Corn Muffins

My mum has been bugging me to make something with cream corn because we had alot of it in the fridge. I have no idea where it came from, so anyway when i hear corn i could only think of cornbread, corn pudding and savoury corn muffins. Firstly cornbread doesn't use cream corn so that's out. Secondly, corn pudding would be perfect and i even have a fool proof recipe for it and tastes good too BUT i have made it before and i wanted to try something new so i guess my last option is corn muffins. I went through a few recipes in books, online websites, blogs and came to realise that most of the recipes calls for corn kernels. Just the corn NOT cream corn....sigh...so i decided to concoct my own recipe by combining a few that i have read here and there. But basically i can say that i adapted most of the recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Corn Muffins recipe.

SAVOURY CORN MUFFINS
(yield: 12 regular sized muffins)

1 cup all-purpose flour
11/2 cup cornmeal
3 tbsp granulated sugar
21/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp melted butter
3 tbsp corn oil
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup cream corn

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Fit the muffin pan with paper muffins cups.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients...flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In another bowl, jug or large measuring cup, combine the liquids...buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg, egg yolk and whisk till combined. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry and gently stir to blend. The batter will be lumpy and that's the way it should be. Lastly stir in the cream corn till just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and when a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and allow to cool 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.

This recipe was a success...muffins had a nice texture and taste good, but i think no harm adding more cream corn for cornier taste...theeheheee

Shepherd's Pie

I had Shepherd's pie a few days ago but didn't take any pictures. The pictures above are taken in the summer when I first tried out the recipe I found here.


Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 celery, sliced
Some mushrooms, quartered
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp salt (it depends if you want to put it but I didn't because I was using Maggi's Beef stock and it's salty enough)
1 tsp oregano
3 tbsp tomato paste
250g beef (diced)
1/4 cup beef stock
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
Some cheese depending to your liking.
Mashed potatoes (see underneath)


Step by step (ooh baby, gonna get to you girl)
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

2. Heat oil and butter in pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, mushroom, garlic and oregano. Cook until vegetables are tender but not soft (approx. 7-10 mins depending on how big the chunks are).

3. Stir in tomato paste and cook until mushrooms are soft and tomato paste has turned brick red (approx 8 mins, but mine didn't turn brick red. It was just... red?).


4. Stir in the beef and add in the broth, the Worcestershire, some pepper and salt (if you like). Break up any large clumps of meat and cook it until the meat is no longer pink (approx 5 mins, depending on how big the chunks are).

5. Transfer the meat and vegetables to a 2-quart oval casserole dish and spread the mashed potatoes over the top.

6. Sprinkle with cheese, if using. Bake until potatoes brown and the juices bubble around the edge, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Mashed Potatoes:
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled quartered
2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the potatoes in a saucepan with cold water to cover by about 1-inch and add the salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes. At the same time, combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan and warm over low heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

Drain the potatoes and return to the saucepan. Toss the potatoes over medium heat until dry. Add the heated milk mixture and mash the potatoes until just slightly chunky, then stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

I didn't use the instructions of making the mashed potatoes because I like mine chunky and rough, not the smooth whipped potatoes you get at KFC. I just boiled some potatoes until it's soft (butter knife cuts through effortlessly), mashed it with cheddar cheese and a bit of milk (or single/double cream, if you like) using a fork. I also didn't peel the potatoes because I used new potatoes instead of russet so you just need to clean it well and it saves you the hassle of peeling it hahaha. It's up to you really, even those instant mash potatoes would be OK, I would think.

I also added a bit of paprika to get that wee bit of zingggg.


I must say that my mother makes the best Shepherd's pie but the ones I made was quite good (angkat bakul!). The great thing about Shepherd's pie is that it lasts for a couple of days and even though it probably would take you up to 2 hours of preparation and cooking time, it saves you from cooking the next 3 meals because you just can pop it back in the oven or the microwave and dinners ready!


Selamat mencuba.