Wholemeal Blueberry Muffins

We went for the 'Europe' Concert on Saturday night and came back home at 3 in the morning after a night out with friends and the long trek back home because we obviously missed the last tube train. Woke up really really late on Sunday and was not at all in the mood to cook. So these blueberry muffins which i made the previous day came in extremely handy. A couple of muffins with a tall glass of orange juice did the trick for me. Remember i was talking about buying the wrong flour for the cake and didn't know what to do with it? Well now that i can make moist muffins with wholemeal flour, its going to stay and not be thrown out. I have also convinced Ro this is a healthier option and so he now has them for breakfast too.

This is a Gordon Ramsay recipe, which i tweaked according to my requirements. It makes about 15 muffins.

Wholemeal flour- 2 cups

Baking powder- 1 tbsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon powder- a pinch

Nutmeg- a pinch

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Eggs- 2

Buttermilk- 1 cup

Castor Sugar- 1 cup

Oil- 1/2 cup

Vanilla extract- 1 1/2 tsp

Fresh blueberries- 1 3/4 cup (washed & cleaned)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and keep 15 muffin cases ready.

Mix together the first set of ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Keep aside.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, add the buttermilk, sugar, oil, vanilla and mix till well combined.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Fold all the ingredients together till just incorporated. Add the blueberries and give a final stir.

Place one large scoop of batter into each muffin case and bake or about 25-30 minutes or till skewer inserted comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack once its taken out and store in an air tight container.

Notes: The nutmeg was a tad too over powering for our liking, in spite of just adding a pinch, and I'm pretty sure i wont include it the next time.

I did not have a muffin tin and so i placed the muffin cases on a baking tray and hence the weird shape of the muffins.

If you can, while you scoop out the batter into the cases, try and spread out the blueberries evenly.

You can replace the white sugar with brown sugar, but use a little less in that case.

Go Green

This is a very simple green bean recipe from Gordon Ramsey and is a great accompaniment to any meal. We had it with a fish bake (will post recipe soon).

Fresh green beans- 200 gms trimmed

Shallot- 1 small finely chopped

Almonds- 2 tbs (optional)

Balsamic Vinegar- 1 1/2 tbs

Blanch the green beans: Drop the trimmed beans into boiling water for about 4 minutes. If not sure its done, take one out and bite into it. It should be crunchy but at the same time cooked to an extent. Keep a bowl of ice cold water (or water with some ice cubes in it) ready and as soon as you remove the beans out of the hot water, plunge it into the ice cold water. This way you are halting the cooking process and the colour and flavour is stored in the beans. Keep it in the cold water for a few minutes and then remove and place on a kitchen towel and dry.

Place the beans on a plate, scatter the shallots and the diced almonds on the beans and sprinkle the balsamic vinegar. If you want, you can also season with salt and pepper before you sprinkle the vinegar.

Serve as a side to any dish.