Cheddar Chili Bean Muffins #MuffinMonday

Made with leftover chili con carne, these cheddar chili bean muffins are a wonderful savory bake, perfect alone or as an accompaniment to your meal.

When researching recipes for another post, I came across a dish I had never heard of called fritoque (pronounced free-toh-kay.) It was on the menu of a Mexican restaurant in San Antonio way back when, made with cooked beans, broken tortilla chips and cheese. One variation on the recipe was a substitution of chili con carne for the beans. 

I made the chili then I made a hybrid fritoque that was half beans and half chili. Then I ran out of time to edit the photos and create the post before the event deadline, so I’ll have to share it another day. It was really tasty! 

But meanwhile, I had leftovers of the chili-bean mixture and using it in muffins seemed like a great idea. I’ve made chili cheese dog muffins before and they were fabulous. This recipe is very similar but no weenies. 

Cheddar Chili Bean Muffins

If you don’t have leftover chili con carne, you can use canned but keep in mind that the moisture content of the canned chili may be higher so strain it somewhat if it’s really wet.

Ingredients

1 cup or 125g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 oz or 57g extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated, plus extra for topping, if desired

1 cup or 260g chili with beans

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil, plus extra for the muffin pan

1 egg

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 6-cup muffin pan by brushing it with a little oil. 

Combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cheese in a large mixing bowl.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your egg, oil and chili with beans.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when it’s still quite dry looking.

Divide your batter between the 6 muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops with the extra cheese, if using.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

It’s Muffin Monday, our first of 2023! Check out all the great muffins my friends are sharing with you today. 

• Almond Flour Banana Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Apple Bran Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Bran Buds Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cheddar Chili Bean Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Cinnamon Crumb Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Dried Fig and Pineapple Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Persian Love Cake Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• Small-Batch Double Chocolate Banana Muffins from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

#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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Passion Fruit Posset

Made with only four main ingredients, there is no simpler or more delicious dessert than a passion fruit posset. It’s tart, sweet and creamy!

Last year around this time, just before my birthday in fact, a package arrived on my porch. When I opened it, I found 10 gorgeous passion fruit. No idea where they came from. 

I posted to social media in the hopes that someone would enlighten me and it turns out they were a birthday gift from my elder daughter, who knows I LOVE PASSION FRUIT. 

I’m not much of a cake lover so for my birthday, I made passion fruit posset just like this, except in one big bowl. I served it with a spoon into smaller bowls once it had set. We all enjoyed it thoroughly and so not too many days later, I made it again and poured it into pretty glasses to chill and serve. 

Since I have some passion fruit pulp in the freezer, I’ve decided to continue birthday tradition and make this again. This year it’s just two of us at home so I’ll probably halve the recipe.

Passion Fruit Posset

If you can’t find fresh passion fruit, check the freezer section in your nearby grocery stores, especially if you have ones that cater to Asian or Latin clientele. They often sell frozen pulp. Whenever I see the fresh ones at a reasonable price, I freeze my own as well. 

Ingredients – to serve four 

5 large passion fruit, halved and pulp scooped out

1/4 cup or 60ml fresh lemon juice

2 1/2 cups or 590ml double cream

1/2 cup or 113g caster sugar

pinch fine sea salt

Method

Strain the seeds out of the passion fruit, extracting as much juice as possible. I find it helpful to vigorously whisk the whole mess which loosens the seeds from the pulp. I got about 1/3 cup or 80ml of juice.

Pour the juice into a measuring vessel then add some seeds back till you reach the 1/2 cup or 120ml mark. Reserve the rest of the seeds for topping. 

Add the lemon juice to the passion fruit juice, stir, then set aside. 

Combine the cream and sugar in a medium saucepan set over a low heat and stir for 2 mins to dissolve the sugar. 

Turn the heat up to medium and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2 mins (set a timer) then remove from the heat and immediately stir in the passion fruit and lemon juice mixture. 

Divide evenly between four (8 oz or 240ml) cups or glasses - do this quickly, as the mixture will start to thicken. Since I was using glasses, I put a small teaspoon in each to make sure the heat didn’t break the glass. 

I removed the teaspoons before chilling. 

Leave to cool for 10 mins, then chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. The posset can be made up to three days ahead and chilled.

Once set, add the reserved passion fruit pulp to the top.

And serve. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes that we make in our families for special occasions like birthdays. Check out all the links below! 

• Eggless Mango Semolina Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• {Harry Potter} Platform 9 3/4 Cake (Chocolate Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting) from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Hawaiian Beef Sticks from Palatable Pastime
• Holy Cow Chocolate Pie from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• The Mann Men's Birthday Treats: Bûche De Noël, Baked Alaska, and Tiramisù from Culinary Cam
• Passion Fruit Posset 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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Lemon Ricotta Lobster Ravioli

Lemon ricotta lobster ravioli are easy to make and even easier to eat with their light, flavorful filling and tender pasta outside. Truly it’s a special meal for any special person or occasion. 

As I said in my original spinach and cheese ravioli post, our family loves the group project of making ravioli. The joint effort produces more ravioli much faster which helps us not feel so bad when they are eaten even more quickly. And they do disappear quickly. 

I was on my own making these lemon ricotta lobster ravioli so I decided to pare down the ingredients for the pasta dough and make just enough for about 24 ravioli, a manageable amount and still more that my husband and I could eat at one sitting. It’s always nice to have some leftovers of a nice dish and I can assure you, this is indeed a Very Nice Dish.

Lemon Ricotta Lobster Ravioli

You can serve this with your favorite sauce, but one caveat: Choose one that will complement and not overwhelm the flavors in your filling. We want that lobster to shine! I’ve included the ingredient list and instructions for my garlic browned butter wine sauce, in case you’d like to try it as well. It’s not the prettiest color but, oh, the flavor! So good. For the lobster meat, I used two lobster tails (8 1/4 oz or 230g total weight) and steamed them for about 7 minutes until internal temp reached 160°F or 71°C.

Ingredients

For the pasta dough:

1 1/2 - 1 2/3 cups or 187.5- 208g tipo 00 flour (plus extra for rolling out the pasta)

1 egg 

1 egg yolk (save white for filling)

2 teaspoons olive oil or salad oil 

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the ravioli filling:

4 oz or 112g cooked lobster meat, chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup or 125g whole milk ricotta cheese

1 egg white

Zest of 1 lemon

1 sprig Italian parsley, just leaves, chopped finely, plus extra for garnish, if desired

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the garlic brown butter wine sauce (optional):

3 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, sliced as thinly as possible

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup or 60ml dry white wine

1 cup or 240ml lobster or seafood stock (from a cube is fine – I used shrimp)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

In large bowl, combine 3/4 cup or 94g flour, 1/4 cup or 60ml water and remaining dough ingredients. With mixer at slow speed, beat for two minutes, occasionally scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Using a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk, stir in enough of remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Wrap in cling film and let stand at least 30 minutes. (After the 30 minutes, refrigerate the dough if you are making this ahead of time.)

While the dough rests, we can get on to the ravioli filling. It couldn’t be simpler. Mix all the ingredients together well in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Once the dough has rested, cut it in four equal pieces and remove one. Wrap the rest of the dough again with the cling film.

Flour the dough ball well and use a rolling pin or a pasta roller to roll it out quite thinly to the size of your ravioli plaque. Check out my original ravioli post to see my roller in action.

Flour your ravioli plaque liberally and lay the sheet of pasta on top. Fill each hole with about a teaspoon of the filling.

Using the second quarter of the dough and, following the same instructions, roll it out to the size of your ravioli plaque.

Use a pastry brush to wet the pasta on the plaque between the spoons of filling.

Carefully, starting at one end, lay the second sheet of pasta on top of the filled one, sticking the two sheets together and pressing out the air as you go along.

Turn the ravioli plaque over and let the filled pasta drop out onto your countertop. If it sticks, just gently pry it off.

Trim the ravioli around the edges and cut them apart.

Set them aside on a plate lined with cling film that has been well floured.

Continue the process until all the ravioli are rolled out, filled and cut apart. I put another layer of cling film and flour again with each layer of ravioli.

The ravioli should be stored in the refrigerator, covered with cling film until you are ready to boil them.

I re-rolled the scraps that were cut off and just made a few noodles with them so they didn't go to waste. I cooked those a different night to add to a veggie stir-fry.

If you are making my garlic brown butter wine sauce, now’s the time. If not prepare your own sauce.

Cook the butter over a medium heat, watching it carefully and stirring occasionally until it turns a nutty caramel color. 

Add in the sliced garlic and cook stirring for about 15-20 seconds. 

Immediately whisk in the flour until it's incorporated into the butter.

Slowly pour in the wine and stock and whisk until creamy. Cook over a medium heat until the sauce reduces slightly and thickens. 

Add the salt and stir well. Keep warm until the ravioli are cooked. 

To cook the ravioli, boil water with salt and a little olive oil in a large pot, as you would for regular pasta, and lower the ravioli in gently a few at a time. Stir gently so they don’t stick to each other or the bottom of the pot. They only take a few minutes to cook. 

Remove with a slotted spoon and tap it gently on a folded paper towel to get rid of most of the water. 

Serve with the sauce of your choice or my garlic brown butter wine sauce. Spoon over the ravioli to serve.

Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired. 

Enjoy!

It’s Fish Friday Foodie time and this month we are starting the year off in style by sharing lobster recipes. Check out the links below! Many thanks to our host Camilla of Culinary Cam. 

• Keto Lobster Scrambled Eggs by Sneha's Recipe
• Lemon Ricotta Lobster Ravioli by Food Lust People Love
• Lobster Tacos by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Lobster Bao by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Surf and Turf (Grilled Steak and Lobster) by Palatable Pastime
• Warm Lobster Salad by Culinary Cam

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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Breakfast Martinis

This special cocktail from the Emirates business class menu features bitter orange marmalade, gin and Cointreau, a delightful libation to perk you up any time of the day.

Back when we were living in Dubai, my husband flew Emirates Airlines for all of his business trips. The upside to his constant travel was that he quickly moved up to a platinum frequent flyer membership which allowed him to nominate one friend or family member to gold status. I was that lucky person!

There were several advantages to gold status the least of which was occasional upgrades to business class or, more often, offers of an upgrade for a just a few hundred dollars more at online check-in. For flights longer than seven hours, I always jumped on those deals. Once I even got to travel first class and take a shower at 30,000 feet but that's a story for another day!

On the Emirates A380, the business class cabin includes a bar, with drinks, snacks and places to sit and chat. The friendly cabin crew manned the bar and would make any cocktail you could imagine. We even had them make our own cocktail invention Bulago Breezes for us on occasion. 

But one of my favorites from their own menu were their breakfast martinis. Sharp in a good way from the marmalade, gin and lime juice but sweetened slightly by the Cointreau and orange juice, I think breakfast martinis are the perfect Sunday morning brunch drink. 

Breakfast Martinis

Full credit for this drink recipe goes to the lovely folks at Emirates Airline and the wonderful crew who always made each trip such a great experience. I don’t recall the name of the lovely person who gave me permission to take photos as he made the cocktail and share them, but I am very grateful. We miss flying Emirates so much and it will probably be our favorite airline forever. 

Ingredients for 1 breakfast martini (easily doubled for two!)

1 teaspoon orange marmalade

1 1/2 oz or 44ml gin

3/4 oz or 22ml Cointreau

3/4 oz or 22ml lime juice

3/4 oz or 22ml orange juice

Ice

Note: 1 1/2 oz is one standard jigger, also known as "a measure" in many cocktail recipes. 

Method

Put 3-4 ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. 

Add the teaspoon of orange marmalade, the gin, Cointreau, lime and orange juices. 

Shake for 10 seconds.

 Strain into a martini glass. 

Good morning and enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today is all about breakfast! Check out the great breakfast recipes below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Breakfast Martinis from Food Lust People Love
• Breakfast Quesadilla from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cinnamon Sugar Dutch Baby Pancake from Our Good Life
• Cottage Cheese Pancakes from Palatable Pastime
• Egg-Free Wheat Pancakes from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Millet Set Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Mini Cinnamon Rolls from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Kesari Semolina Sheera / Kesari Rawa Sheera from Sneha’s Recipe
• Maple-Sweetened Overnight Oats from Culinary Cam
• Quick Kande Pohe from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen

 

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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