Healthy-ish pear Oatmeal Muffins

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg beaten
• ¼ cup olive oil (or any neutral-tasting oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cup fresh diced pears (about 1½ medium pears)

Optional Crunchy Topping

• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon melted butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly spray or grease a muffin tin with oil. Set aside.

  In a large bowl, combine oats and milk. Let sit 15 minutes.
• In a second mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cardamom.
• Stir the oil, egg, brown sugar and vanilla into the soaked oat mixture. Add dry ingredients. Stir just until combined. Do not overmix. Gently fold pears into the batter.
• Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin.

  (If using the crunchy topping: Stir the butter and sugar until the brown sugar dissolves. Top the muffin batter evenly with the mixture as shown in the photo.)
• Bake 12 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let the muffins cool in the pan 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy these muffins warm or freeze for later.  https://marisamoore.com/pear-oatmeal-muffins/ 
  

Maple Walnut Biscuits

 

Makes 48 biscuits
unsalted butter 230g, at room temperature
caster sugar 100g
vanilla pod ½, split and seeds scraped
freshest organic egg yolk 1
maple syrup 2 tbsp
plain flour 275g, sifted, plus extra for dusting
walnuts 150g

Heat the oven to 160C fan/gas mark 4.
Cut the butter roughly into pieces and cream in a food mixer until pale.
Add the sugar and vanilla seeds and continue to mix until pale again.
Mix in the egg yolk and the maple syrup.
Roast the walnuts for 5-10 minutes in the hot oven, leave to cool and coarsely chop. Turn off the oven.
Add the flour and chopped walnuts to the butter mix and combine until a dough forms. Knead this deftly and swiftly on a lightly floured surface.
Once the dough is formed, shape into a cylinder roughly 30cm in length and 5-6cm in width. Cut in half and roll each half in a sheet of greaseproof paper, twisting the ends as if for a large bonbon.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (if desired, one of the halves can be frozen for another time).
Heat the oven again to 160C fan/gas mark 4. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. As these are best eaten fresh, slice and bake only what is needed, then rewrap, store and return to the fridge. Cut 3mm-thick slices and lay in serried ranks on the lined baking sheet.
Place in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on a rack.

From Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many by Jeremy Lee (HarperCollins, £30)

Basil Flatbread

 https://forkandflower.com/index.php/2013/02/17/basil-flatbread/

ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp. cold butter
1 bunch basil, chopped
1 bunch basil, leaves
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
maldon sea salt1 egg white

 

directions:

preheat the oven to 200 degrees c / 375 degrees f. combine the flour, chopped basil, the 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the sugar in a bowl. work in the butter with your hands, until the consistency resembles bread crumbs. with the mixer running, pour in the cream step by step, until dough forms. put on a lightly floured surface and work with the hands. cool for 30 minutes in the fridge. 

divide dough into 2 pieces. roll out dough on floured surface with a pin until very thin. transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. press the basil leaves into the dough. brush with egg wash (egg white with water) and sprinkle with maldon sea salt. bake for about 12 minutes. let cool and divide with a pizza cutter into bite-sized crackers. serve with cheeses or with baked ricotta for a antipasto.

Chicken Noodle Soup

 INGREDIENTS

–2 TBSP butter

–2 tsp minced garlic

–1 cup diced onion

–1 tsp sage

–1 tsp season salt

–1/2 tsp black pepper

–2 carrots, peeled and sliced

–2-3 ribs of celery, sliced

–8 cups chicken stock

–1 pkt of Barilla uncooked egg noodles

–3 cups cooked chicken, diced (I use BBQ chicken breast)

 METHOD

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add in onion, garlic, and seasonings. Saute over medium-high heat for around 5 minutes, so the onions begin to soften. Add in carrots and celery and cook another 5 minutes.
2. Add in 4 cups of stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining 4 cups of broth and return to a boil. Add in the noodles and chicken. Cover & cook soup until the noodles are soft, about 20 minutes.
4. Simmer on the stove for at least 10 minutes, but up to an hour, until you’re ready to serve. Enjoy!

Adapted from:

https://www.gordon-ramsay-recipes.com/preparation-step-by-step/classic-chicken-noodle-soup-butter-with-a-side-of-bread-by-gordon-ramsay.html

A Texan Apple Pie for Christmas 2020

 Magnolia's Dulce de Leche Apple Pie

 

 

INGREDIENTS

 2 x batches of Magnolia pie crust (I just use butter, not vegetable shortening)

 60g salted butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
11 Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dulce de leche (I use the slow-cooked can of condensed milk for caramel)
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon coarse raw (turbinado) sugar

METHOD

1. Lightly dust the counter with flour and roll one dough out to a round 3 1/2 inches larger than a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Transfer the dough to the pie plate and carefully ease it to the edges of the plate. Trim the dough to an even 1/2-inch overhang all around. Transfer it to a baking sheet. Refrigerate it and the lined pie plate until needed.

2. In a large saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. When foaming, stir in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Gently stir in the apples. Cover and cook until the apples begin to soften and the liquid comes to a boil.

3. Stir in the flour. Continue cooking until the apples are almost tender, 5 to 10 more minutes. Do not let the apples turn soggy or begin to break apart. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.

4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the filling to the pie shell, mounding the apples in the center. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid over the apples. Heat 1/4 cup dulce de leche in the microwave for about 30 seconds until pourable, then drizzle or dot it it over the apples.

5. Cover the pie with the top pastry round, turn under the edges, and crimp closed. Brush the top crust lightly and evenly with the milk and then sprinkle with the raw sugar. Cut six 2-inch slits in the top crust to release steam.

6. Bake for 25 minutes or until pie is golden.

TIPS & NOTES

• The pastry can be made the day before, I used a food processor for mine and kept it in the fridge, ready for rolling. 
  
• I mixed the sugar and spices in a container the night before so it was easy to start cooking on Christmas morning. 
  
• With Australian apples I did not find that the apple mixture became very 'juicy' so the slotted spoon is still helpful but optional.
• I found the cooking time was greatly reduced compared the original recipe, but the quality of the pie was excellent and was fully cooked.
  

Recipe adapted from Magnolia.