Friday, April 23, 2010

Dreamy savory muffins

I've been having some pretty bizarre dreams lately. Some have such an elaborate storyline that remind me of a Hollywood production. Some have elements that are so disconnected from each other that they seem like excerpts from a scattered life lived in my own little dream land. All of them incredibly vivid, all of them making it hard for me to wake up in the morning. I feel like I've been sleeping a lot but not getting any rest.






I consider dreams to be a straightforward reflection of my waking concerns, things that preoccupy me in my social life. I'm not the kind of person who gives unnecessary explanations and meaning to simple dreams or rush to interpret them. Freud would be furious at me for this, I know.






I've read somewhere that dreams have been responsible for numerous inventions, scientific discoveries, works of art, books. It is said that Mary Shelley dreamt up the story of Frankenstein. That to me is amazing. You can just fall asleep and let your mind do all the work for you without you even trying.






Well, my dreams, however complicated or strange they may be, have yet to lead me to a momentous discovery or a noteworthy idea for a book. But they do sometimes lead me to great food or rather the yearning for it. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm a bit greedy at times but every now and then I dream about food. I've had dreams that I'm baking cakes, always chocolate cakes, that I'm gobbling an enormous souvlaki bought at an Athens street vendor near the house I grew up in, I've even had a dream once that I was at a family gathering where the centerpiece at the dining table was a humongous bird, supposedly a chicken, with crispy skin. I kid you not. These are dreams I've actually had and I'm not afraid, or embarrassed, to admit it. Do any other people have dreams like that, I wonder, or is it just me?






Now, these muffins here, I have not dreamt about but they are indeed dreamy. They are not sweet muffins, these are savory ones made with some delectable ingredients guaranteed to produce a spectacular result. Cheese, eggs, dried figs, milk, herbs, flour. Mix them all together and you end up with a splendid array of fluffy and light muffins.






Greece ranks second in the world in the production of figs and I can attest to the fact that they are absolutely delicious. I practically lived off the stuff each end of summer while I was growing up. There was an old huge fig tree in the back yard of our summer house near the sea and every kid in a two kilometer radius came to feed off those glorious fruit. We would climb up the branches of the tree, shaking them fiercely to release the ripe fruit and then we would greedily eat them, one after the other. I was lucky that I could find Greek dried figs in Holland because my muffins wouldn't be the same without them.






The batter is a usual one for muffins. Eggs, milk and flour but the rest of the ingredients are the ones that make all the difference. The cheese of choice for these muffins is Gruyère. Gruyère is a hard yellow cow's milk cheese originating from Switzerland that is most commonly used for fondue. While I was baking the muffins, my little expat kitchen filled with the aroma of melting cheese and for a moment I thought I was baking a cheese pie. But no, it was something far better than that.






The nutty and slightly tart flavor of the Gruyère and its creamy texture balances perfectly with the sweetness of the dried figs and the earthy flavor of the fresh herbs. The cheese melts beautifully inside and around each muffin, taking on a golden brown color as it bakes in the oven. The eggs help the muffins puff up but once taken out of the oven they fall down a little, creating a cute dent in the middle. They are so unbelievably light in texture that you'd think there's no flour in them. No stodginess whatsoever. Specks of green from the fresh rosemary and thyme make their appearance once you bite into the muffin and the crunch of the small sweet fig seeds make their presence known in between your teeth.







These are better eaten within the same day that you bake them, preferably straight out of the oven. They are perfect for breakfast or for a Sunday brunch with fresh orange juice, served on a champagne glass for a touch of luxury, but I also love having them in the evening as a snack, while watching a movie, with a glass of white sweet Riesling wine, a rose Gewürztraminer or a big glass of lager beer. I'm sure you won't be able to resist them and you'll end up nibbling on them all day long so by nighttime they'll be long gone. They're that enticing!










Savory Muffins with Gruyère Cheese, Dried Figs, Rosemary and Thyme
Adapted from Dina Nikolaou

The original recipe calls for the Greek cheese Graviera but unfortunately I couldn't find any in Holland. Gruyère though is excellent for this recipe, if not better. In case you cannot find Gruyère or Graviera I would suggest you use Swiss Emmental which is a great substitute.
If you have trouble finding fresh rosemary or thyme you can use dried. Instead of 1 tsp of each herb use 1/2 tsp.







Yield: 16 muffins

Ingredients
3 medium-sized eggs
180 ml (3/4 cup) olive oil, plus a little extra for greasing the muffin pan
240 ml (1 cup) whole milk
160 g self-rising flour
1 tsp baking powder
200 g Gruyère cheese, grated
160 g dried figs, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground mixed peppercorns (black, green, white, pink)

Special equipment: one or two 12-cup muffin pans, paper liners (optional)

Preparation
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

In a large bowl, crack open the eggs, add the milk and olive oil and beat lightly with the help of an egg beater. Then whisk in the flour, salt and baking powder. You will end up with an almost runny batter.

Add the grated cheese, chopped dried figs, herbs and pepper to the batter. Mix well with a rubber spatula, making sure the figs get well coated with the batter. This will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin pan cups.

Pour 3-4 drops of olive oil in each muffin cup and brush it all over the inside of each cup to prevent the muffins from sticking to the pan. Alternatively you can place paper liners in each cup.
Fill each cup about 3/4 full with the batter, using a spoon.

Bake, on the middle rack of the oven, for 25-30 minutes or until when inserting a knife in the middle of the muffin it comes out clean. The muffins must have a nice golden brown color when you take them out of the oven.

Let them cool in the pan for a while and then place them on a wire rack.

Refill the same muffin pan or use another if you have and continue baking the rest of the muffins.

The muffins are best eaten on the same day they're made but you can also eat them the following day. Keep them lightly covered with tin foil at room temperature.





22 comments:

  1. Gruyére and figs...yes, please! I love the idea of that pairing. And, yes, I am quite the oddball dreamer. The fig trees in our neighborhood are just sprouting their first round of fruit. I can't wait for the second round, deep in the throws of summer. Warm and sweet right from the tree. My favorite.

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  2. Graviera is one of my favourite cheeses and use it a lot. I've made similar muffins using halloumi and can imagine how great these must be.

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  3. Oh, yum. I love a good cheese and herb popover, but the idea of adding figs sounds fabulous.

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  4. Graviera and figs could be a Cretan combination! Cretans love eating fresh or dried figs with graviera... Very interesting recipe! :)

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  5. Tracy, I'm glad I'm not the only one :)

    Ivy, I've never thought of using halloumi in these, what a wonderful idea. And the fortunate thing is that I can actually find halloumi here!

    molly, thanks!

    Mariana, the Cretans sure do know how to eat! I have a lot of friends in Crete and I've eaten many good meals there :)

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  6. Love love love lemon thyme but figs are something I've never really experienced, apart from in cereal. I will have to go to Greece i see....yet another reason. BTW I discovered a wonderful South American shop in the large market in the Hague - as an aside!

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  7. OK! I'm hooked. Hook, line and sinker! Love! your blog. Wonderful clean crisp presentation and well laid out. This is the kind of blog I enjoy visiting and learning from. Magda, if ever you are in a chestnut mood, would love to see what you do with chestnuts in the fall. I'm crazy about them!
    Filakyia, polla kouklitsa mou,
    Penelope
    http://ptsaldari.posterous.com

    PS: I've subscribed.

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  8. Kitchen Butterfly, it's not lemon thyme, it's regular thyme. I've never actually tried lemon thyme, I'm not sure how it tastes. You MUST visit Greece.... ASAP!! You're gonna have an amazing "foodie" experience there!

    Penelope, thank you so much for your wonderful comment! You brought a huge smile to my face :) I have posted a chestnut soup with port recipe back in December. Perfect for those chill fall nights... but we're still a long way away!
    Filia polla!

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  9. Whoa! These have definitely been bookmarked... I'm on a big muffin kick and these look AMAZING!

    Sues

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  10. These muffins sound amazing. And, yes, I have had some very strange dreams. Some even seemed to go on forever. But oddly enough, I don't think I've ever dreamt about food. Our fig tree has started to bloom and is studded with tiny figs. Hope this is a good fig year for us.

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  11. Love your dreamy muffins. I've never made savory muffins but love them. I like what you wrote wrote about dreams. I didn't know Frankenstein was inspired by a dream. Better start dreaming!

    Nisrine

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  12. Dreams- I just had an incredibly vivid one, it involved my sister, me, a scary house and a job??? Maybe the scary part came from the job. :)

    I love the sound of savoury muffins. It's an on the go, less guilty cousin of the chocolate studded, streusel topped variety!

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  13. These look awesome. I love figs in pretty much everything- but with the cheese and herbs? Yum!

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  14. Mmm, muffins from my dreams. Love your words, Magda.

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  15. Your muffins are indeed dreamy. Love the cheese and savoury fillings!

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  16. I am a big fan of savoury muffins - yours are indeed stuff that dreams are made of!

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  17. I love savoury muffins. They are great for lunch. I've just made a few days ago, adding sweet corn, peas and chopped red chilies. They were very delicious. Yours look very delicious too.

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  18. When I was a teenager, I loved psicology and I used to write down my dreams as soon as I woke up to see whether I could take a sneak peek at my 'hidden' inner self. It did not work that much.. However I still do remember my dreams occasionally, and weirdly enough, I never dream about food. On the other hand my partner makes very entertaining dreams, they could really make Holliwood movies out of them, and it is always great when he tells me one!
    love your savoury muffins.

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  19. I'm so relieved that there people out there who also dream strange dreams and it's not just me :)

    Thank you all for your wonderful comments!

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  20. Would love to try any savory muffin anytime!

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  21. I've missed a number of good posts here Magda! You've been cooking up some excellent items ... and I would love to have these little muffins in front of me right now. I am not much of a breakfast person but do like to eat something savory between 10 and 11:00 am and these little muffins would be perfect. I love everything in them and the figs must provide a nice contrast to the savory ingredients.

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  22. This sounds wonderful - can't wait to try it. It is the perfect light meal for our desert summer nights. And the photos are beautiful!
    David

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