Basil Cornmeal Muffins

For dessert, Jorge prepared another item made with cornmeal. This time, it’s a sweet cornmeal muffins.

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Jorge kicked it up a notch by adding basil to it. Jorge served the Basil Cornmeal Muffins with Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce which I will post next.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups fine or medium grind yellow cornmeal
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 7 basil leaves, chopped
  • 2 cups corn kernels
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese for sprinkling (optional)

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Source: Jorge Viduenez

Prep time: 20 minutes;  Bake time: 25 minutes;  Serves 12

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Corn Muffins

June and Keiko made Corn Muffins to go with the Hamburger Soup in the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors.  June is a pioneer volunteer for the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors while Keiko is a new member.

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This Corn Muffin has corn kernels in it which adds a little surprise and sweetness to it.  You may add diced green chiles in it for the extra kick.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons honey or sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Optional add-ins:

  • 4 green onions, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 can diced green chiles, drained

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Ham and Cheese Muffins

Minoo prepared two recipes for the first meeting of Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen for this fall season.  The first recipe is a hand held breakfast or lunch item which is perfect for families on the go.  These Ham and Cheese Muffins are savory instead of the regular sweet muffins.

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These Ham and Cheese Muffins taste like quiche but they are easier to make.  You can even make them ahead and they can be reheated quickly.  It is also a good recipe to use your leftover bread.

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon honey mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon each, salt and pepper
  • 5 cups cubed whole grain bread (about 5 slices, trim off crust)
  • 1 cup shredded Canadian Cheddar, Swiss or Colby cheese
  • 1/2 cup diced deli ham
  • 12 cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise or quarters if they are large.

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Oat Bran Carrot Muffin

Caring Place Community Kitchen kicked start the first meeting for the fall season of 2008. Minoo made a healthy muffin in the Caring Place Community Kitchen.

Minoo prepared a list of pictured references of common kitchen utensils, unit of measurements for kitchen use, some common ingredients and a how to list for the Caring Place Community Kitchen participants. In this particular kitchen, there are more new comers from mainland China and Taiwan who are not familiar with the terminology used in cooking. This pictured references will help them to identify the ingredients better and familiarize with kitchen terminology. Minoo puts a lot of effort in improving the community kitchens and she’s a good leader.

Minoo also briefly covered the objective of the community kitchens which are:

  • introduce healthy and economical recipes
  • promote sharing in terms of work load, cost of food and culture
  • promote team work

Minoo told us that the community kitchens are funded by the Coastal Health Canada and United Way through the Family Services of Canada.

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The Oat Bran Carrot Muffin is great as an after school snack and also great for lunch box. It’s a great way to get fussy kids to eat their vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups oat bran
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cups milk (skim or soured)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • a teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1 cup grated carrots
  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seed (optional)
  • 1 handful of raisin (optional)

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Apple Banana Muffin

Stella made this Apple Banana Muffin for last year’s Caring Place Potluck. She demonstrated this recipe in the Caring Place Community Kitchen upon Minoo’s request.

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The Apple Banana Muffin is moist and the walnuts give it the crunch. This muffin is good for after school snack or breakfast. It can also be made into a loaf.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup oil or melted margarine
  • 1 cup brown sugar (less if bananas are very ripe)
  • 2 to 3 bananas
  • 1 large apple
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Savoury Muffin

Andrea made some savoury muffins in the South Arm Community Kitchen. The savoury muffin is something different from the usual sweet ones like banana muffin, chocolate chip muffin, blueberry muffin and more which you can find in the quick bread category in chowtimes.com.

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These savoury muffins are great for school lunch or picnic. It is a complete meal with all the basic food group like grain products, vegetables, milk and meat. What I like about this muffin is its portability. It can be easily fit into a lunch box and can be easily transported in a cupcake caddy.

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted, cooled slightly
  • 4-5 green onions, diced
  • 3/4 cup red bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 3/4 cup cooked ham, cubed (about 200g)
  • 3/4 cup grated cheese (Cheddar or Harvarti), about 100g

The buttermilk can be substituted with the following:

  • For each 1 cup buttermilk called for in a recipe, use 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream or
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup or
  • 1 cup milk plus 1 3/4 tablespoons cream of tartar or
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk powder and 1 cup water

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Usually, when a recipe use baking soda as a leavening agent, it needs an acidic environment for the chemical reaction to take place.

A little side note here, the South Arm Community Centre will be starting a cooking club for seniors in January 2008. It will be held in the South Arm Community Kitchen every 2nd and 4th Tuesday from 10am to 12:30pm. The cost for this program is $3 per session, to cover the cost of the ingredients. This cooking club is intended for seniors to come and meet regularly and cook healthy and nutritious meals. For those interested, you may contact Stella of South Arm Community Kitchen @ 604 718 8070.

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Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffin

Back to basic baking, I made some Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffin for breakfast. Muffin is little cake that can be prepared quickly.

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This muffin recipe has cinnamon in it and I love baking with cinnamon because the kitchen will be filled with the aroma of cinnamon as when the muffin is baking.

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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
  • 1/4 cup margarine, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2/3 cup chocolate chips

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Blueberry Muffin

Minoo’s second recipe is a healthy Blueberry Muffin made with whole wheat flour and honey. Minoo uses frozen blueberry because blueberry season is over. The frozen blueberry is as good as the fresh one.

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup unbleached white flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 cup milk or buttermilk
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup blueberries

I will not blog in details of the process of making the blueberry muffin as I had blogged about a Banana Blueberry Muffin earlier. The steps will be similar.

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Banana Blueberry Muffin

This Banana-Blueberry Muffin is a recipe from Betty Crocker. Banana and blueberries blend well together with the sweetness from the banana and tartness from the blueberries.

I got this recipe from the web in my early days of learning how to cooking six years ago. Since then, it’s been a classic in my family every blueberry season.

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Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup mashed very ripe banana (1 medium)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed and well drained) blueberries.

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Banana Bread Muffin

During the summer months, I try not to use the oven that much as it heats up the whole place. So, I normally bake my favourite Banana Bread in muffin tins. By doing that, I can reduce the baking time to about one third of the normal time require for baking in a loaf pan.

I have this Banana Bread recipe which bakes in a loaf pan for 70 minutes but I made it in muffin tins in for only 20 to 25 minutes. This way, it’s also cost effective as we can save on hydro bill.

Here is the Banana Bread which I made in the muffin tins.

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The muffins turned out beautifully with nice colour.

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Ingredients

  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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