Paris Pic, 2 Recipes & 2 Felt Pics

Wow, now that is a title, ahah ! LOL You must wonder what I'm talking about so ...

Paris pic ...
I received a couple of weeks ago an email from a lady, from Schmap.com website (a map site, as its name says already), in which she asked me if I agreed that they would use a photo of mine (that is on Flickr), taken in Paris, at Le Bon Marché shop. Of course I said yes ! What a honor, even though I won't get a cent for the use of it ! The link is here.

2 Recipes ...
Yesterday I baked Corn/Cheddar Muffins to eat with homemade (kind of) guacamole. Mmm, that was so good ! Here comes the recipe ...
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CORN + CHEDDAR MUFFINS
makes 24 muffins

ingredients :
225 g self-raising flour
150 g corn flour (I used organic)
2 eggs
250 ml milk
100 g melted butter (unsalted)
60 g grated cheddar
310 g corn kernels
salt

additionnal :
poppy seeds
gomasio
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Preheat the oven at 200/220°C ~ 400/425°F.
Either grease your muffin molds with melted butter or oil, or don't grease it, if you own flexible molds like I do.

In a large bowl, sift the flours & add the corn kernels (I kept approx. 1/4 of them to decorate, but it's not obligatory), a pinch of salt & the grated cheddar. Mix in.

Whip the eggs with the milk. Mix in with the dry ingredients (flours + corn kernels + cheddar) with a metal spoon, but DO NOT knead too much.

Melt the butter & mix it in, still NOT kneading much. The dough must be irregular & full of lumps !
The success of making muffins resides in making the dough very irregular & not kneading it much !

Fill your molds (3/4 of each - to let the muffins rise) with a teaspoon (easier).
Add a couple of corn kernels on top, a pinch of gomasio, a dash of poppy seeds on top, and press gently a bit.
You can do without making anything on top but I prefered to add a little something to them ! :)
Put in the oven for 20 mn (200/220°C ~ 400/425°F) until a skewer/knife hammered inside a muffin goes out totally dry & clean.
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And today I baked a tart I use to bake a lot, when we lived in the south. It'd been more than a year since I last baked it. It's a Tomatoe Tart. I took pics along the way so you can see what I mean. Now, I don't have any quantities to share, it doesn't need much of each, really, so just have them all in a reasonable quantity & you'll be good !

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TOMATOE TART

ingredients :
a roll of ready made shortcrust pastry
moutarde de Dijon / strong mustard (you'll need 1 tablespoon or 2)
dried Herbes de Provence (but dried Thyme would be OK, I guess)
Emmental cheese (Swiss cheese - enough to cover the whole dish)
2 medium tomatoes (or 3 smaller)
a handful of grated cheese (any would do, I use Cheddar because I had left)
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Preheat the oven at 200/220°C ~ 400/425°F.

Put the roll of pastry in the tart dish. I left the waxed paper that came with the pastry. With a fork, pick the pastry.
Spread mustard/moutarde. Sprinkle Herbes de Provence/dried thyme.
Put down slices of cheese upon the mustard, and cover the whole surface.
Cut the tomatoes into slices or into half slices, it doesn't matter. I removed the seeds/pips because I wanted to test the tart with my boys, but you can leave them if you want, it doesn't matter at all.
Sprinkle grated cheese all over the tomatoes & put into oven for 35 mn(200/220°C ~ 400/425°F) . Keep an eye to see if it's already good or if it needs a bit more. Everyone's oven can be a bit different.
Here we go for the photos ...

2 Felt Pics ...
During my little break, I kept myself crafty, and made two felt pics. One is tomatoe themed, the other is Ginkgo Biloba themed. The second will be in the shop soon. Note : the two little thingies on the right of the Ginkgo pic are NOT cherries, they are Ginkgo seeds !

Don't forget that the Giveaway will end on Sunday evening. Thanks to all who already joined the fun !! :) See my previous entry to see all the details.

OK, off to put the boys to bed. I hope you all had a great 2nd half of the week !! Big hugs XOXO