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Judy Ridgway


March 2015:

SAVOURY CHEESE MUFFINS

These delicious cheese muffins from California are very versatile. You can use wholemeal flour or fine oatmeal for a slightly more crunchy effect and you can vary the flavour by choosing a different cheese each time. Try mature Cheddar, Parmesan or Emmental. Serve for breakfast or with a small salad as a light lunch or starter course..

Ingredients

  • 125g self-raising flour
  • 50g fine oatmeal or wholemeal flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ level tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 100g strong cheese, half grated, half cubed
  • 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 150g Greek yogurt
  • 125ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Method

  1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
  2. Lightly brush a muffin tin with a little of the olive oil.
  3. Mix together the self-raising and wholemeal flour or oatmeal, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt in a bowl.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix the cheese, remaining oil, yogurt, milk, and egg.
  5. Combine all the ingredients from the two bowls and divide between the muffin cases in the muffin tin.
  6. Place in the oven for 20-25 mins until golden.
  7. Remove and cool slightly on a rack.

OLIVE OIL CONFIT CHICKEN

Olive oil is often used for confit in Provence, and is much more cost-effective than duck fat. Serve with a rocket and orange salad.

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp salt
  • 4 sprigs lemon thyme, 2 sprigs leaves picked, 2 left whole
  • 4 garlic cloves, 2 crushed, 2 skin on and bruised
  • 4 juniper berries, crushed
  • 8 black peppercorns, crushed
  • 1 small orange, zest only
  • 500g chicken drumsticks
  • 1 litre mild olive oil

Method

  1. To make the confit, crush the salt with the thyme leaves, crushed garlic, juniper, peppercorns and orange zest.
  2. Place the chicken legs in a Ziploc bag, sprinkle with the flavoured salt mix and leave in the fridge overnight.
  3. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2.
  4. Brush the excess salt off the chicken then place in a casserole and cover with the olive oil.
  5. Add the whole sprigs of lemon thyme and the bruised garlic.
  6. Cover then cook for 2 hours, or until the meat falls off the bone.
  7. Drain the chicken on a rack. Reserve 1 tbsp of the oil, and heat in a large frying pan.
  8. Fry the legs over a medium-high heat until they are brown and crispy (about 2 minutes each side


FIG AND BLACK OLIVE SPREAD

This is another great recipe from the USA, this time from California Olive Ranch and it uses their own extra virgin olive oil. The recipe comes from award winning cookbook author Marie Simmons in partnership with Valley fig Growers. If you do not have access to Californian olive oil use any good Greek olive oil instead..

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. dried figs, stems trimmed, quartered
  • 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Crostini, for serving
  • 50-75g crumbled feta or blue cheese, optional

Method

  1. Place the figs and 1 cup water in a small saucepan.
  2. Bring to the boil.
  3. Cover and cook over low heat until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.
  4. Combine the figs, olives, fennel seeds, garlic, orange zest, and black pepper in a food processor.
  5. Process until pureed, stopping to scrape the sides of the container down once or twice.
  6. With the motor running, slowly add the extra virgin olive oil.
  7. Transfer the mixture to a container or bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  8. To serve, spread on the crostini and serve plain or with a little crumbled cheese on top.

If you are interested in more recipes using extra virgin olive oil see “REMARKABLE RECIPES from the people who really know about extra virgin olive oil – the producers” at Amazon for kindle and for iTunes.


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