Brie and Scallion Muffins #MuffinMonday

These Brie and scallion muffins are the perfect small batch savory breakfast or snack on the go. Pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy!

We had a family debate a few years back about what to call spring onions. In most Asian cookbooks they are called scallions. When I was growing up, my grandmothers called them green onions. In the UK they are often called salad onions. And as mentioned in the first sentence of this paragraph, spring onion is yet another name. 

All I can tell you at this point is that I love them. They add a fragrant herby-ness to recipes along with a delightful mellow onion flavor. Plus, they are a beautiful green garnish atop any dish. 

My other favorite thing about them is how they will grow again if you cut the green parts off, leaving behind the white and roots. Pop them in some water and watch how they take off! After a week or so, I use a chopstick to poke holes in a soil-filled flower pot and add the onions. You will have an endless supply all summer!

Brie and Scallion Muffins

This recipe makes a small batch of 6 muffins but is easily doubled to make 12. If you don’t have Brie, substitute Camembert or another soft cheese. 

Ingredients 

3 1/2 oz or 100g Brie

3 green onions/scallions, green part only

1 1/2 cups or 188g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

A couple generous grinds black pepper

1/3 cup or 80ml canola or other light oil, plus more for oiling the pan

1/2 cup or 120ml buttermilk

1 egg

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 6-cup muffin pan by lightly brushing it with oil. As you will see from the photos below, I have misplaced by 6-cup pan. Squint and pretend you don't see the three empty holes later, okay? 

Cut the Brie into small cubes, trimming the rind, if desired. I like to leave some on so tend to trim the sides so there’s only rind on the bottom and top. Set aside at least six cubes to top the muffins with before baking.

Slice your scallions/green onion tops into small pieces and set aside a little pile for garnish. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper.

Add the Brie cubes to the flour mixture a few at a time, stirring between additions, so that they are coated by the flour and won’t stick back together. 

Fold in the bigger pile of scallions. 

In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk and egg.

Fold your wet ingredients into your dry ones. 

Divide the batter between the muffin cups and top with the reserved cubes of Brie and sliced scallions.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

It’s the very last Monday of July so that means it’s time to celebrate Muffin Monday! Check out the muffin links below:

• Banana Oatmeal Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Brie and Scallion Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Almond Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Peach and Lavender Crumb Muffins from A Messy Kitchen

#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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Fresh Blackberry Tarts

Sweet summer berries are the star in these fresh blackberry tarts baked in puff pastry with a hint of balsamic, honey and sea salt. Treat yourself and serve them with thick pouring cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The best thing about summer is all of the fresh produce that is suddenly available from either local sources or at least ones that don’t add airmiles to the price. I think we can all agree that anything picked nearby tastes more like it should since it’s allowed to ripen on the vine or bush instead of in the hold of a truck or airplane.

In the Channel Islands, there are blackberry bushes growing wild! Here they are called brambles and despite the vicious thorns, we wait eagerly for the berries to ripen so we can pick them. Nothing beats free fruit, am I right?

Fresh Blackberry Tarts

Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry sheets come in a box of two with a total weight of 1.1 lbs or 490g. I used only one sheet for these four tarts.

Ingredients for four individual tarts

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but chilled (I used Pepperidge Farm, see note above)

12 oz or 340g fresh blackberries

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 teaspoons butter

Optional to serve: thick pouring cream or vanilla ice cream.

Method

In a mixing bowl, toss the blackberries and the cornstarch together. 

Add in the honey, vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir gently to combine. Set aside to macerate for 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and prepare a baking pan by lining it with baking parchment or a silicone liner. 

Gently unroll the puff pastry and cut it into four equal pieces. Place them in the prepared pan. Fold the sides up slightly, pinching them together to form an outside crust. If the sides don’t want to stick together, wet them with just a drop or two of water to help them adhere to each other.  

Give the blackberry bowl a good stir then divide the mixture between the four crusts. 

Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter each, cut into little bits.

Bake in your preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until the crusts are puffed and browned.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. As you can see, some of the juice ran out but the tarts were still juicy and the blackberries were soft.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Serve with fresh cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with blackberries! Check out the links below. 

• Blackberry and Apple Slaw from Palatable Pastime
• Blackberry Cobbler from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Blackberry Ricotta Pizza from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Fresh Blackberry Margarita from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Fresh Blackberry Tarts from Food Lust People Love
• Jamun/Indian Blackberry Chia Jam from Sneha's Recipe
• Roasted Blackberry & Rosemary Goat Cheese from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Summer Berries Flaugnarde + Olallie Gin Fizz from Culinary Cam

 

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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Sesame Cucumber Radish Salad

Fresh and spicy, this sesame cucumber radish salad is a great accompaniment to any pan-fried (or roasted) protein like chicken or fish. It’s light, flavorful and delicious. 

This summer the Channel Islands have been unseasonably cold and rainy so I’ve been looking for ways to add a little heat and freshness to our lives. This cucumber radish salad was the perfect side dish for pan-fried salmon with Asian flavors. A little soy, a little ginger and garlic. Perfection.

I can also attest that this salad is even tasty the next day. And still crunchy!  

Sesame Cucumber Radish Salad

Don’t get too caught up in the weight of the cucumber. A little more or less won’t matter. Same with the radishes. Want to add more, go for it! If you can’t find English/telegraph cucumbers, use regular ones but scoop the seeds out. This recipe is adapted from one on Budget Bytes.

Ingredients

1/4 cup or 60ml rice vinegar

1 small red chili pepper 

4 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

1/2 English cucumber (about 7 oz or 200g)

4 radishes

2 green onions

Scant 1/4 cup or about 30g chopped peanuts

Method

Mince the chili pepper as finely as you can. Cut the roots off of the green onions and discard. Cut of the white parts and any harder, thick green parts and mince them. 

In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, chili pepper and the minced green onion parts. Set aside for five minutes. This tempers the pepper and onion while also infusing the vinegar with heat and flavor, making a more even distribution of the spice throughout the salad. 

Slice the cucumber and put it in a bowl.

Now whisk in the sugar, sesame oil, and salt into the vinegar. Set the dressing aside.

Slice the radishes thinly and add them to the cucumber bowl.

Slice the green parts of the onion snd set a small portion aside to garnish before serving. 

Pour the dressing over the sliced cucumbers and radishes. 

Add in the bigger pile of sliced green onions and stir to combine. 

Cover with cling film and refrigerate until ready to eat. Roughly chop the peanuts.

Give the salad a brief stir occasionally. The cucumber will release liquid. How much depends on how long your salad is refrigerated. If it’s a lot, I like to transfer the vegetables to a serving plate before adding the chopped peanuts.

Put the cucumbers and radishes on a serving plate. Spoon over the dressing, straining off most of the liquid but making sure to include the minced green onion and chili peppers. 

Top with the chopped peanuts and the sliced green onion parts. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with cucumbers. Many thanks to our host Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out all the links below. 

• Cucumber and Avocado Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cucumber Raita from Cook with Renu
• Cucumber Rosettes from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Roasted Apricots, Cucumber, and Tomato Gazpacho with Alioli from Culinary Cam
• Semolina Cucumber Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Sesame Cucumber Radish Salad 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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