Friday 25 April 2008

go savoury with cheesy chutney muffins!

so, today was the day to test out my McQuade's Celtic Chutney that i received through Blakemakes and use it in a recipe.


i located a recipe from the Nigella Bites cookbook for cheesy welsh rarebit muffins and modified it to fit what i wanted to do. the cheese used had to be a good one and when a recipe calls for good cheese, i use great cheese - Dubliner vintage irish cheese...it rocks the planet...my favourite cheese ever. anything else just pales in comparison...

followed the recipe with a few substitutions - read how another blogger had replaced the rye flour in the recipe with crushed weetabix. i couldn't find any rye flour in the supermarket so i did the same...perfect...worked like a dream! and here was the end result...

the texture of these was lovely...light and airy - definitely due to my being diligent with not over-mixing. then the chutney that i had mixed into the batter had all softened up inside the muffin and kinda exploded into these little pockets of chutney flavour. the cheese lived up to all expectations and provided that wonderful sharp, mature cheddar taste that only comes with really great cheese. the combination together was brilliant. fantastic as an alternative to bread with a lovely salad.

would definitely make these again...i think they'd be perfect to bring over for a savoury afternoon tea party or even to have at home to pop in lunch boxes to go with salads...but what am i going to do now that i have run out of fabulous chutney??? i shall have to resort to what i can locate locally...i suppose...but this sure was a fun challenge. loved getting the jar, loved baking with it, certainly loved sampling it. i'm just having too much fun all round!

now for the recipe...

Welsh Rarebit Muffins Recipe
adapted from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson

INGREDIENTS:

* 1-1/2 cups self-rising flour

* 1/3 cup rye flour (i used 2 crushed weetabix)

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

* 1 teaspoon salt

* Generous 1/2 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

* 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil

* 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt

* 1/2 cup whole milk

* 1 egg

* 4 generous Tablespoons of McQuade's Celtic Chutney

1. Mix the wet ingredients in a jug
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
3. Add the wet to the dry, mix quickly with a fork until just combined
4. Divide between 12 muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay! These look great! I've actually never had savory cupcakes (muffins). Can I come over? ha ha

Unknown said...

hey blake, it would be quite a trip for just a muffin...but hey! you're welcome any time :)

Anonymous said...

fantastic - you're quite inspiring!

Unknown said...

hi alison, thank you! and thanks again for the chutney! it was easy to be creative when working with something so delicious...so the big question is, when will it be available in ireland???

Anonymous said...

ha funny airy fairy - maybe one day - we're growing slowly....but whenever you fancy any let me know - i'd be happy to send!

Anonymous said...

These look gorgeous! What a great use of chutney! And I agree - Dubliner is the cheese of all cheeses! Hx

G said...

Mmmmmmmmm. My mouth is watering. Hope you can get your hands on heaps o' chutney soon.

Anonymous said...

Mmm they look great! I made this recipe ages ago and I remember they were delicious and the idea of the chutney as icing is inspired!

Unknown said...

hi alison, thanks for that offer! that's really very sweet of you :)

hi helen...it really is the cheese of all cheeses - i missed it so much when i lived in asia that i used to being it back with me for a supply...but it would never last long enough!

hi blog princess, i shall definitely be on the lookout for interesting chutney here...but i've never seen a fig and ginger one before...that's just pure genius!

hi lorraine, thanks...the chutney as icing came to me in a moment of blinding inspiration as i was wondering how to make it more presentable...this is a great recipe...but would we expect anything less from the great Nigella?

Hopie said...

mmmm! those sound amazing. i've never seen a savory muffin recipe that inspired me before, but I think I have to try this one (although not sure where I'll find that chutney and cheese in Paris -- I'll have to play with it)!

Unknown said...

hi hopie...i agree, i'm not big into savoury muffins but i had to challenge myself and use the chutney. you're in france? wow! when i was there i tasted some of the most amazing cheeses ever so you will definitely have fun playing with this recipe :)

Hopie said...

You're right! I certainly can't use "lack of good cheese" as an excuse ;-)

Unknown said...

hi hopie...definitely...i'd love to see what fabulous french cheeses you could incorporate into a recipe like this!

Hopie said...

Would you believe my current oven is too small to fit a muffin tin in? It's true. I sometimes make muffin tops, but I think for this recipe, I'll be digging in after I move at the end of the month and get a real oven! (Very exciting :-))