butter tart mini-muffins

I had grand plans for a baking spree today until I realized that I have only 3 eggs in the house. Fortunately, the first thing on my list to make only required two, so these got made. The dad says that they are winners - they definitely get you right in the sweet tooth. Everyone loves butter tarts (especially me), but I am an absolute failure at pie crust. I even managed to fail that part of my Quantity Foods class in university. These taste like tarts, but without the pie crust. Perfect. Even I can’t fail.

There are only 6 ingredients and it takes just minutes to mix up. The batch I made this morning are already gone and the dad is requesting that I make them again. He is planting the garden this weekend without my help, so a trip into town to buy more eggs is the least that I can do. This started with a recipe for Pecan Pie Muffins, but a few changes morphed them into more of a butter tart muffin.

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup butter, melted (but not hot, allow to cool after melting so it doesn’t cook the eggs when you mix them together)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously oil a mini muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and walnut pieces. In a separate bowl beat the eggs then add the vanilla and butter and whisk until smooth.

Stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Cups should be about 2/3 full. Depending on the size of your muffin tins, this should make between 18 and 24 mini-muffins. If you are making larger muffins, you may need to adjust the cooking time.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 t0 15 minutes. They should be starting to brown around the edges, but remain a little soft on the inside (not uncooked, but a little softer than normal). Allow to sit in the muffin tin for a couple of minutes before attempting to remove. Cool on wire racks when done.

Linked to Wildcrafting Wednesday

grilled balsamic asparagus

We’ve been eating our weight in fresh asparagus for the past week thanks to neighbours who are harvesting more than they can eat themselves. This is our favourite way to prepare it (even the small squeaky kid admits that this is tasty - and nobody can argue that asparagus is exciting to kids).

This, a baked potato, steak and a big glass of wine just might help you get through the weekend when your husband thinks it’s a good idea to allow the children to invite 3 friends over for a sleepover. And then they spend 24 hours giggling, screaming and breaking the odd window.

• 1-2 lb fresh asparagus
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Rinse and snap off the tough ends of the asparagus.

Place asparagus spears on a platter or cookie sheet, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (a couple of tbsp of each or more, depending on the amount of asparagus). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roll the asparagus around in it until well coated.

Heat grill to high heat and grill for a few minutes on each side or until asparagus is done.

Linked to Frugally Sustainable, Wildcrafting Wednesday

my new favourite meal in minutes – butter chickpeas (or butter chicken)

This is my new favourite meal in minutes. I read about it on Stone Soup - you can find her recipe here. Mine is only slightly different because it would be hard to make this recipe any easier. My kids will eat butter chicken without any complaint – probably because it is such a mild curry. I used to buy the canned simmering sauce to make it but this is even more inexpensive and just as fast and easy since I have the spices around anyway. Instead of using a can of whole tomatoes, as she did in her version, I used passata (strained tomatoes). It’s easy enough to make it spicier by adding more chilli powder or flakes, but I keep it mild so the kids won’t complain.

To get it on the table quickly, I start some basmati rice in the rice cooker right away and let it cook while I assemble the rest. And if, like me, you find you used up the last of the basmati rice, nobody will complain if you make it with regular long grain rice.

It’s a bit of a cheat on the original slow simmered butter chicken, but it works. It’s also very good with some frozen peas or some chopped spinach added in just before the cream. I freeze leftovers to take to work for lunches as well.

Butter Chickpeas (or Chicken)

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp garam marsala
• 1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes (I used 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp chilli powder)
• 1 can chickpeas (~ 2 cups), drained or 2 cups leftover cooked chicken
• 1 jar strained tomatoes (passata) (400g / 14oz)
• 2 – 3 tablespoons cream

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan, add spices and cook on medium high heat for about 30 seconds.

2. Add drained chickpeas (or cooked chicken) and cook for another minute or so.

3. Add tomatoes and bring to a fast simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes or until sauce has reduced to desired thickness.

5. Stir in the cream. Taste and season.

Linked to Gastronomical Sovereignty, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday