As most of my regular readers know I often write about family food traditions and long-time family food favorites. This is very fulfilling and I enjoy sharing these with the broader world in hopes of preserving these foods and enticing others to try the dishes. Every once in a while though I’m inspired to try something totally new which offers a creative challenge and is fulfilling in its own way.
Which is why in reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, the current reading choice of the Cook the Books reading club of which I’m a contributor, I decided to take the latter path. Normally I select a recipe from the book choice of that cycle and use the opportunity to merge it with a family recipe. This time I was stimulated by the fact that the book’s protagonist, character Elizabeth Zott, took a a path inspired by her courageous choice to branch out into food TV cooking where her mission was to cause women viewers to think differently about cooking, chemistry’s part in it and its role in their lives.
In the book, a reviewer says about her program Supper at Six, ”it’s a 30 minute, five day a week lesson in life. And not in who we are or what we’re made of, but rather who we are capable of becoming”. I liked the “becoming” part because clearly Elizabeth became someone she didn’t start out to be.
So, in translating that to my cooking I chose a recipe I had never made before to prepare for a neighborhood gathering. This is something I would not ordinarily have done, to thrust an experiment on my good friends and neighbors without a practice run. But it looked interesting as a savory take on muffins. These were featured in the New York Times, so I figured they couldn’t be too bad and I took a riff off their concept. Plus, the idea of goat cheese, onions, Greek yogurt and herbs like rosemary sounded appealing.
Indeed, they turned out to be among the hits of that gathering and others asked for the recipe. So, I’m sharing the recipe in this forum as well. Enjoy!
This cycle of Cook the books is being hosted by Debra of Elliot’s Eats (Eliot's Eats) and we thank her for organizing.
Savory Goat Cheese Muffins with Rosemary
Ingredients
4 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled
½ cup onion chopped and sauteed
1 tbs rosemary, minced
1 ½ cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp salt
1 tbs Dijon mustard
2/3 cup milk
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 large egg
1 tsp honey
¼ cup finely chopped chives
1/3 cup olive oil
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush a muffin tin with olive oil. Or place muffin tin liners into the pan if you prefer a more decorative approach.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pepper and salt to combine.
In a larger bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt, oil, egg, mustard and honey. Add the flour mic to the milk mix and stir until just combined. Stir in the rosemary, chives and goat cheese until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin tin cups. Each should be ¾ filled.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until tops of muffins are golden brown. A toothpick should come out clean. Let cool and then remove muffins from tins.