Cheese and Salami Muffins

March 2, 2004

We were glued to TV yesterday, watching the Oscars and crossing fingers for director Peter Jackson and The Lord of the Rings team.

As Jackson rightly claimed, when he collected the final Oscar in the clean sweep of the awards, there was probably hardly a New Zealander who didn't know someone who had been involved in some way in the trilogy.

Even we managed to play a humble part in all the fun. We were attending a rugby match at our local stadium one night last year when the crowd was asked to stay on for a few minutes after the game to do our bit for The Return of the King.

We polished our tonsils and joined in the fun. We were the large and noisy rabble, shouting orc war cries and generally exercising our lungs as we yelled the words displayed on the big screen.

It was rather a thrill to go to the final film and hear our contribution.

Various other people we know were involved in the films as extras or in some technical capacity. As they say, it's a small world.

Peter Jackson himself used to work on my old newspaper and persuaded his workmates to join him at the weekends to be in his early movie Bad Taste.

His success at the Oscars certainly served to brighten the end of a summer that has been something of a disaster in these parts. We have had the wettest February for decades and when we should have been outside enjoying barbecues, we've been cowering inside beside heaters. There have been floods and slips everywhere and I guess the most we can hope for now is a more gentle winter. Summer is a write-off.

By way of a bit of culinary therapy I made a batch of cheese muffins for brunch at the weekend.

Ready grated cheese makes this a quick and easy recipe. The main thing with muffins is not to over mix. Just combine the wet and dry ingredients. Don't be tempted to stir them energetically.

Cheese and Salami Muffins

1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons curry powder
pinch cayenne pepper
2 cups grated tasty cheddar
3 tablespoons finely chopped salami
1 tablespoon pesto (optional but nice)
1 large egg
1 cup milk
toasted sesame seeds

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Set aside a little of the cheese to put on top of the muffins. Add the rest to the flour with the salami and fold in.

Whisk together the pesto, egg and milk. Add to the dry ingredients and just combine.

Grease 12 medium muffin tins and spoon some of the mixture into each. Top with a pinch of cheese and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Bake in a pre-heated 210 C oven for 15-20 minutes. The muffins are done when the mix springs back when pressed. The tops should be a golden brown.