Thank you TV chef - polenta muffins

Today's TV chef to thank is Ainsley Harriot on GMTV.

With Brendan now entering the third week of his supermarket ban I was feeling the pressure. The shopping list pressure that is. The shopping list that he spent an hour compiling last night with glee in the anticipation that I would be going to do some shopping today.

While he has been on his ban I reduced my trip to the supermarket to once a week, which still sounds like a lot but is a real improvement on once every other day.

The major problem with not shopping so frequently is thinking up things to cook and serve - we all get fed up of constantly eating the same things over and over and over again.

While watching TV first thing this morning over my cup of coffee with knitting in hand, I caught with half an ear Ainsley extolling the virtues of cornmeal muffins - cornmeal being polenta.

Now it just so happens that in amongst all the bits and bobs that were carried back and forth from the pantry to the barn and back to the pantry was a bag of polenta. Obviously something I bought in a fit of creative cuisinery inspiration (or madness) then realised that I had no idea what to do with it so relegated it to the box of assorted flours.

One quick search on the internet revealed the recipe and so for lunch (early lunch today due to work commitments) we had Polenta muffins with chorizo scrambled egg.

Muffin recipe:

225g self raising flour (or farine fluide in France)
100g yellow polenta
1½ tsp baking powder - I used one sachet of levure chemique here in France
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch salt
75g Melted butter
1 beaten egg
175ml milk

Preheat oven to 180°
In a food processor (I know I know very lazy but I was short on time), whizz up the seived dry ingredients with the wet, allowing the melted butter to cool a little, until you get a soft dough. Dollop generous heaped tablespoons into a greased muffin tray, then bake for 20 minutes.

My scrambled eggs are very simple, in a heavy pan fry a chopped onion and some chopped chorizo sausage in a spoon of olive oil. Beat 6 eggs (for 3 people) in a bowl - thank you Edith, Mama Hog, and others for the eggs, add a splash of milk, pinch of salt, freshly ground black pepper, teaspoon of paprika and a tablespoon of dried herbs - normally parsley for me, then pour over the fried sausage and onion, and keep stirring into the centre.

With a full and happy belly off to work I went and then spent some quality time with a friend.

I am also vey pleased to see the amount of blossom now appearing on our plum trees.  We had a disastrous year last year with hardly any fruit at all, so I am hoping that this late bloom after the worst of the frosts and with plentiful pollinating bees around mean I can get some wine on the go for Christmas.