Cheddar & Chorizo Muffin Made Easy with Judge Mixer

Watching the latest episode of Great British Bake Off and hearing one of the contestants exclaiming, "I can't believe I have tried to mix this by hand", the penny dropped. I couldn't believe I had been so silly to confuse a hand blender with a hand mixer.

A stick blender also called a magic wand, is used mostly for soups whereas a hand mixer is perfect for kneading dough, whisking meringue and cake mix. The added advantage of the Judge Twin Blade Mixer over many others is,  that, if like me you have a small kitchen, this one takes up very little space.

The Judge Hand and Stand Mixer has another huge advantage – that is the price. At under £50 (you may find it for less), it's a really good buy. It may not look as snazzy as its expensive counterparts but with a 300 Watt motor, 5 speeds and a turbo it does the job really well and takes the hard work out of mixing cakes and kneading dough.

I like the fact that it has a bowl and a stand.The stand is handy when you need to multitask, you can leave the mixer running while you carry on weighing etc. and, with an acute lack of space, the bowl has come handy for storage, the hooks and the whisks live in it, even the magic wand has now joined them!

Cheddar 'n Chorizo Muffin Recipe

Ingredients

• 300g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 80g butter, diced
• 100g chorizo, diced
• 200g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
• 1 egg
• 250ml milk

Method
As with all muffin recipe, you need to combine the dry and the wet ingredients separately.

First,  preheat the oven 190C and line your tray with cases.
The etiquette has it that muffins are baked without cases as cupcakes are but blow that, it's much neater to use paper cases, it saves you scrubbing the tray.

1- In a bowl mix the flow, the paprika and rub in the butter
2- Mix the egg, milk and cheddar in the bowl with the mixer
3- and 1 to 2
4- spoon the mixture in the cases
5- bake for 20 minutes

you could replace the chorizo with ham for a breakfast bake.

This is a sponsored post. All words and opinions are my own.

**(BTW did you listen to my interview with Paul Hollywood before he became famous, if not click here)

At Pebble Soup HQ, we are partial to a muffin or two. Have a peak at a few more muffins recipes
Kiwi Muffins
Savoury Polenta Muffins
Beetroot and Chocolate Muffins
Musfins (mushroom muffins)

Beetroot Hummus : One of Your Five a Day

This hummus subtle earthy flavour is the main reason for giving it a go but, it's not the only one.

Beetroot Hummus is also an easy way to incorporate a vegetable in your five a day. It may be lurid pink but it's also smooth and totally yummy. Perfect with pita or veggies.

For this recipe, I boiled the beetroot though normally I bake beets. Baking beetroots brings the flavours out however it also takes slightly longer. A friend of mine microwaves hers and she swears by that method. Either way, you'll need a cook beetroot.

Beetroot Hummus

Ingredients

1 small cooked beetroot
250 g of cooked chickpeas (tin will do)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 or 3 cloves garlic crushed
2 tbsp tahini
virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper and if you feel advanturous a pinch of ground cumin

Method

Nothing could be simpler
In a food processor, whisk the beetroot with the garlic cloves and the lemon
Add the chickpeas, tahini and pulse
Add the oil a little at the time until you have obtained the consistency you need
Season and serve

Another unconventional Hummus Recipe from Pebble Soup

More inspirated healthy recipes with

Savoury Palmiers with Parma Ham 'n Parmesan

First comes the year retrospective in pictures. Then, the predictions for the new year, followed closely by the trends. For people, like me who like lists, the start of any year, is the equivalent of a fortnight in heaven. Time to reflect and to get a frisson of excitement for things to come.

Reading across the board from consumers magazines to trade newspapers, I picked up a few recurring words: Retro-dishes, Home-smoking, Gourmet... 2016 should see us cure our own bacon, fish etc.... which by the way, I did last year with fantastic results; and we should see the word gourmet appearing more and more, gourmet cans will be stacked on supermarket shelves and gourmet doughnuts are on the cards.

A supermarket-magazine went as far as asking, "Will Gourmet Doughnut be the new Cupcake?" probably not a riveting question neither was, "Will savoury doughnut cross the Altlantic."

I am less concerned by the arrival of parsnip doughnuts than by the fact that savoury dessert have long been part of our repertoires therefore why call savoury biscuits, vegetable cakes, muffins and scone, "New Trend?

One recipe which fit in the "savoury dessert" category though technically is a starter or a canapé is  Savoury Palmiers. Found in Jane Lovett "Make it easy", I couldn't resist.

As a kid, I was not a great fan of Palmiers. They always seemed like a lesser choice, something to get out of a packet for a snack but not in a Boulangerie where Meringues-en-chemise and mille-feuilles were so much more enticing. If these elegant sweet and buttery puff pastries aren't still my favourites, It's another matter when it comes to their savoury counterparts.

Savoury Palmiers with Parma Ham 'n Parmesan

Ingredients                                  

• Dijon mustard
• 1 packet of ready roll puff pastry             
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, plus a little extra
• 6 slices of Parma ham
• 1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

Method

I would advise you to have a look at the folding techniques on You Tube before starting but basically

1- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6

2- Unroll the puff pastry with the long edge near you. cut into two. Give it a quarter turn so that the long edge still faces you.

3- Cover each half with a thin layer of mustard, then comes the parmesan, then the parma ham.

4- Work with one half at the time. Fold the long sides by 2.5 cms. brush with the beaten egg. Fold again so that the two halves meet. Brush again with egg and fold one last time.

5- Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for an hour

6- Cut the ends and cut 0.5cm slices and spread them on a tray covered with greased paper. Grate a little parmesan on the top.

7- Cook for 10 minutes. Leave them to cool.

Palmiers can be frozen

Alfresco Competition: Tomato & Mozzarella Morsel

Spring is on their way, admittedly it is taking its time. Anyhow with the prospect of warm weather, our thoughts are turning to "the great outdoors".

There is nothing I like better than to take my meals outside, warming up slowly in the sunshine and relaxing while eating.

So when asked if I could support Al Fresco Holidays and enter their Chef of the Year Competition, I jumped at the opportunity and hopefully you will do the same, there is nothing simpler.

But wait and let's rewind a little, Al Fresco Holidays is a holiday provider of mobile homes throughout Europe. Isn't it time to break about having a break?

My is new to Pebble Soup HQ, it reminds me of my recent press-trip to Brussels, topped with a dressing I found on one of the most reliable recipe website I know, the Great British Chefs

I am not sure that a recipe without a name can be entered so I have named it in honour of the competition

Al Fresco Tomato and Mozzarella Morsel

Ingredients
serves 2

• 1 Mozzarella ball
• 2 medium tomatoes

For the dressing

• zest and juice of one lime
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 3 tbsp of olive oil

Method
cut the mozarella sideways so that it can seat on the plate and
slice each half
do the same with the tomato.
on a plate, alternate the mozzarella and the tomato

The dressing
zest the lime,
squeeze the juice
mix well with the oil and the sugar

dress the morsel and leave in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve on grilled aubergines with herbs and salad on the top or simply as it it.

Sponsored post, the competition is opened until the end of May- the top prize is a holiday to an Al Fresco parc in Europe.

A French Classic : Quiche Lorraine

As we know Lorraine is not the only quiche, one can add whatever takes one fancies to this dish, from fish to vegetable, however if there are many ways of making a quiche, there is only one classic quiche Lorraine and that has got to be an open tarte with bacon, egg and cream dot

The pastry

I read that originally, centuries ago, the pastry was bread dough, may be so but today we are faced with three possibilities and bread dough is not one of them. Puff, shortcrust bought or home-made, take your pick, either of the three work.

It may be a crime to buy shortcrust pastry as it is so simple to make, but it is even simpler to buy.

The filling 

Cheese will add nothing to this dish, on the contrary it might just make it too salty. Simplicity makes this dish good. Chunky bacon, cream and here personally I make a concession and cut the cream with milk on account of the calories and whole eggs. A good quiche needs to rise and mixing the ingredients with a whisk helps.

Nutmeg or no nutmeg
Yes to nutmeg, just a pinch to tease the taste buds

Ingredients

3 eggs
225g double cream and 30ml milk
150g thick chopped bacon
1 ready to roll sheet of shortcrust pastry
a pinch of nutmeg + pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/220C.
Unroll the pastry and place in a large (23cm) flan dish (or use anything else metal and large could be rectangular)
In a bowl whisk all eggs, cream, milk. Add seasoning
Place the bacon on the pastry
Pour the mixture over
Place in the oven and cook (without opening the door) for 35 minutes.
Retrieve from the oven, careful, fingers, it is hot. Leave it to rest for 5 minutes, cut and serve. It is also delicious cold.

Aubergine Raita

At Pebble Soup HQ as in most homes, likes and dislikes of  ingredients determine the menu. I like Raita, a fresh Indian dip which base is yogurt and cucumbers. However he has a strong dislike for this Cucurbitaceae. But that doesn't mean that Raita should be banned.

Though I am known for replacing a ingredient by another, in the case of Raita it took me years to click that I could do so. Be certain that now I have done so, Raita is back on the menu thanks to the aubergine.

Aubergine Raita

Easy to prepare- serves 4

Ingredients

1 aubergine

125ml natural yogurt

1 small red chilli, seeds, no stem

1 garlic clove, peeled

salt pepper

1/2 cumin pref seeds, but ground will do.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6

place the aubergine on a tray and place in the oven for 30 minutes check towards the end, if too hot the aubergine will split

Cool in cold water,

Peel and place in food blender or mixer with all the other ingredients except seasoning and spice

blitz until smooth

add seasoning and spice blitz again

Place in a bowl and serve with small poppadom or pitta, add a swirl of oil on the top- I am using Roasted Pumpkin Seed Oil from Merchant Gourmet which burst with nutty taste flavour.



Savoury Polenta Muffins

Substituting polenta for wheat sounds like a good idea. It is always fun to play with new ingredients and recipes. Except when it doesn't quite work, you can hear in my voice, here, that I am a tat fustrated with the original recipe, it could have been so perfect but oh no.....

What is wrong in the recipe is......... the type of polenta, major ingredient in a polenta muffin, wouldn't you agree. In order to make these gorgeous muffins, here professionally photographed by the very talented Anne Mortensen, I confidently grabbed the polenta packet which was in the pantry. Wrong. To make these Savoury Polenta Muffins you imperatively need a quick-cooking polenta, sometimes labeled minute-polenta otherwise you will end up, like me, with slightly grainy muffins.

This recipe is worth trying, especially if you are "souping" these muffins are filling and taste really good (or so they should) so have a go and let me know.

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Preheat your oven to 220°C / Gas6
Ingredients:
• 50g melted butter, plus extra for greasing the tins
• 250ml milk
• 1 large egg
• 160g quick-cooking polenta
• 30g cornflour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Method
1. Grease your muffin tin with melted butter, set aside.
2. Get a large bowl; add the milk, eggs and 50g melted butter. Whisk together.
3. In a separate bowl, combine polenta, cornflour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt. (The reason the dry ingredients are in a separate bowl is so that they can be well mixed now and then they don’t need a lot of mixing when you add them to the liquid which would make the cornbread tougher )
4. Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet then stir with a wooden spoon until they are only just combined. If you mix it too much the polenta bread will be tough.
5. If you want to add any of the different flavours I suggest; put a few spoonfuls of the mixture into a separate bowl, gently mix with the extra ingredients then spoon each individual into a muffin tin.
6. Once all of the mixture is in the muffin tins, bake for 15 minutes or until golden and just barely firm enough for a skewer to come out of the centre dry.

Bye Bye Cherry Tomatoes

It is time to say good bye to cherry tomatoes. They should be fading away from gardens, markets and supermarkets' shelves until next year.
On Saturday, We (that's he, his mum and I) trotted to the opening of the East Greenwich Pleasaunce Market, I hope this one is to keep and won't be a flash in the pan like so many others.
It is a jolly nice affair, not too big, not too small, The marketing is a little weird though the cliffhanger -so to speak- is "All products made, grown or reared within 100 miles of the market" which they'd better be because if they don't they will be many farmers ploughing the seas and pigs will have to learn to swim!
So there we were, greeting our wonderful local Councillor, when I spotted a flash of ruby bright, cherry tomatoes and suddenly remembered that my friend Pat trusted in my hand a crumble recipe as I was on my way to board the plane in Lyon. So I will do what she did and leave you with the recipe, sorry no photo, once again, it did not linger around long enough for me to get the camera.

If you have some cherry tomatoes left why not try cherry tomatoes and mozzarella skewers ?

Cherry Tomato crumble
SERVES 4
Ingredients
2 lbs cherry tomatoes
5 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces goat's cheese (firm or soft)
2 ounces pine nuts
4 ounces breadcrumbs
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 tsp mixed herbs
salt and pepper

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 375 F, 190 C/ gas mark 5.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan, add the cherry tomatoes, season cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until softened; remove from the heat.Fill an oven proof dish with the tomatoes and crumble the goat’s cheese on top. Heat remaining olive oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the pine nuts and breadcrumbs;
Scatter breadcrumb mix over the tomatoes and cheese, then top with the the Parmesan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.

Tapas Bar & Arancini

I came back from France, full of cooking ideas , but for these recipes, you will have to wait a little as I am off on holidays for 3 weeks.

However it is not all play and no work. On my return from Lyon , a parcel was awaiting: a book to review for Bloggeraids: "Tapas Bar" by the Australian Women's Weekly.

First impression: this book is crammed with recipes and if you entertain a lot this is a book for you. Tapas, aperitifs, mezze, does not matter how you call them when it comes to prepare nibbles to serve with drinks, let's face it, it is more impressif to have a homemade snack rather than a packet of crisps.

The book is divided in 3:

Tapas straight from Spain with empanadas, little bites and others. Grilled mussels with prosciutto is one that I will definitly try.

Antipasto recipes from Italy. If you have ever wondered how to prepare capaccios, there are several recipes there.

Last but not least Mezze with all the wonders from around the meditteranne, brillant.

These easy snacks can also provide novel ideas for the lunch box. All the recipes are tested 3 times so there are no surprises.

Copied straight from the Australian Women's weekly Tapas Bar is one I chose for you, to give you an idea of how well devised are the recipes.

Arancini

Cuisine type: Italian
Cooking time: Less than 60 minutes
Course: Entree

Ingredients :
2½ cups (625ml) salt-reduced chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small (80g) onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ cup (200g) arborio rice
½ cup (125ml) dry white wine
½ cup (60g) frozen peas
40g ham, chopped finely
½ cup (40g) finely grated parmesan cheese
100g mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten lightly
plain flour
1 egg, beaten lightly, extra
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup (100g) packaged dry breadcrumbs
vegetable oil, for deep-frying

NOTE: This recipe makes 18 arancini. Arancini, which means "little oranges" in Italian, make an excellent finger food or light lunch with salad. The risotto mixture can be made a day ahead. Arancini can be fried several hours ahead of serving and reheated in a slow oven.

Method:

Bring the stock to the boil in a medium pan. Reduce the heat to low and keep hot.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan, add the onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the rice; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine, then cook, stirring, until the liquid has evaporated.

Add about 1/3 cup (80ml) of the hot stock; cook, stirring, over a low-medium heat until the liquid is absorbed. Repeat until all the stock is used. Total cooking time will be about 25 minutes.

Stir in the peas, ham and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat, stir in the parmesan cheese. Transfer the risotto to a bowl; cool.

Chop the mozzarella into 18 pieces.

Stir the egg into the risotto. Roll 2 level tablespoons of risotto into a ball; press a piece of mozzarella into the centre of each ball; roll to enclose. Toss balls in flour, shake away excess. Dip into the combined extra egg and milk, then coat in breadcrumbs.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan; deep-fry the arancini in batches until they are browned and heated through.

Drain on absorbent paper. Serve hot with lemon wedges, if desired.

Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.

Cook's note
Don't have the oil too hot as the arancini will burn before the cheese is melted inside. After deep-frying, they can be kept warm in a slow oven

Broad Beans Pâté

What next, well, I challenged myself to find a challenge, I settled upon "My Legume Love Affaire" may be because this is the 13th edition, not that I am superstitious, oh no, no, no, no, only because I wanted to share this super recipe found on the Vegetarian Society website, no, no, no, I have not become vegetarian either.

This is my entry to MLLA 13 conceived by Susan of the "Well-Seasoned Cook" and currently hosted by Sunshinemom of "Tongue Ticklers..."

BROAD BEAN PÂTÉ

A word of warning, try to enrol an unsuspecting passer by to shell the beans as this takes a considerable time.

2lb/900g broad beans, shelled
2tsp/10ml ground coriander
2tsp/10ml ground cumin
2tsp/10ml turmeric
2 cloves garlic, crushed
juice of 1 lemon
4tbsp/60ml olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Cook the beans in boiling water until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid.

2. Place the beans and spices in a liquidiser and blend for 30 seconds.

3. Add the lemon juice and garlic, thin the mixture with a little of the reserved liquid, to form a thick purée.

4. Gradually stir in the oil a little at a time, until the desired thickness of pâté is reached.

5. Season to taste and serve with crudités or bread and a sprinkle of turmeric.

The Secret Scottish Tortilla

I hope you are still with me, lovely readers, I have not been able to use my google stats for a while, it requires a new code which I have got but I don't know where to paste. I shall ask for advice as it is a bit lonely talking to the ether.

Anyway, I recently came back from Scotland where Ailie makes the best tortilla this side of the Alhambra. This time I stole her secret, so no telling OK?




Chop 2 onions









cook slowly 5 medium potatoes diced in olive oil for about 25 minutes







whisk 6 eggs and 2 cloves of garlic pressed.

Now pay attention because here comes the trick:

Return the content of the frying pan into the egg mixture and beat

Pour back into the pan, and here Ailie let slipped that the non-stick quality of the pan is all important. Go tuck tuck around the corner with your spatula as demonstrated. until the tortilla looks set.

do that nifty trick where you put a plate on the top of the tortilla so that it covers it and turn the lot round to transfer the tortilla into the plate, making sure that you are holding your plate with one hand.
transfer the content of the plate back in the pan for a few minutes

et voila, best tortilla known on earth.

Cheddar and Bacon "Flan"tastic

Though quiches are good. Flans are quicker to prepare and have the distinguished advantage to contain less calorie. This dish is great when there are a lot of people, perfect dish of the moment 'cause let face it, if January is a month for counting calories, the festive spirit has not disappeared yet, and the partying continues.

But back to flans with

Cheddar and bacon flan


cooking time: 30 mn/ makes 6
Ingredients:
225g Cheddar
170g bacon
4 eggs
115g butter / very optional/I don't115g very fine bread crumbs
65cl milk/ 1 large onion /pepper


Method:


peel and slice the onion finely/ grate the cheddar/ slice the bacon into small squares


in a salad bowl mix the eggs with the milk, 3/4 of the cheddar, the onion, ground pepper


add the bacon and the breacrumbs here the recipe includes the butter but Hoi it is January, remember.


Mix well, transfer to an oven dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs


Bake in a preheated oven, mark 7/190C for 25 minutes


finish it off under the grill.





et voila, delicious hot or cold

Baba Ganoush & 12 countries

You know that it is a "passion-obsession" when you wake up wondering : "How is "blabla " doing?"

For the past 2 days, the first thing coming to my head has been : How may countries have dipped in "pebble soup"?

12

1 week 12 countries

How exciting, this is just brilliant.

I shall smother the devilish little voice saying :

-Might be only one person per country, with a loud

- SO WHAT?

- And what about the other 182 countries or there about?

No, no no you will not get me down that slippery slope, devilish little voice. This is not like me, I am not a mathematician. But I have spotted large expanse of white empty spaces on google-stats' map. So cunningly, I cooked for them.

Well let's get this right, I did not exactly cooked for the billions of people out there who are not reading my blog (yet), that would be tilting "passion-obsession" into "madness-obsession". I selected a recipe that I love which these countries have in "common with variations".

Russia, Ethiopia, countries in the Middle East and at the edge of the Mediterranean, Egypt, India, Bangladesh and Greece all prepare it "same-same but different" ways.

Janice first mentioned it to me, and I use an adaptation of Sophie Grigson's recipe to make this delicious Aubergine dip.

BABA GANOUSH

Serves 6; Prep. 20 minutes; cooking: 20 minutes

Ingredients
2 aubergines
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon

6 tbs of olive oil
4 tbsp tahini paste (I use the light kind)
2 tbsp fresh mint or parsley, chopped
1- 1 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

salt and cayenne pepper

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 190C/380F/Gas mark 5
• Prick the skins of the aubergines so that they don't explode in the oven.
• Place the Aubergine in a tin, in the oven for 20 minutes, it does not matter if it is longer, as long as they are soft inside and slightly shrivelled outside, leave them to cool slightly
• Remove the skin
• Tip into a food processor small bowl, add the garlic, the lemon juice and tahini
• Add the olive oil as you whisk
• Finish by adding the salt, cumin, cayenne pepper to taste,
• Give it a last whirl, it should be smooth add water if necessary.

Cool it 1/2 hour further in the fridge, Serve with warm pitta, it will blacken slightly but that does not affect the taste.