold. Ugh.

In yet another bowl, combine the sugar, flour and salt then mix well.

Add about a third of the dry ingredients at a time to the yolk mixture, along with one third of the milk, whisking well after each addition, until all of the flour/sugar is incorporated.

Beat your egg whites until stiff.

Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk/milk mixture.

Pour into your prepared baking dish.

Put your baking dish into another larger baking pan and fill it with hot water (should not be boiling) halfway up the baking dish.

Carefully transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 40-45 or until set and puffy, but still jiggly when you shake it gently to check.

Remove from the oven and take the baking dish out of the baking pan.

This can be served hot, warm, room temperature or even cold.

Garnish with berries and mint if desired.

Enjoy!

It's kind of soufflé-like except then it's saucy on the bottom, which tastes pretty amazing, actually.

Check out all the lovely casseroles we have for you today!

Captivating Breakfast Casseroles

• Boozy Baked French Toast from Brunch with Joy
• Orange & Date Wife Saver Breakfast Casserole from A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Spinach, Sausage and Polenta Breakfast Casserole from The Redhead Baker

Appetizing Casserole Sides

• Baked Cauli-Tots Casserole from Cupcake and Kale Chips
• Savory Sweet Potato and Sausage Bread Pudding from Nik Snacks
• Shredded Brussels Sprouts Casserole from Take A Bite Out of Boca

Main Event Casseroles

• Artichoke and Spinach Macaroni and Cheese Casserole from Ruffles & Truffles
• Baked Penne with Roasted Cauliflower and Italian Sausage from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Bison Meatloaf Casserole from Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Cheesy Chicken Corkscrew Casserole from Recipes Food and Cooking
• Cheesy, Creamy, Cauliflower and Sausage Casserole from Eating In Instead
• Chicken Enchiladas from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
• Chicken Parmesan Quinoa Bake from Alida's Kitchen
• Chicken Ramen Mini Casseroles from The Ninja Baker
• Chicken with Whole Grains Casserole from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Chinese Noodle Casserole from Momma's Meals
• Crab Casserole for Two from Magnolia Days
• Homemade Poppy Seed Chicken from Food Done Light
• Fully Loaded Tater Tot Casserole from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• King Ranch Casserole from The Texan New Yorker
• King Ranch Mac and Cheese from The Weekend Gourmet
• Baked Ziti with Meatballs from Curious Cuisiniere
• Mexican Lasagna from MealDiva
• Mom's Taco Casserole from Lifestyle Food Artistry
• Moroccan Polenta Casserole from Pancake Warriors
• Moussaka from Nosh My Way
• Neeps & Tatties Casserole from Happy Baking Days
• Quick No Boil Tuna Pasta Bake from Mess Makes Food
• Sausage Peppers and Onion Pasta Casserole from Family Foodie
• Southwestern Spaghetti Pie from The Messy Baker
• Cheesy, Layered Italian Pasta Torta from La Bella Vita Cucina
• Stove-top Four Cheese Mac and Cheese from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Supreme Pizza Strata from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Sweet Corn and Green Chile Chicken Tamale Pie from Simply Healthy Family
• Taco Casserole from Peanut Butter and Peppers

Decadent Dessert and Sweet Casseroles

• Baked Lemon Dessert from Food Lust People Love
• The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls from Pies and Plots
• Butterscotch Bread Pudding from The Foodie Army Wife
• Classic Apple Crisp from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Ultimate Deep Dish Brownies from Recipe for Perfection
• Vegan Oreo Rice Krispie Treats from Killer Bunnies, Inc

Pin this Baked Lemon Dessert! 

Chickpea Veggie Soup #FoodieExtravaganza

This hearty chickpea veggie soup, full of vegetables and flavor, is thickened by a combination of nutritional yeast and steel-cut oats. It will stick to your ribs and keep you warm and your stomach satisfied for hours.

Soup is good food
Nothing warms a body more than a bowl of rich, thick soup filled with good stuff to scoop up with your spoon. Don’t get me wrong. I am also a fan of creamed soups and broths and consommés. In fact, in general, I am a fan of soup. But there is something special, and certainly more filling, about a chunky soup with stuff in it.

This lovely recipe comes from one of my favorite new cookbooks that has been mentioned in this space before: OATrageous Oatmeals: Delicious & Surprising Plant-Based Dishes From This Humble, Heart-Healthy Grain by +Kathy Hester. I gave away one copy a couple of months back when I was transformed into a lover of oats by all of the savory recipes in Kathy’s great book. I had always thought of oats as something to eat for breakfast or use in sweet baked treats, like our family's favorite chewy chocolate chip cookies. Kathy’s Mushroom Ginger Congee was truly a mind changer for me when it comes to oats.

National Oatmeal Month - Who knew?
This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is celebrating National Oatmeal month and Kathy and Page Street Publishing have generously agreed to supply a copy of her book for a giveaway. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post to enter the drawing. You will not be sorry!

Recipe ©Kathy Hester from OATrageous Oatmeals: Delicious & Surprising Plant-Based Dishes From This Humble, Heart-Healthy Grain, printed here by permission from Page Street Publishing (My adaptations are in parentheses.)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons or 30ml olive oil
1⁄4 cup or 50g onion
3 cloves garlic
11⁄2 cups or 270g sweet potatoes
1 cup or 110g chopped carrots
1 can (15 oz or 425g) chickpeas, rinsed
6 cups or 1420ml water
1⁄2 cup or 40g steel-cut oats
4 tablespoons or 24g nutritional yeast, divided (I had never heard of this stuff but it’s actually quite wonderful and I was delighted to try it. I’m going to be sprinkling it on everything now! Read more here.)
1 teaspoon marjoram
1⁄2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1⁄2 teaspoon basil
1⁄4 teaspoon thyme
1⁄4 teaspoon ground rosemary (I used sprigs of fresh herbs in place of the basil, thyme and rosemary, chopped finely.)
1 1⁄2 cups or 270g chopped kale or other greens, like chard or collards
Salt and pepper, to taste (I used one vegetable broth cube in place of the salt.)

Method
(Peel your vegetables and cube the sweet potatoes, dice the carrots and mince the onion and garlic.)

Add the olive oil to a soup pot and heat over medium heat. Once hot, add onions and sauté for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Then add the garlic and cook for 3 more minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, chickpeas and water, then turn the heat to high and bring to a boil.

Once the soup is boiling, turn to low and add the oats, 2 tablespoons (30 g) of the nutritional yeast, marjoram, smoked paprika, basil, thyme and ground rosemary. Cover and simmer until the oats are thoroughly cooked, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Those are the golden flakes of nutritional yeast.

Add in the kale and the other 2 tablespoons (30 g) of nutritional yeast.

Cook about 5 to 10 minutes until the kale is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Per serving: Calories 177.6, protein 8.1 g, total fat 5.3 g, carbohydrates 24.2 g, sodium 41.9 mg, fiber 6.1 g

One more word about the nutritional yeast: It took me quite a few stops to find it in Dubai so I wrote the cookbook author, Kathy, to ask for substitution suggestions. If you don’t mind it no longer being vegetarian, she said to use chicken stock instead of the water, which would also give the desired umami to the soup.

Enjoy!

We are a group of bloggers who love to blog about food! Each month we will decide on a food holiday to base our recipes around. This month's the ingredient is oatmeal. Yes, January is National Oatmeal Month along with a whole array of other delightful things! We hope you all enjoy our delicious oatmeal treats this month and come back to see what we bring for you next month. Many thanks to our fabulous oatmeal host, Lauren of From Gate to Plate.

• Apple Pie Overnight Oats / Wallflour Girl
• Bacon Whole Grain Granola Bars / Pantry Friendly Cooking
• Berry Oatmeal Super Smoothie / Keep Moving Forward With Me
• Brown Sugar Barbecue Meatballs / Fearlessly Creative Mammas
• Chickpea Veggie Soup / Food Lust People Love
• Homemade Cranberry Almond Granola / Rhubarb and Honey
• Lemon Ginger Oat Porridge - Lugaw / The Joyful Foodie
• Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies / Making Miracles
• Mango Poppyseed Oat Muffins / The Sweet {Tooth} Life
• Mini Meatball Subs / The Freshman Cook
• Monster Cookie Granola / From Gate to Plate
• Mushroom Ginger Oat Congee / Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Oat Cinnamon Rolls / Passion Kneaded
• Oatmeal Pancakes / Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Peanut Butter Oat Snack Balls / Mrs. Penguin
• Vanilla Salted Oatmeal Cookies / Baking in Pyjamas
• Southwestern Oatmeal Cakes / A Day in the Life on the Farm

If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

Pin this Chickpea Veggie Soup! 

.

Ham and Scalloped Potato Muffins #MuffinMonday

A scalloped potato casserole-inspired muffin, with sliced potatoes, lots of cheese, cream and smoked ham. Perfect for breakfast, snack or even lunch. 

For the last couple of weeks our house has been a bustle of creativity and laughter, both in and out of the kitchen. Favorite dishes were cooked, touristy places were visited, a gingerbread mosque was baked and erected, many a cocktail was imbibed and a thousand backgammon games were played amongst the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree and our ancient rag-tag manger scene, which includes such witnesses to the Miracle Birth as a headless wise man, a longhorn and a small rhinoceros, along with the usual shepherds, cows and sheep.

Now the busy bathrooms and crazy kitchen are empty. The forlorn tree, stripped naked of its finery but for the occasional missed wisp of golden tinsel, has trailed fallen needles all the way to the curb of rejection. The dog circles just me now, every hopeful. And the baby Jesus and his eclectic entourage are back in the doll stroller box from Christmas circa 1995, which is their home for 50 weeks of the year.

I look around at the now reassembled living room, furniture back in its accustomed places and I am working on being grateful rather than sad. As much as it would give me joy to keep our daughters with us always, I am grateful that they are exceptionally capable of looking after themselves and are avidly pursuing their dreams.

Trying to look on all the bright sides of this situation, another bonus is that I can cook and bake exactly what pleases me. Last week a post from a friend and fellow blogger Kelli from Kelli’s Kitchen arrived in my email inbox with a recipe for one of my favorite casseroles, scalloped potatoes. Her version is a family favorite, cheesy and creamy but with the welcome addition of ham. If that divine top baked to a golden crunch doesn’t sell you, the tender, cheesy potatoes inside should do the trick. Do go have a look. My thoughts turned, as they do, to the possibility of a ham and scalloped potato muffin but I figured it wouldn’t be very popular with the sweet muffin crowd in residence. So I waited a week. (As it turns out, most of them didn't buy the PR for dried plums vs. prunes anyway. Hey, I tried.)

Totally worth the wait. These guys are delicious. All potato-y and cheesy and that ham? The perfect addition, for sure.

A good savory muffin is great consolation. And you can be sure I have saved some ham to make the original casserole as well.

Ingredients
6 oz or 170g smallish new potatoes
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml whipping cream
1/4 cup butter or 60g, melted and cooled
7 oz or 200g extra sharp cheddar, grated
2 1/3 oz or 65g Parmesan, grated
1 cup or 150g baked smoked ham, chopped

Method
Put a pot of water on to boil with a teaspoon or so of salt, as you would to boil pasta. Fill a bowl with cold water and a few ice cubes and set it aside.

Slice your potatoes and pop them in the boiling water.

Cook for about 4-5 minutes, until they are just done. Pour the cooked potato slices into a colander and drain. Transfer them to the bowl of ice water till cool.

Return them to the colander to drain again.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it liberally with oil or non-stick cooking spray.

Combine your flour, baking powder, salt and mustard powder in a large mixing bowl.

Set aside 6 slices of the cooked potato and a couple of small handfuls each of the cheddar, ham and Parmesan for topping the muffins before baking.

Just a little pile of each for topping.

Add the rest of the cheddar into the dry ingredient bowl and stir.

Now add the rest of the sliced potatoes into that bowl. Use a spoon to break the slices into pieces as you stir to combine. Finally, mix in the Parmesan and the ham.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk, cream and cooled butter.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when they are just combined.

Divide your batter between the 12 greased muffins cups.

Top with reserved Parmesan cheese and ham pieces. Cut your potato slices in half and insert one half slice of potato into the batter in each cup.

Now try to get some reserved cheddar cheese to sit on top and around each potato slice. We aren’t looking for perfect here. Just some cheese on the potato.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Since the cheese melts out a little while baking, you may have to run a knife around the outside to remove them, depending on how well you greased the pan.

Enjoy!