March 24, 2005
The End-All Muffin
Juicy pears ... crunchy nuts ... creeeeeamy goat cheese ... fragrant rosemary ... spicy spring onions ... need I say more? Yes?
Before you dash off to the kitchen to whip these up, here is how I arrived at this luscious combination. Cupcakes ... Muffins ... the possibilities are endless. So endless that I spent the equivalent of a week searching for a recipe worthy of this month's brilliant Is My Blog Burning? topic. I'm sure many of you out there were in the same boat.
Overwhelmed with sweet cupcake recipes, I eventually succumbed to a brain cramp. I decided to go savory. I chose to focus on one ingredient, to pick a favorite and build a recipe around it. I was finally reaching the shore of decision! It was quite easy from there as goat cheese has recently been at the top of my craving list. As for the remaining ingredients, nothing pairs as nicely with goat cheese as fruits and nuts. The scallions and rosemary were "the icing" on my vision. I was very happy with the results -- nicely browned on the outside, soft and moist on the inside ... the pears practically melt into the muffin ... and the goat cheese mates so well with the hint of sweetness and that earthy nut flavor.
Ingredients:
1 cup diced pear (about 1 pear)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
1 cup whole milk
4 ounces soft mild goat cheese
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
2 green or spring onions
2 teaspoons fresh minced rosemary
Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. and butter twelve muffin cups.
Mash: 2 tablespoons of the milk with the goat cheese, until well mixed.
Sift: The flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, in a separate bowl.
Whisk: Butter with remaining milk and egg.
Stir: Butter mixture, pears, nuts, rosemary, and scallions into flour mixture until just combined.
Scoop: Half of batter evenly into muffin cups (I use an icecream scoop).
Top: With about 2 teaspoons of the goat cheese mixture. Then, scoop the remaining batter over the goat cheese mixture in each muffin cup. Sprinkle a tiny amount of reserved chopped nuts on each muffin.
Bake: 20- 25 minutes, until golden.
Place: On a rack to cool slightly before stuffing into face.
If you are a wonderful person and decide to bring a few of these with you to say, your best friend or neighbor, wrap in baking paper and tuck a few sprigs of rosemary inside the warm package.
