Bush Tomato Muffins

August 31, 2006

The Spouse is unable to watch rugby on television without really entering the spirit of the game. He sits on the edge of his seat, shouting encouragement, advice, derision. And he has the volume control on his vocal cords on full. You'd have thought he might have had enough excitement going to the MCG to watch his AFL team win the other night. No. He had to be home by 11pm so see the All Blacks play South Africa.

I watched a little of the game then left him to it, closing the bedroom door so I couldn't hear the noise. Worked OK for me. Fast forward to yesterday when my neighbour called by to borrow a phone as hers seemed to be dead.

As we wandered inside to get a phone she tentatively asked me about the "shouting" she'd thought she'd heard from our place. Mmmm. We're in a semi-detached house with thick concrete walls between. The only time I hear anything from her side is when someone is hammering or she is pounding spices in a mortar.

A couple of times I'd desperately hoped they couldn't hear The Spouse watching the rugby - or at least they could hear the commentary and know I wasn't being used for target practice. "Come on!!! get on with it!!! Whadya think you're doing?!?! Move, moooove!!!" Could be misinterpreted. I hastened to assure her it was the remote control king watching sport.

Sometimes when there's weekend sport watching to be done, I make a batch of muffins while I keep half an eye on the screen. Recently I've been experimenting with Australian herbs and spices. I bought a collection during a recent vineyard visit and used a couple in today's muffins.

Ground bush tomatoes have a warm pungent tomato flavour and went well in these cheese based muffins. The lemon myrtle gave the mix a slight citrus background and the mountain pepper gave a little big of heat - a change from the usual cayenne. I also added some garlic chives to complete the savoury theme.

Bush Tomato Muffins

2 cups plain white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons ground bush tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon lemon myrtle
1/4 teaspoon mountain pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic chives
1 1/2 cups grated tasty cheese
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or light olive oil
2 large eggs
200ml milk

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and then add the salt, spices, chives and cheese.

Whisk together the milk, eggs and oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid. Quickly turn the mix over to incorporate the liquid. Do not overmix. The batter doesn't have to be smooth - lumpy is OK.

Spoon into a greased 12-muffin pan. You can poke a chunk of fresh tomato into each muffin if you like. Bake in a pre-heated 200C oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

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