2020 - April 28 - blue cheese feta muffins - risotto in oven

Tuesday 28 April 2020

Wanting some savory muffins, I thought ... what cheeses do we have in the fridge?  Blue cheese and feta!!

Unfortunately, we finished the muffins before I thought about taking photos.

Blue cheese feta cheese muffins

Makes 12 small muffins

1 cup cheese (grated, crumbled)

1 cup self-rising flour

2 teaspoons smoked spices

½ cup milk

¼ cup veg oil

12 short cut Viennas (optional)

Preheat oven to 205 oC.  Grease/line 12 muffin pan.  In a big bowl, mix the self-rising flour with the cheeses till coated.  Add the spices.  Add the milk and oil, mix and spoon into muffin holes.  Press short Vienna into each cup and bake for 25 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, carefully remove the foil and let it cool down on wire rack/plate.  Eat warm.

Alma Pretorius

Dinner - my version of risotto - the lazy way

I have usually made this dish in a glass baking dish with a lid - baking time usually were around 50 minutes.

For some reason, I thought ... let me try using the cast iron pan with lid ... oh my ... the dish was ready in 30 minutes!!!

With this dish, you can add vegetables you like, a protein you want ... I've made this with raw fish fillets, raw chicken - it's a lovely 'play around' recipe!

Risotto a la Alma cast iron pan vegetables  (picture was taken after we've eaten the eggs)

1 cup jasmine rice

4 cups boiling water

20 g spices (packet of Ghoulash spices) - or use 7 teaspoons stock powder

3 tbsp butter

Garlic

Crushed ginger

1 onion, roughly chopped

4 cups vegetables (fresh & frozen)

100 g tomato paste

3 eggs

Bit of oil

Preheat oven to 200 oC.  In cast iron pan on stove, fry the spices in the oil.  Remove from stove.   

Add the rice, butter, boiling water, onion, vegetables and tomato paste.  Stir till butter is dissolved.  Put lid on.  Bake on center rack for 30 minutes.  Remove, see if liquid has evaporated and rice is soft.  Put pan back on stove on highest setting, make 3 holes in the rice mixture, break in the 3 eggs, put lid on and bake till eggs are done.

Recipe:  Alma Pretorius