Do you know your Muffin Pan?

Tiny Apple Pies


Guille splurged to buy me a muffin pan (the aforementioned funny shaped one made out of blue silicone) so I'm baking everything I can come up with in it. I had a little leftover pie crust so I rolled out 2 circles (about 4 inches each) and fit each into a muffin cup.



Then I made a variation of apple pie, slicing up one apple and tossing it with a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, flour, and a squeeze of lemon juice. This mixture filled up the 2 cups and I topped each with a mixture of flour, brown sugar, and butter and baked at 180C, 350F for 30 minutes.

These tiny pies were delicious topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and the crust to pie filling ratio was amazing. mmmmm.


Parmesan and Basil Baked Eggs

Late last winter I was wandering around Noho or Soho or someplace south of 14th street on a drizzly day. And somewhere I stumbled upon a french cafe and had the most wonderful brunch with a huge bowl of baked eggs and a good friend. And when we planned another brunch date there, we couldn't find the right spot. Sad times. But yummy eggs.

So this morning, on another gray and dreary day, I attempted my own version of muffin-sized baked eggs while Guille studied away.


Each muffin cup gets:

• 1 large egg, organic is always more tasty
• 1 T. milk (or cream)
  
• 3 basil leaves, torn
• 1 T, shredded parmesan cheese
• sprinkle of salt and pepper

As a test, I greased only some of the cups. Since I have a silicone pan, I found that I didn't really need to do this, and the ones I greased ended up a little too chewy on the bottom. My advice for this kind of pan is to skip the greasing.

I put a little of the basil and cheese in the bottom of the cup, plopped in the egg, sprinkled with s&p, added the rest of the basil and cheese and poured in the milk. No need to mix. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 180C.

Next time, I'll want to add tomatoes and perhaps a stronger cheese.