Monday, June 24, 2024

Carrot Cake Muffins #MuffinMonday

These carrot cake muffins taste like our favorite carrot cake but are much simpler to make; the batter is whisked together with the muffin method. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. No electric mixer necessary! 

Food Lust People Love: These carrot cake muffins taste like our favorite carrot cake but are much simpler to make; the batter is whisked together with the muffin method. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. No electric mixer necessary!

Our younger daughter is visiting this month so since she won’t still be here when her big day rolls around, we are celebrating her birthday early. 

Her usual celebratory meal always includes a picanha (cap of the rump) roast and chicken hearts, both cooked over charcoal, black beans with smoked sausage, rice and molho which is a sort of pico de gallo.

And for dessert, she always asks for carrot cake! I’ve long wondered if I could convert our favorite carrot cake recipe to use the muffin method instead of the stand mixer. I am pleased to say, it works great.

Carrot Cake Muffins

The original cake recipe called for even more sugar to be beaten with the oil but for muffins, this amount was plenty sweet enough. This makes about 20 muffins.

Ingredients
16 oz or 450g carrots
2 cups or 250g flour
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon 
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup or 240ml light cooking oil (like canola or sunflower)
2 eggs, at room temperature

Method
Peel and cut the very ends off of your carrots. Cut them in small pieces. Cover them with water in a medium sized pot and cook until very fork tender.  

Drain the water off and mash them with a potato masher until there aren’t any lumps. Transfer the mashed carrots to a bowl and set aside to cool.


Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pans by greasing them or lining them with paper muffin cups.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 


In another bowl, whisk together the mashed carrots, oil and eggs. 


Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and whisk again until well combined. 


Divide the batter between the cups in your prepared muffin pans. 


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


Remove to a wire rack to cool. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the last Monday of the month which means it’s Muffin Monday, time for me and my fellow bakers to share our muffin recipes. Check them out below: 


#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.


Pin these Carrot Cake Muffins!

Food Lust People Love: These carrot cake muffins taste like our favorite carrot cake but are much simpler to make; the batter is whisked together with the muffin method. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. No electric mixer necessary!

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Sunday, June 23, 2024

Chinese Sausage Broccolini Fried Rice

This Chinese sausage broccolini fried rice is seasoned with onion, garlic and ginger, plus fresh chili peppers, for a lovely spicy explosion of flavor. This is one of our favorite meals! 

Food Lust People Love: This Chinese sausage broccolini fried rice is seasoned with onion, garlic and ginger, plus fresh chili peppers, for a lovely spicy explosion of flavor. This is one of our favorite meals!

Have you ever tried Chinese sausage aka lap cheong or xuong? Made with pork and pork fat and sometimes duck liver, it is normally smoked, sweetened, and seasoned with rice wine and soy sauce. 

You do have to peel the skin off before cooking but it's not hard to do. I love the way the flavorful fat renders out so I always start a stir-fry by cooking the sausage. That way I can stir-fry in it without adding extra oil. 

Chinese Sausage Broccolini Fried Rice

If you aren’t into spicy food, the chili peppers can be left out or reduced. They do add a lovely fresh heat though. 

Ingredients
4 Chinese sausage (lap cheong)
2 in or 5cm fresh ginger
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 red chili peppers, plus extra for garnish, if desired
7 oz or 200g broccolini aka tenderstem broccoli
3 cups or 375g day-old cooked rice
2-3 tablespoons lighter sodium soy sauce or more to taste
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten

For garnish: 1-2 green onions, green parts only, sliced 

Method
Remove the skins from the sausage and slice them at an angle. 


Peel the ginger, onion and garlic. Slice the peppers. Mince them all finely. Or, if you prefer, pop them all in a small food processor to mince. 


Trim the ends from the broccolini and cut the floret parts off and set them aside. Cut the stems into bite-sized pieces. 


In a wok or a large pan with plenty of room for all of your ingredients, fry the sliced sausage until browned. Tip the pan to the side to remove the sausage to a bowl, leaving behind the oil that came out of them. 


Add in the minced ginger, onion, garlic and peppers. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often. 


Add in the broccolini stems and cook till just tender but still crunchy.


Add in the rice and stir to combine well with the stems and seasonings. Cook for a couple of minutes or until the rice is heated through. 


Push the mixture to one side of your pan and add in the lightly beaten egg. I like to use long cooking chopsticks to stir them as they cook to create small curds. 


Once the eggs are cooked, combine them with the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle on the soy sauce and sesame oil, tossing lightly to combine.


Add in the broccolini florets. Stir and toss for a couple of minutes then add the sausage back in. Stir and cook until the sausage is hot again and the florets are lightly cooked.


Taste the rice and add a little more soy sauce, if desired.

Serve topped with the green onions and sliced chili peppers, if using.

Food Lust People Love: This Chinese sausage broccolini fried rice is seasoned with onion, garlic and ginger, plus fresh chili peppers, for a lovely spicy explosion of flavor. This is one of our favorite meals!

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing quick stir-fries! Check out the tasty recipe links below: 


 
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.



Pin this Chinese Sausage Broccolini Fried Rice!

Food Lust People Love: This Chinese sausage broccolini fried rice is seasoned with onion, garlic and ginger, plus fresh chili peppers, for a lovely spicy explosion of flavor. This is one of our favorite meals!

.

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Fresh Mint Sauce

Sharp and bright, this fresh mint sauce is the perfect, classic accompaniment for roasted and grilled lamb. Make it at least one hour ahead of serving to allow the ingredients time to meld together.

Food Lust People Love: Sharp and bright, this fresh mint sauce is the perfect, classic accompaniment for roasted and grilled lamb. Make it at least one hour ahead of serving to allow the ingredients time to meld together..

I know it’s not eaten as commonly in the US as it is in the UK, but lamb is becoming more readily available, at least in Houston, and that is a good thing. It’s one of our favorite animal proteins.

If you live in the States, I can highly recommend the lamb chops that Costco stocks. They are tender and usually quite thick cut so they are great on a charcoal grill. If you live in the UK, Australia or New Zealand, you are spoiled for choice of lamb cuts and sources!

We recently spent a week in Wales and were in absolute lamb-y heaven. We even managed to source hogget (lamb 1-2 years old) from a well-stocked local butcher and salt march lamb, raised in the Gower on the southern coast from the farm shop

If your mint plants are anything like mine, they grow wild in the summer. Now is a fabulous time to make fresh mint sauce.  

Fresh Mint Sauce

My sprigs of mint weighed 125g. Strip the mint leaves from the stalks. Keep the leaves and discard the stalks. This recipe is adapted from one on Fuss Free Flavors.

Ingredients
1 cup, packed, or 54g fresh mint leaves
4 teaspoons sugar
3 tbsp boiling water
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
Good pinch fine sea salt

Method
Place the mint leaves on a chopping board. Spoon the sugar on top


Rock your very sharp knife back and forth through the mint to chop it. Push it into a pile again, and chop some more. 


Keep going until it is chopped very finely.


Transfer the mint and sugar mixture to a small bowl. Add the boiling water, and mix together, using a wooden spatula or spoon so you can pound the mint gently to soften it. 


Add the vinegar and the pinch of salt and mix together. 


Leave to stand for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld. I tasted this immediately and thought, “Oh, no, this isn’t like the mint sauce I’m used to.” An hour later and it was much nicer than store-bought!

Serve alongside/on top of your favorite lamb roast or grilled lamb steaks or chops.

Food Lust People Love: Sharp and bright, this fresh mint sauce is the perfect, classic accompaniment for roasted and grilled lamb. Make it at least one hour ahead of serving to allow the ingredients time to meld together..

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 13th edition of the 2024 Alphabet Challenge, brought to you by the letter M. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the M recipes below:


M. Fresh Mint Sauce - this post!


Pin this Fresh Mint Sauce!

Food Lust People Love: Sharp and bright, this fresh mint sauce is the perfect, classic accompaniment for roasted and grilled lamb. Make it at least one hour ahead of serving to allow the ingredients time to meld together..

 .