Bacon, Blue Cheese and Polenta Muffins

We had a BBQ party at home recently and ended up with quite a lot of leftover food. Amongst them was a whole box of cheese as there was too much food and we didn't get round to eating it on the day. We ate some of the cheese but there was so much and I didn't want to waste it so I thought I'd bake with it. I found a pack of bacon in the fridge and immediately decided on bacon and blue cheese muffins. I spied some polenta which has been in my cupboard for a while so I added them in as well. The result was a delicious, crumbly savoury muffin. You can definitely taste the bacon and depending on which bit you get you also get a hit of the blue cheese. The basil was very subtle and almost undetectable but added a lovely fragrance and hint of sweetness to the muffin. The polenta made them quite crumbly but I thought that was the best bit. 

I'm sending this to the No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. This recipe is made from leftovers - blue cheese, bacon and polenta. 

It's also perfect for Love Cake hosted by Ness from Jibber Jabber UK as the theme this month is 'Pack me a Picnic' These muffins are perfect for picnics as they are easy to bake and easy to transport. 

 I added a bit of brie as I didnt have enough blue cheese 

 adding blue cheese, basil and bacon

 top with a small piece of bacon

 I put them under the grill for a minute or two just to brown the tops. 

 You can see the crumbly texture 

Makes 10 large muffins

Recipe adapted from Fold in the Flour



6 rashers of smoked bacon (you need 5 for the recipe and 1 for the decoration)
200g plain flour
150g fine polenta
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
80g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
5 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
175mls milk
20 fresh small basil leaves, finely chopped

90g blue cheese, crumbled (I used about 70g of blue cheese and 20g of brie as that was all I had) 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Cook the bacon under a grill or on a frying pan and drain the excess oil. Cut into small bite size pieces.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, polenta, salt and sugar. 
• In another bowl, mix the egg, oil, water and milk.
• Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently.
• Add in the blue cheese, chopped bacon and chopped basil leaves.
• Stir again until just mixed. 
• Divide the batter evenly between 10 muffin cases.
• Place a small strip of bacon on top of each muffin.
• Bake in the pre heated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Mine were only slightly browned but cooked so I placed them under the grill for a minute or two until the tops were browned. 

Fig, Lardon and Dolcelatte Tart

I watched Eric Lanlard demonstrate this recipe at the BBC Good Food Show and J has been asking me to bake this ever since. My Christmas party seemed like a good time to try it out. I made a vegetarian broccoli and red pepper quiche and I thought that this might appeal to the carnivores. I don't have a rectangular tart tin which is what Eric used so I used my normal round pie dish. I definitely need to buy a rectangular tart tin as it looks more impressive with the figs sticking out. Unfortunately the fresh figs I found were quite small and they got lost in the pie. However, the flavour was absolutely delicious. The combination of the lardon, blue cheese and mascarpone cheese with the figs was heavenly. The thyme complemented the tart and rounded out the flavours nicely and the walnut crust was tasty and smelt amazing whilst baking. It's no surprise then that this is one of Eric's favourite recipes and he describes it as his dream light lunch or starter. 

 making the walnut pastry 

 layer the figs and bake for 10-12 minutes 

 adding the dolcelatte cheese and cooked lardons 

 

Recipe availabe from the baking mad website

I used 4 figs instead of 8 as that was all I had but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly and it worked perfectly. I can't wait to try it again using a rectangular tart tin.