Muffins, Brownies and Pie, Oh My!

Okay, so I have several recipes that we've tried that I need to get caught up on sharing.  I don't remember when I made each, but I suppose that doesn't really matter :)  I'll just go from most to least favorite for this post.
Note: Recipes that don't have links are included in full at the end of this post


First, I will start with a Minced Beef and Onion Pie recipe that my friend, Anne, shared when I asked for recipes involving mushrooms.
I don't do well with most red meat; so I substituted ground turkey.  (I was a vegetarian for a few years; now I might just be a picky meat-eater.)  Either way, the ground turkey worked great and my red meat eating husband loved the dish too.  We ate it with some fresh asparagus, which I am loving now that it is cooked "properly." (Heat olive oil, add a little butter, cook for 10 seconds, enjoy!)  This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Another dish that we enjoyed this past week was one I found on the internet.  We got a lot of leafy greens in the last box of produce and I wanted to make something other than just salads with them.  The answer?  Spinach Brownies.  It is basically a spinach quiche of sorts, but the name caught my attention (and I'm glad it did.)  Based on several comments on the original recipe, I too cut the amount of butter in half and found it to be plenty.  I also added some of our green garlic to it.  While we certainly liked the recipe just like this, I think we will also be able to add other yummy vegetables to it later in the season.


A new vegetable for us last week was bok choy.  C sliced and marinated some tofu in a store-bought stir fry sauce for about 24 hours.  The next evening he added it to the chopped bok choy and some more stir fry sauce.  It was simple, but good.





The last recipe that I will be sharing tonight probably has the potential to be good; it just didn't turn out that way when I made it :)   The Tipi Produce newsletter had a fruit muffin recipe.  They actually had two recipes (an old and a revised one) and when "flipping" between the two, I missed some important information (i.e. use more sugar when the fruit you are using is rhubarb).  Anyway, I tried to salvage them by adding some vanilla frosting we had on hand, but I don't think it was enough.

Minced Beef (or Turkey) and Onion Pie Recipe*  
*Shortcrust pastry recipe is also below.  Both were provided courtesy of Anne.


2Tbsp vegetable oil
500g/1lb2oz ground beef (or turkey)
1 onion, chopped
1Tbsp tomato paste/puree
1 1/2Tbsp flour
75g/2 1/2oz mushrooms, chopped
250ml/9 fl oz beef stock 
dash Worchestershire sauce
400g/14 oz shortcrust pastry (ready made or homemade)

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
2. Fry beef and onion in oil (use a very large frying pan)
3. Stir in tomato paste, then flour. 
4. Add chopped mushrooms, beef stock, and Worchestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Roll out bottom pastry crust and line pie plate (I usually bake it blind- empty- for a couple minutes to prevent it from getting soggy).
6. Fill with meat filling
7. Roll out top crust and cover- cut slits in crust and/or decorate with leftover crust bits.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes


Shortcrust Pasty Recipe* 
*Double crust.  Store bought stuff works too.

2C flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3C cold butter
7+ Tbsp water

1. Stir together flour and salt
2. Cut in butter until pieces are pea sized
3. Sprinkle over 1Tbsp water at a time and toss with fork. Repeat until dough is sticky enough to form a ball.
4. Refrigerate 30min-1hr
5. Roll out on lightly floured surface
6. Bake as described in pie recipe



Fruit Muffins Recipe*
*All the information below is from the Tipi Produce 5/13/10 Newsletter

Adapted from Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.” 

Beth’s notes: This is our family’s standard whole-grain muffin recipe, good with most types of fruit that are not too wet.  Use the larger amount of brown sugar if adding rhubarb to the batter.  When using raspberries, we find that you can add up to 2 cups of berries.  Sprinkle with some coarse-grained baker’s sugar to dress up the muffins. 

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour 

2 tsp. baking powder 

1 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1/2 to 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 

3/4 cup chopped roasted almonds 

3 handfuls chocolate chips (optional) 

2 eggs, lightly beaten 

1 1/3 cups buttermilk, or yogurt thinned with  

          water to the consistency of buttermilk 

1/3 cup canola oil 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

1 cup of any of the following fresh or frozen fruits:  raspberries, blackberries, blueberries (tossed with one tablespoon of flour); finely diced rhubarb or apples or pears or cranberries; or pineapple (chopped in small pieces) 

Preheat the oven to 375.  Spray, oil, or butter muffin tins.  Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wets in a second bowl, then combine them with a few swift strokes, then add the fruit.  Using a rubber spatula, stir the batter up from the bottom of the bowl to make sure that there aren’t any pockets of flour or fruit.  Don’t beat the batter and don’t worry about a slightly uneven appearance.   Spoon or scoop the batter into the tins, going nearly to the top for a nicely rounded muffin.  Bake in the upper third of the oven until browned and well risen, about 25 minutes.  Turn out the muffins and serve.