Making savoury muffins

Scott Hocker’s Chicken Pot Pie Cornbread Muffins. The recipe can easily be made kosher. (© Scott Hocker)

It was really a hot summer, and I was trying to think of creative ways to make and serve food. I took the idea of making savoury items in my muffin tins from the online Food & Wine magazine, koshering some of the recipes they have posted. These hand-size meals should delight children and adults alike, though it may take more than one portion to sate the older crowd.

The word muffin is first found in print in 1703, possibly from the German word muffen, meaning small cake. It may also have originated in a British magazine in 1851. In 10th- or 11th-century Wales, however, there existed an English muffin made with yeast and cooked on a griddle. American-style muffins in individual molds are from the 18th century. It is uncertain which came first, the cupcake cups or muffin pans. Regardless, here are some recipes to try out.

CHICKEN POT PIE CORNBREAD MUFFINS

The original recipe was created by Scott Hocker, editor-in-chief of liquor.com, a writer, editor, recipe developer and cookbook author, and his recipe can be found at foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-pot-pie-cornbread-muffins. Both his and the kosher recipe serve six.

3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
salt to taste
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup non-dairy creamer or pareve milk
***
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 chopped onion or green onions or shallot
1 finely chopped clove garlic
1/2 carrot cut into chunks
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tsp flour
3/8 cup chicken soup
1/4 cup shredded cooked chicken

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease six muffin tins.
2. Stir together in a bowl cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Whisk in egg and liquid. Fill greased muffin tins two-thirds full with batter.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan and stir in onion, garlic, carrots, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, eight to 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook two minutes.
5. Add soup and bring to a boil then add chicken.
6. Place one to two tablespoons filling on top of each batter-filled muffin tin. Bake for 25 minutes or until muffins are golden around the edges.

“HOGS” IN A BLANKET

This is a kosher adaptation of a recipe by Grace Parisi, who grew up in a family of cooks and is a cookbook author who headed several test kitchens. The original recipe can be found at foodandwine.com/recipes/hogs-in-blanket. Both recipes make 18 hors d’oeuvres.

3 1/3 ounces pareve puff pastry cut into 2 5-inch squares
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp water
2 3-ounce beef hot dogs or sausages
1/8 cup chutney
1 tbsp whole grain mustard

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Arrange puff pastry squares on a work surface and brush with egg wash.
3. Place sausages or hot dogs on bottom edges and roll up pastry, pressing edges to seal. Freeze for 10 minutes or until firm.
4. Cut logs into half-inch slices and place cut side up in mini-muffin pans. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and sizzling. Cool on a paper towel-lined rack.
5. Pulse chutney and mustard in food processor until chutney is chopped. Spoon a dollop on each slice and serve.

MUFFIN CUP MACARONI AND CHEESE

This recipe is adapted from one by Kate Winslow, former Gourmet magazine editor, writer, recipe developer and cookbook author. The original recipe can be found at foodandwine.com/recipes/muffin-cup-macaroni-and-cheese. The kosher and original versions are both for 12 mini-muffins.

2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces macaroni
2 1/2 tbsp breadcrumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a mini-muffin pan.
2. In a saucepan, heat one tablespoon butter or margarine. Add flour and stir for one minute. Add milk and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until thick.
3. Add cheese and stir until it is melted and the sauce is smooth.
4. Cook pasta in boiling, salted water. Drain and add to cheese sauce. Spoon into 12 muffin cups.
5. Melt remaining one tablespoon of butter or margarine. Stir in breadcrumbs and cook three to five minutes. Sprinkle over macaroni and cheese muffins.
6. Bake for 15 minutes. Let macaroni cool five to 10 minutes before removing from the pan, so the muffins will hold together.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.