RECIPE: Almond and thyme-crusted macaroni cheese muffins

A recipe for macaroni cheese muffins with an almond and thyme crust

I don't need much of an excuse to eat cheddar, a cheese that's most definitely in my top five favourites. So when the nice folk over at Danish cheese brand Castello asked me to come up with a simple recipe that 'breaks the rules', using one of their three Tickler cheddars, I needed little persuading.

macaroni cheese muffins
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I've taken inspiration from a classic Cypriot dish called firin makarna (oven-baked macaroni cheese), where grated halloumi is used to make a cheese sauce, it's layered with lamb mince, baked in the oven, allowed to cool and harden, and served at room temperature portioned up into cubes. It's a different baked take on what is one of my favourite plates of food in the world: halloumi pasta with lemon and mint. 

Instead, I've stuck with a classic cheese sauce using Tickler Extra Mature Cheddar, omitted the lamb so it's good for veggies, added some spinach to help with the fibre quota, and jazzed them up with a thyme, almond and breadcrumb crust for extra flavour. I've also made them into individual muffin portions, so they're perfect picnic and party finger food. They're really very good. But then I guess it's hard to go too wrong with pasta and quality cheese.

RECIPE: Almond and thyme-crusted macaroni cheese muffins 

Makes around 18 muffins

For the cheese sauce
600ml whole milk, room temperature
50g unsalted butter
50g plain flour
350g block of Castello Extra Mature Tickler Cheddar, grated (keep 30g aside) (pic 2)
Fresh nutmeg
Black pepper

For the muffin crusts
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
1tsp butter
1//2 tbsp of thyme leaves
50g panko breadcrumbs
30g of grated Castello Extra Mature Tickler Cheddar (what you kept aside from above)
20g toasted almond flakes

For the muffins
400g elbow macaroni

70g baby spinach, roughly chopped

Here's the link to the step-by-step recipe for these macaroni cheese muffins with almond and thyme crusts on the Castello website for you to try at home. If you do, we'd love to know how it went! You can share your cheesy pasta muffins on Instagram and Twitter tagging @CastelloUK, or using the #DiscoverTickler hashtag. And tag me as well please - I'd love to see too. 

This is a sponsored post, in partnership with Castello, as part of their #DiscoverTickler campaign. I hope you get to try this recipe - it's GOOD. 

ingredients for almond and thyme-crusted macaroni cheese muffins

making the macaroni cheese muffins

making the macaroni cheese muffins

Related links
RECIPE: Halloumi pasta with lemon and mint

tiramisu - recipe

‘I would like some coffee with this cheese’ is a sentence no one has ever said. Wine, goes without saying. Port, most certainly. Even beer and cocktails work with an appetising platter. Whilst an alcoholic presence isn’t necessarily a precursor for a beverage to compliment cheese, coffee just does not fit.

Unless of course we are talking about tiramisu (and in a similar vein, coffee flavoured cheesecake). Possibly the lone exception in the culinary world of the two brought together in a spoonful or seven of sweetened creamy glory (incidentally through my research I have discovered 'kaffeost' - a Finnish concoction in which hot coffee is poured over chunks of soft cheese - a more pungent affogato I suppose; I'd be willing to try it).

Translating to ‘pick-me-up’ from Italian and originating from Treviso near Venice, the dessert presents itself as layers of Savoiardi biscuits (also known as ladyfingers - the sponge biscuits used in trifles) soaked in cold espresso and an egg, sugar and mascarpone mixture. Often flavoured with cocoa and made suitably grown up with a splash of Marsala wine, it represents all that is great about Italian cooking; simplicity, the love of good coffee and the inclusion of cheese wherever possible.

Have a look online and you’ll come across many different recipes, a lot of which I’ve tried. They include the presence of cream, vanilla, strawberries and a whole manner of other things. The purist in me relishes the fact an Italian politician has recently asked the EU to grant the Treviso recipe invented in the 70’s protected status and rightly so; whilst I can appreciate new takes on classics, I’m old fashioned at heart and it can be too easy for traditional recipes to become diluted and lost over time. 

The Italians are fierce in the protection of their national dishes, already succeeding with the Napoletana margherita and marinara, and I respect them all the more for it.

The cheesy mix in the Treviso recipe is comprised of egg yolks, sugar and mascarpone. How much of each I suppose is up to experimentation, but in my version I’ve also added some fluffed up egg whites. It creates a greater volume meaning the cheese goes further to make more portions. Because of this, the dessert is lighter and therefore I suppose, less of a burden on any guilt you may feel consuming it. Or so I tell myself.

In terms of liquor, feel free to replace the Marsala with rum or coffee liqueur. Traipsing through my local supermarkets, Marsala only seems to be available in standard wine bottle sizes. Should you discover the same, and unless you plan on making tiramisu every week for the foreseeable future or quaffing the stuff straight, substituting with something similar you already have is fine. 

But have it made clear the unmistakable flavour from Sicilian Marsala will be absent and which I believe makes the dish. Savoiardi biscuits can be found in all supermarkets - they tend to sit alongside trifle type ingredients rather than in the biscuit aisle. Ask where the sponge fingers are if you can't locate them.

Classic Tiramisu

Makes 4 portions

Around 18 Savoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers)
200ml strong espresso, cold
2 x egg whites
1 x egg yolk
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp Marsala wine
250g mascarpone cheese
Cocoa powder
A square or two of dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

In a large bowl whisk the egg yolk, egg whites and sugar until thick and pale but still runny. An electric hand whisk will achieve this quickly.

Add the cheese and Marsala and beat until fully combined and smooth with no lumps. I find the beater attachment on an electric stand mixer does this well. The mixture will still be quite runny but this will set in the fridge.

Pour the cold coffee into a shallow wide dish. Soak a biscuit in the coffee for a couple of seconds each side so it gets absorbed, but remove before it goes soft and breaks apart. Layer the bottom of four individual serving glasses with one layer of soaked biscuits.

Tip For an extra boozy kick, add a splash of wine to the coffee too before you soak the biscuits

Tip If you need to break the biscuits to fit in the glass, do so before you soak them. 

Tip Glass serving vessels are ideal as it allows you to see the layers but if you don’t have them, something ramekin sized will do just fine - I used glass tumblers.

Over these bottom layers pour 2-3 tablespoons of the cheese and egg mixture - you want to use half of your mix across all portions in this first layer. Top these with another layer of soaked biscuits, and finish with a final layer of the mixture, using it all up.

Using a sieve or tea strainer, dust cocoa powder over the tiramisu portions ensuring all of the white is covered. Finely grate the dark chocolate and sprinkle this on top to finish.

Cover each portion with clingfilm and leave to set in the fridge for at least a few hours before serving. I find they taste better the longer they are left as the flavours mingle, so I would make them the day before you wish to serve them.

An indulgent treat at any time of day, they do very well in the ‘hard to resist’ stakes.

Afiyet olsun. 

halloumi pasta with lemon and mint

There are few things more pleasurable than biting into the yielding flesh of a thick slab of smoky halloumi taken straight off the barbeque, blistered brown by the heat and relinquishing all its salty wonder with every bite. 

Society is now relatively accustomed to this firm and squeaky cheese traditionally made with the milk from goats and sheep and originating from Cyprus; it’s frequently used as a meat substitute in burgers and on kebab skewers, added to salads or served with vegetables. It can be eaten straight off the knife but is also often found grilled, fried or barbequed due to its unique quality of form that lends itself so well to the cooking process – it’s a cheese that doesn’t melt, it just gets a bit softer.

My father is from North Cyprus, so growing up surrounded by the fabulous Cypriot and Turkish cuisine (as well as excellent Mauritian cuisine from my mother’s side), I’m probably more accustomed to this cheese than most. And I therefore know just how versatile it can be. 

As well as the above, it is also traditionally found incorporated into bread dough and one of my favourite ways of devouring it, with pasta. This dish is one from my childhood - one of those where I’d get overly animated when I knew it was on the menu for dinner. I’ve carried it through to adulthood, frequently returning to it and sharing it with friends who have almost unanimously fallen for it at first taste. It’s one of the simplest meals in my repertoire consisting of a mere six ingredients, yet yields one of the biggest pleasure bounties.

Combining flavours of both fresh and dried mint, chicken stock and lemon juice with the saltiness of the cheese, the result is a plate of pure satiety. Serving the cheese in its grated form allows each mint laden particle to mingle with the lemony chicken juices and coat every bit of pasta. 

To make this dish vegetarian, simply replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. Excellent eaten either hot or cold the next day, it makes the perfect accompaniment to some left over roast chicken taken on a picnic. We now just need to wait for the weather to humour us.

Halloumi Pasta with Lemon and Mint

Serves 4

200g halloumi

400g whole wheat pasta

2 litres of ready made chicken stock (or three chicken stock cubes)

2 lemons

2 tbsp dried mint

A few sprigs of fresh mint

Finely grate the cheese and mix with the dried mint. Chop a handful of the mint leaves and set aside. In the meantime, cook the pasta in the chicken stock. If you don’t have ready made stock, use three chicken stock cubes in around two litres of water. The liquid should cover the pasta by an inch or so. 

If the liquid gets too low before the pasta is cooked, add a splash more. You want most of the liquid to have been absorbed by the end, but with some still remaining.

Layer some of the grated cheese and mint in an empty shallow bowl per person. 

When the pasta is al dente, ladle half a portion into the bowl along with a little of the stock. Sprinkle another layer of the grated cheese, top with some more pasta, and finish with the final layer of cheese. Sprinkle with a generous amount of the fresh mint.

Squeeze the juice from ¼ to ½ a lemon over each bowl (depending on how much your guests like lemon – I like it a lot), and serve with a few more wedges should they wish for more.

Alfiyet olsun.

food, friends & funkin’ cocktails with the jamieoliver.com crew

How does one seduce a bunch of lovely ladies to brave the stifling depths of the Northern Line during rush hour on one of the hottest days of the year, to pay a visit to Old Street? With the promise of dinner and booze of course - particularly appropriate when the ladies* in question are all food bloggers. I think I speak for most when I say the way to our hearts is a full-throttle culinary steam train bulldozing its way to our stomachs. 

The crew at JamieOliver.com had an intimate evening planned, inviting ten to twelve of their favourite food bloggers (more than humbled to be included) to a supper featuring some of the recipes from Jamie Oliver’s website. The purpose of this event was to share with us the delights that can be achieved with ingredients people often find more difficult to cook with (based on the traffic in these areas on the Jamie Oliver website) such as game, seafood, vegetables and cheese. The idea is to get people to try cooking what may sit just outside of their comfort zone, or differ to what they may be accustomed to.

* It’s worth noting that while the main organiser of the event, Merlin Jobst, is quite the sweetheart and lady charmer, the single sex occupation was not intentional. Alas, some of the male bloggers that had been invited unfortunately could no longer make it. I believe that meant more food for us. Result.

The fabulous food bloggers invited to this event included the following - do take the time to check them out:

Rosana McPhee @Rosana_McPhee hotandchilli.com
Sally Prosser @MyCustardPie mycustardpie.com
Selina Periampillai @yummychooeats yummychooeats.com
Ren Behan @renbehan renbehan.com
Regina Sabur-Cross @gastrogeek gastrogeek.wordpress.com
Rachel Smith @The_FoodIEat thefoodieat.org
Su-yin @breadetbutter breadetbutter.wordpress.com
Tess Ward @tesstheyeschef theyeschef.com

Location and Graduates

The location of this banquet was the space above Fifteen and incidentally where most of Jamie’s cookery shows are filmed, such as 15 Minute Meals. A large, white-washed expanse straight out of the window of a Shoreditch estate agents looking for well-to-do artists to occupy, flooded with natural light from floor to ceiling sash windows and kitted out with tableware and sharing platters typical of Jamie’s cooking style. Unfortunately, the man himself was unable to make the evening but was kind enough to record a short film thanking us for our attendance and insisting we have a blast. Not to mention, accrediting Merlin entirely for the inevitable success of the evening. In the meantime, through an opening into the bare-brick walled kitchen, Merci and Tyrone, a couple of past graduates from the Fifteen Apprentice Programme, were toiling away over hot stoves rustling up our dinner. 

Head Chef Cooking Demonstration

The Head Chef of Fifteen, Jon Rotheram, was kind enough to take time out from his hectic kitchen schedule downstairs to give us a private demonstration of how to address game. He spoke at length of his first four months in the restaurant, his love of offal (particularly sweetbreads), different ways in which it can be cooked, and the benefits of choosing it over alternative and more expensive cuts. With flare and finesse, he rustled up in the blink of an eye devilled lambs kidneys served on toast. Flavoured with spices and finished with a few drops of homemade curry oil, these were served pink in the middle on a slice of crunchy sourdough, with warm flavoursome juices soaking into the bread. We were all urged to dive in. It was so moreish I went back for a second and third bite. Standard behaviour.

Supper is Served

Whilst I was entirely engrossed in Jon’s sautéing skills, I’ll admit I was more than a little distracted by a completely irresistible volume of fat and glistening king prawns piled high on a large plate, beckoning with black beady-eye come-hither glances, feelers motioning me towards them with their extension. One after another and with hypnotic repetition, I ripped off the legs, head and shell, dunked them into the accompanying Marie Rose sauce for a lick of seasoning, and popped each juicy morsel into my mouth. So simple but goodness, they were entirely glorious. I estimate my consumption of that entire platter to be approximately 37%. In addition, we were presented with mounds of herb salad with goats cheese. Generous creamy chunks of cheese mixed with rocket and fresh herbs and delivered with a wisp of heat on the tongue from finely chopped chilli. It took an enormous amount of self-control not to gorge myself on this single course alone.

Pint of prawns with Marie Rose recipe here. 
Herb salad with goats cheese recipe here.

The mains involved of a South Indian crab curry. Would you like any curry with that crab? There was so much crab. Certainly not too much crab though, it’s not possible to have too much crab. Creamy from coconut and gently spiced, it slid down with very little resistance. The vegetarian option was an equally flavoursome cauliflower Keralan curry complete with chickpeas and pineapple chunks. Both were paired with an oven dish full of zesty lemon rice - fluffy white mounds punctuated with the yellow and green from lemon rind and coriander leaves respectively.

South Indian crab curry recipe here.
Keralan veggie curry recipe here.
Lemon rice recipe here.

Dessert was made by Merlin the Magnificent (not an actual wizard) himself - a baked vanilla cheesecake with a (very boozy) cherry compote. With a smooth creamy middle and flavoursome biscuit base, it was a perfect way to round off the evening's eating. Alas, I didn't get a decent shot of it so there is none here. Lack of cheesecake photography and increase in alcohol consumption no doubt correlate quite nicely, I'm sure. 

Bloomin' easy vanilla cheesecake recipe here.

Tipples

Which leads me neatly onto the booze. Spoilt with a choice of wine and beer, glasses were never empty. 

The San Patrignano brand of wine available that evening ironically has a very sobering backstory. San Patrignano is based on the Amalfi Coast in Rimini and is one of Italy’s largest rehabilitation centres for recovering drug addicts. It welcomes all young men and women and even whole families who have serious drug abuse problems regardless of their background – and completely free of charge. Since 1978, the centre has taken in over 20,000 people, offering them a home, healthcare, legal assistance, and the opportunity to study, learn skills, change their lives, and regain their status as contributing members of society. I vividly recall an episode of Two Greedy Italians when Contaldo and Carluccio visit San Patrignano and listen to the residents talk of the institution saving them from certain destitution and even death - it was moving to say the least.

Danny McCubbin has worked with Jamie Oliver for many years in various roles and in addition, volunteers at San Patrignano. Wine making is a result of one of the 52 different skills the residents learn during their rehabilitation and these rather quaffable bottles are the result. Danny spoke passionately and with emotion about San Patrignano (whilst serving us Merlin's cheesecake) - a force of pure good if ever I heard one.



All in, the evening was a riot. The thing that really struck me were the people involved from Jamie's side - from the graduates, to the Head Chef, to the online staff, they were all wonderful individuals completely unashamed of the immense amount of passion they have for what they do. We ate until our bellies were full, engaged in raucous conversation and eventually relocated the proceedings to the Fifteen cocktail bar where we were very generously treated to pisco sours, gin from teapots, cocktails with face-busting chilli and indulged in bad jokes and inappropriate conversation.

I like to think new friends were made here and I want to give a particular shout out to the talented and gorgeous Merci @Murrrcii, the suave salt shaking Joe Gray @JoeGray_, and my new favourite person Merlin Jobst @merlinjobst. Along with my sister from another mister Selina @yummychooeats, we'll see you kids for cocktails next week to carry on where we left off.

Afiyet olsun.

Cheesy Veg Bake

I've been a bit unlucky over the past two weeks on the health front - wiped out for a few days by flu, shortly followed by a couple of days of mild food poisoning. Hence the infrequent posts of late. I blame the oysters from Tuesday's meal for the latter. Delicious as they were, I suppose eating raw shellfish will always be a game of Russian roulette to an extent - an interesting article on the risks from the BBC here. Enough to put anyone off, but don't let it. My standpoint is they provide enough pleasure to outweigh the possible infrequent bout of sickness - an occasional unwanted by-product that just comes with the territory.

For the past two days I had consumed three Weetabix, some milk and a biscuit - cramps and a complete loss of appetite prevented me from eating much more. However, this evening and thankfully in time for the weekend, my hunger finally returned and after initially forcing myself to cook with no desire to eat, the smells from the kitchen soon got the juices flowing and in no time at all, I was back to my usual self - hungry.

I was down almost two days worth of calories and dousing some vegetables in a cheese sauce and baking until golden and bubbling was as good a way as any to redeem them. And was also excellent. A cheesy veg bake it would be.

Cheesy Vegetable Bake

1 x cauliflower head
1 x broccoli head
4 x small leeks
50g cheddar
50g parmesan

For the white sauce
45g butter
45g plain flour
600ml full fat milk
150g strong cheddar

Preheat your oven to 200C (fan).

Cut your broccoli and cauliflower into florets and thickly slice the leeks. Boil in water on a full roll for a few minutes until just nearing tender. Drain well.

In the meantime make your cheese sauce. If you haven't done so before, it is incredibly easy.

Melt the butter in a saucepan - when foaming and the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until you get a sort of paste.

With the heat still on medium, add a big splash of milk at a time, ensuring you thoroughly mix with the wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth again, before adding the next bit of milk. Keep doing this until all the milk has been used. You'll be left with a smooth white sauce. Season to taste.

Take the saucepan off the heat and add your grated cheese, stirring until it's all melted. You now have your cheese sauce.

Tip your drained vegetables into an oven proof dish. Pour over the cheese sauce. Grate the remaining cheeses and sprinkle on top. Bake in the oven until golden and bubbling.

Superb on it's own and just as good as a side to a piece of beef perhaps.

Enjoy with a touch of guilt.

Alfiyet olsun.