Bacon and Herb Muffins

*I know*  It has been ages.....

Here is a recipe for some savoury-type muffins.  You could really put anything in them but these were nice, warm with a spread of butter on them.  Mmmm....  I had no fresh herbs so used dried instead and no Parmesan here either.  I used English Tasty Cheddar.  Okey dokey?

*Taken from Women's Weekly 'COOK' published 2006, pg 509*

Ingredients

6 Bacon rashes (420g), rind removed, chopped finely

3 cups (450g) SR Flour

60g butter, chopped coarsely

1 tbs coarsely chopped fresh basil

2 tbs coarsely chopped fresh chives

2 tsp coarsely chopped fresh oregano

3/4 cup (60g) finely grated Parmesan 

2 eggs

1 cup (250ml) milk

Method

Preheat oven to moderately hot (200C/180C fan-forced).  Grease 12-hole muffin pan.

Cook bacon in heated lightly oiled small frying pan, stirring until crisp.  Drain on absorbent paper; cool 10 minutes.

Sift flour into large bowl; rub in butter.  Stir in bacon, herbs and cheese, then combined eggs and milk.

Spoon mixture into holes.  Bake, uncovered 20 minutes.  (I cooked for 30 mins).  Turn onto wire rack to cool.

Makes 12

Pesto Corn Hotcakes with Salsa

These were pretty nice, especially if they were served as an entree. A serve of 2 hotcakes is plenty (we had 4 each). Instead of the salsa these could be served with a couple of rashes of bacon I think and could be served for Brunch. I thought the salsa was a little over powering.

*Taken from 'New Idea' magazine*

Ingredients
for the Hotcakes
125g can corn kernels, drained
125g can creamed corn
3 eggs, separated
1/3 cup milk
1 cup Self Raising Flour
1 tbs basil pesto
Fresh Basil leaves to garnish

for the Avocado and Bacon Salsa
3 bacon rashes, finely sliced
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
1 avocado, finely diced
1/4 cup basil leaves, finely shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Method
To make salsa, heat a large non-stick pan over high heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring, until browned and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper. Cool for 10 minutes. Combine bacon, onion, tomato, avocado and basil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make hotcakes, combine corn kernels, creamed corn, egg yolks and milk in a medium bowl. Stir in flour and pesto until combined.

Beat egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric beater until firm peaks form. Fold half the whites into corn mixture, then fold in remaining egg whites. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Lightly spray with cooking oil. Cook three hotcakes at a time. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of corn mixture into pan. Cook for about 2 minutes. When bubbles appear, turn hotcakes over and cook for another 2 minutes, or until lightly browned underneath. Remove and cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve warm hotcakes topped with avocado and bacon salsa. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Serves 4