Turkey Camembert Cranberry Muffins #MuffinMonday

Turkey and cranberry jelly come together with Camembert to create the perfect use of Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers in a savory muffin.  

Just when I think I’m so smart to come up with a great combination of ingredients that not only uses up leftovers but is a classic favorite mixture, I do a web search and realize that I am not the only bright bulb on the chandelier.   There are a bunch of turkey cranberry muffins out there, as it turns out.  But these are mine.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
2 eggs
1 cup chopped turkey  (Sorry, I don’t have a scale here to weigh it as well.)
1/2 cup or 120ml cranberry jelly or jam
4 oz or 115g chopped Camembert (I leave the rind on but you can cut it off if it offends you.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan by greasing it or lining it paper muffin cups.  The cheese will stick as it melts out of the muffin tops, so grease the top of the muffin pan as well.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add in your chopped Camembert pieces and divide them with your fingers, coating them with the flour mixture so they don’t stick together again.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, oil and eggs.

Cut the cranberry jelly into cubes.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Add in the turkey and cranberry jelly and fold gently, trying to keep the cranberry jam pieces whole.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.

Enjoy!

We are staying in a delightful home, filled with eclectic decorations.  I was struggling to find a horizontal space to place the muffins for a photograph.  Here's the whole wonderful shelf.

Three-Cheese Sausage Muffins #MuffinMonday

A wonderful savory muffin with cheese and pan-fried smoked sausage, these three-cheese sausage muffins also have just a little kick from the addition of cayenne pepper.

Cards on the table: I am not a sweet person. (Although my friend, Shelly, assured me last night that I am. Thanks, Shelly!) What I am trying to say is, I prefer savory dishes to sweet ones every time. For the past few weeks, at least since I joined Muffin Monday, all of the muffins have been sweet so I had recipients in mind whenever I was baking. This week it’s all about me! me! me!

I baked these last Thursday in preparation for posting on Monday and Friday morning I woke at 4:20 with a sense that someone was calling my name. I believe it was these muffins. Do you know how hard it is to go back to sleep with a muffin shouting your name? Nigh impossible. Through sheer will and earplugs I managed to get back to sleep, rising at 7 a.m. to let the dog out and silence the muffins. I ate two in a row. Revenge was sweet. Or rather, savory.

The original recipe from The Pioneer Woman called for a generous amount of cheese already but because I am a fan of cheese platters, I always have little bits and pieces of leftover cheese in my freezer. I added Brie and Camembert to the mix, along with some smoked sausage because when I don’t add bacon to something, I like to add sausage. Fact. Also, there is no such thing as too much cheese.

Ingredients
7 oz or 200g smoked sausage
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional but highly recommended)
12 oz or 340g cheddar cheese (The original recipe called for Colby Jack but I have yet to see that in Cairo, at least not at my little local store.)
2 3/4 oz or 80g EACH Camembert and/or Brie
1 cup or 240ml milk
1 egg 
1/4 cup or 55g melted butter 

Method 
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and generously grease your muffin tin. I would suggest putting the batter into a greased tin rather than muffin cups because the cheese in these makes them bake up lovely and browned and crunchy all over. You’d miss that in a paper cup. I used non-stick cooking spray.

Slice 14 very thin rounds off of your sausage then chop the rest into small pieces.

Gently fry the round pieces in a non-stick skillet until they are lightly browned on both sides and have just rendered their fat. Drain on a paper towel. We are going to use these to decorate the tops of the muffin so they will cook the rest of the way in the oven.

Tip the rest of the sausage into the pan and fry until they are brown and rather crispy. Drain on a paper towel.

Meanwhile, grate your cheddar cheese and cut your Camembert and Brie into little chunks.

Whisk together your dry ingredients, then stir in the cheddar cheese. Add in cayenne pepper if desired.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, milk, and butter together.

Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until it is just combined.

Fold in the Camembert, Brie and chopped sausage.

Spoon the batter into your very well greased muffin tin. Top each filled cup of batter with one of the 12 best-looking rounds of sausage. Eat the two leftover ones. Baker’s bonus.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are looking browned and crispy and delicious and you can’t wait another second to eat them.

Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes then use a non-pointy knife to loosen/remove them from the muffin tin.

Enjoy!

Pasta with Spinach and Baked Camembert

A fabulously easy option for entertaining, this Camembert baked with garlic and rosemary is set on the table where guests can help themselves to a spoonful or two to drizzle over pasta that's been tossed with baby spinach. 

Last night it was my distinct and utmost pleasure to cook dinner for my elder daughter and her friends. Their cozy hallway kitchen had all the necessary tools despite its compact size and the company was superb.

Our menu included the pasta, fresh Rhode Island-grown grape tomato salad and strawberries and cream.


The fun for me started in Eastside Marketplace where I got to peruse their fresh produce and extensive selection of dried goods. I can see why it has been voted best local market for so many years. With a large Whole Foods in one direction and Eastside Marketplace in the other, the Brown and RISD students are spoiled for choice.

This recipe comes originally from one of Jamie Oliver’s books. I think it might have been Ministry of Food, but don’t quote me.

Ingredients
1 X 250g box of Camembert cheese – you want one with the wooden box
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
100g of Parmesan
16 oz or 500g dried rigatoni or penne pasta
150g or three good handfuls of fresh spinach

Method
Preheat over to 180°C (350°F) degrees. Open the box of cheese and unwrap it. Place it back in the wooden container. (I suggest lining with foil first! The first time I made this, my box popped the side and my cheese melted all over the foil-lined pan that I had put it in.) Score a circle in the top of the skin, then lift it off and discard.

Peel and finely slice the garlic. Pick the rosemary leaves off the woody stalk. Lay the garlic slices on top of the cheese, sprinkle with some pepper and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.



Scatter over the rosemary leaves and gently pat with your fingers to coat them in the oil. Grate the Parmesan.



Place the box of cheese on a baking tray and put it into the preheated oven for 25 minutes, until golden and melted.



(Mine was well melted after only 20 minutes so watch it.) Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. When your cheese has 10 minutes left to cook, add the pasta to the pan and cook according to the packet instructions. When the pasta is cooked, add the spinach to the pan – it only needs cooking for 10 seconds or so. Drain the pasta and spinach in a colander over a large bowl, reserving some of the cooking water. (I forgot to add the spinach before I drained the pasta and found that it wilted just as nicely when added to the pot of hot pasta with the lid on.)



Drizzle with a couple of good glugs of olive oil and add the grated Parmesan. (I probably should review a recipe before I decide to make it again after many months, but I didn’t. Anyhow, I also completely forgot this part yesterday and didn’t even buy Parmesan, but in the past I have left out the last part of this step anyway and let everyone add Parmesan at the table. Some like it, some don’t in my family.) If you do add the grated Parmesan here and the sauce is too thick, add a splash of the reserved cooking water to thin it out a bit. Season with salt and pepper and give it a good stir. Remove the cheese from the oven.

Divide the pasta between your serving bowls. Either drizzle the melted Camembert on top or pop the box of cheese on the table and let everyone help themselves to a lovely, gooey spoonful.

Enjoy!

Everyone served themselves last night and then fought over the last vestiges of cheese while doing the dishes. We finished the evening sipping red wine, sharing funny stories and listening to Johnny Cash. Bliss.