Zucchini Feta Muffins #MuffinMonday

Finely grated zucchini and crumbled feta add flavor and moisture to these tasty zucchini feta muffins. They make an excellent breakfast or snack. 

For the last several years we have enjoyed having a young couple live next door to us. Through the pandemic, the birth of their first baby girl, winter ice storms and summer hurricanes, we have supported each other. 

We were so excited for them this summer when they found a bigger house in our same neighborhood to buy but very sad for us. We miss having them next door. 

But, in better news, we have a new neighbor! She has moved into Houston to be closer to family and we are looking forward to getting to know her. Of course, I’ve already baked her some welcome cookies, but I decided perhaps she needed some muffins as well. 

Zucchini Feta Muffins 

This recipe makes 9 regular muffins. I highly recommend buying feta in brine and crumbling it yourself. I find the already crumbled feta much drier. Plus what you don't use keeps fresh in the brine for ages.

Ingredients

1 small zucchini (approximate weight after removing seeds: 120g)

1 1/2 cups or 188g flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1 egg

4 oz or 112g crumbled feta, divided

Method

Cut the ends off of the zucchini, then cut it in half and scoop the seeds out and discard (or compost) them. 

Grate the zucchini onto a paper towel. 

Fold the paper towel over to cover the zucchini and roll it up in a cloth towel. Wring as much juice as you can out, set aside. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line 9 holes of a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cases. Or use nine silicone muffin cups on a baking tray.

Separate out a small amount of the crumbled feta for topping. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and cayenne. 

And in the grated zucchini and feta. 

Use a fork to gently mix the zucchini and feta into the flour to coat. 

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg and milk. 

Pour the wet ingredients in to the dry and fold until just combined.

Divide the batter among the muffin holes and top each with a little of the reserved feta crumbles. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. 

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Share some with a neighbor! 

Enjoy!

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s time for Muffin Monday! Check out the lovely muffins my blogger friends are sharing today. 

• Chocolate Chip Nut Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Fruit Curd Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Mocha Oatmeal Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pumpkin Apple Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Zucchini Feta Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot

Quick to cook but bursting with fabulous flavor, this creamy shrimp risotto is made in an Instant Pot, with garlic herb Boursin added for extra richness.

I love eating risotto of any kind. It’s always a welcome bowl of comfort food, especially as the weather starts to turn chilly. 

Some days I love standing next to the warm stove, ladling in stock and stirring until the arborio rice releases its starch and turns into creamy wonderfulness worthy of the time and effort. 

And some days I don’t! That is when I turn to my handy Instant Pot which makes an equally lovely bowl of risotto, comparatively speaking, in mere minutes. It’s creamy even without the Boursin but don’t skip that ingredient! It adds herbs and a subtle cheesiness that makes each spoonful so very good. 

Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot

The weight of the shrimp is AFTER peeling and deveining. I buy the already deveined easy-to-peel ones without heads. I used Knorr shrimp cubes to make the stock. This recipe is adapted from one on Food Network.

Ingredients

1 shallot

5 cloves garlic

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups or 300g arborio rice

1/2 cup or 120ml dry white wine

3 1/2 cups or 840ml seafood stock

1 lb or 450g peeled and deveined large shrimp

3/4 cup or 85g frozen peas, thawed

1 Boursin cheese, 5.2 oz or 150g, at room temperature (see photo below)

Zest 1 lemon, divided

Optional to serve: grated Parmesan

Method

Mince the shallot and garlic. 

Set an Instant Pot to sauté on the medium setting. When the pot is hot, add 2 tablespoons of the butter, then add the shallot, garlic and a good pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in the rice and cook until the rice is toasted, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in the wine, scraping the bottom of the pot, and cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Turn off the sauté function. 

[As you can imagine, photos of that step were nothing but steamy blurs!]

Stir the seafood stock into the pot. 

Close the lid and turn the steam valve to the sealing position. Set the pot to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. 

While the rice is cooking, season the shrimp with salt and pepper. 

When the time is up, turn the valve to the venting position and release the steam completely. Be careful of any remaining steam and unlock the lid.

Add the seasoned shrimp in a single layer on top to the pot along with the peas. 

Turn the Instant Pot to “warm” mode. Close the lid and let the shrimp cook for 5 minutes. (Set a timer as the Instant Pot will count up but, at least on mine, there’s no way to set it to go off warm at a certain time.) 

Stir the shrimp into the rice, close the lid and leave on warm for 5 more minutes. (Set another timer!)

Add in the Boursin, lemon zest and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the risotto.

Stir until the cheese and butter are melted. 

Divide among bowls. Top with lemon zest. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Enjoy!

It's Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing our favorite risotto recipes. Check out the links below. 

• Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot from Food Lust People Love
• Just in Time for Halloween: Spooky Risotto from Culinary Cam
• Risotto ai Funghi from Our Good Life
• Risotto with Chicken and Cranberries from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shrimp Risotto from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Vegetarian Creamy Mushroom Risotto from Sneha's Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken

Tangy and tasty, this spicy vinegar braised chicken is made with balsamic and red wine vinegars and lots of garlic. It’s delicious! 

Back in the day, it was quite common, at least in the southern United States to save rendered bacon grease for frying other ingredients. In fact, I have my grandmother’s can on my stove today but I must confess that it now contains just the regulators for my pressure cooker.  

Not because I don’t save my bacon grease – bite your tongue! - but because I keep my bacon grease in a Mason jar in the refrigerator. It lasts for ages like that and I just keep adding to it whenever I fry bacon.

I guess in the old days, refrigeration wasn’t common. My mom remembered when an ice box was actually an ice box and a man would deliver a big block of ice each week to put in the bottom drawer to keep everything up top cool. 

All of that to say, this recipe calls for bacon grease! It adds a lot of flavor but if you don’t save yours – why not? - please substitute olive oil or canola. 

Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken 

We like food spicy so I use a whole teaspoon crushed red pepper here. Use less if spicy isn’t your thing. This recipe is adapted from one on New York Times Cooking. 

Ingredients

2.2 lbs or 1 kg bone-in chicken thighs

Fine sea salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons bacon grease (or substitute olive or canola oil) 

6 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and lightly chopped

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

½ cup or 120ml good quality balsamic vinegar

½ cup or 120ml good quality red wine vinegar

5 1/2 oz or 155g baby roma tomatoes, halved

For garnish and added flavor:

Small bunch cilantro, hard stems discarded, chopped

Method

Season chicken well on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, heat the bacon grease over medium heat. Panfry the chicken, skin side down first, making sure not to crowd the pan. We want to get some good color on the skin and if the chicken is packed too tightly, it will steam instead of fry. 

Turn the chicken once the skin is browned and panfry till golden on the other side as well. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside on a plate deep enough to contain any juices that form. 

Remove all but a couple of tablespoons of the oil from the pan. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until it starts to become fragrant and lightly golden, about 2 minutes. 

Add in the crushed red pepper and fry for another 30 seconds or so. Pour in the vinegars and bring to a boil. 

Reduce the heat to medium low and put the chicken and any accumulated juices back in the pan. 

Cover and cook for 15 minutes, basting the chicken occasionally with the sauce. The chicken will let out juice so for a while you’ll have more sauce but just keep cooking. 

Remove the lid and continue cooking and basting until the sauce is almost completely gone and the chicken is fully cooked inside. (You can check by cutting into one of the thighs. There shouldn’t be any pink left near the bone.)

Add in the tomato halves and pop the lid back on for a minute or two, so they warm through. Baste again so that the tomatoes are covered with sauces.

Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro. 

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 22th edition of the 2024 Alphabet Challenge, brought to you by the letter V. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the V recipes below:

• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Vanilla Mug Cake 
• Culinary Cam: Teriyaki Sauce-Swabbed Venison Burgers on Seeded Sourdough Buns 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Veggies Mixed Dal Khichdi 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: No Churn Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream 
• Blogghetti: Homemade Vanilla Latte 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Vegetable Cutlets 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Vietnamese Chicken Stirfry 
• A Messy Kitchen: Tropical Vols Au Vents 
• Food Lust People Love: Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken 
• Magical Ingredients: Val Dal Veggie Paratha 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Sweet & Spicy Balsamic Vinegar Deviled Eggs

Here are my posts for the alphabet challenge, thus far:
A: Anchovy Deviled Eggs
B: Spicy Braised Ginger Pork Belly
C: Cecilie's Favorite Coleslaw
D: Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing
E: Everything Pizza Tartin
F: Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs
G: Grape Juice Jigglers
H: Crispy Bacon-wrapped Chicken Hearts
I: Raspberry Rhubarb Ice Cream
J: Java Dry Spice Mix Chops 

K. Korean Barbecue-style Meatballs 

L. Easy Lamb and Fresh Tomato Curry 

M. Fresh Mint Sauce 

N. Miso Butter Noodles 

O. Spicy Orange Braised Short Ribs 

P. Homemade Piri Piri Sauce 

Q, Cointreau Glazed Orange Quick Bread 

R. Leek and Lobster Mushroom Risotto 

S. Cheesy Sausage and Egg Casserole 

T. Stuffed Turkey Cutlets 

U. Spicy Urad Dal -

V. Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken - this post!

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Za’atar Chickpea Crackers

These crunchy za’atar chickpea crackers are the perfect little scoops for hummus and dip. They are naturally gluten free too!

Living in the Middle East, first in Abu Dhabi then, almost 25 years later, in Dubai, I fell in love with za’atar. The word means thyme in Arabic and refers both to the plant native to the region and the spice mixture that is made with it. 

Any Middle Eastern cook will tell you that their family makes the best za’atar, as they all have their own recipe. Along with thyme, most contain toasted sesame seeds, sumac and sometimes coriander and cumin.

I do have one caveat. Make sure your za’atar is fresh. As with most dried herbs, the spice mix loses its flavor when it gets old and sometimes the sesame seeds will turn rancid. It's best to buy it in small batches and replace at least every three months.

Zaatar Chickpea Crackers

Watch these guys like a hawk when they are in the oven. My parchment paper flipped up in the front so I didn’t notice that the ones closest to me were burning! Ugh. 

Ingredients

1 cup or 95g chickpea/besan/garbanzo flour, plus a little extra for kneading

1 tablespoon za’atar

1 teaspoon black sesame seeds

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon ghee, melted and cooled

3-4 tablespoons water

Method

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Add in the melted ghee and then slowly add the water a tablespoon at a time until you can form a soft dough. I used my Danish whisk. 

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface lightly sprinkled with chickpea flour. 

Sprinkle on a little more flour and knead briefly. Roll the dough into a ball. 

Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and press down. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is very thin. 

Leave the dough to rest while you heat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. 

Carefully peel back the top parchment paper. If the dough sticks a little, press the paper back down, rub it gently then try again. Mine really stuck at first, but as I eased it off, rubbing again occasionally, it finally came off fairly clean. 

Cut it into squares with a pizza cutter. 

Carefully pull the parchment paper with the crackers onto a baking sheet.

Bake them in the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until they are golden and crispy. As I mentioned above, keep a close eye on them! Remove from the oven and use the pressure of the pizza cutter to separate them into crackers. Ugh, burned ones in the back! 

 

Serve with hummus or your favorite dip! 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for crackers or recipes that use crackers. Many thanks to our host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below. 

• Sourdough Discard Crackers from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Keto Cheese and Chive Crackers from Cook with Renu
• Easy Inside Out Chicken Cordon Bleu from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Homemade Everything Seasoned Crackers from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Homemade Goldfish Crackers from Culinary Cam
• Parle Cheesling Bhel from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Whole Wheat Crackers from Sneha's Recipe
• Za'atar Chickpea Crackers from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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