Best Blueberry Nut Muffins

Baking Spring and Summer seasonal muffins are ideal this time of year, especially since blueberries are so plentiful right now and muffins bake fairly quickly with not much prep. 

Oh, you say that you don’t have fresh blueberries on hand, but your bananas are ripening faster than you can say "Good Night, Mrs. Calabash - wherever you are!"? Well then, here's my banana muffin recipe, blueberries are optional. 

Tip:

Did you know? Tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking. 

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Blueberry Nut Muffins

Makes 10-12 muffins

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

For the topping:

1/3 cup lite brown sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons nuts, walnuts or pecans, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1 Tablespoon sweet butter

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts. Blend butter in with a fork until mixture is crumb like.

For the muffin mix:

1/2 cup sweet butter, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon flour for coating blueberries, plus greasing muffin cups

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup pure cane granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 cup milk

Grease a regular size 12-cup muffin pan with butter and dust with flour, banging out excess flour; or use muffin cups liners.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In a separate bowl use a mixer to cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and orange zest to beaten eggs, then add eggs one at a time, mixing until eggs are absorbed. 

With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture and milk in three stages, mixing until all are incorporated.  Do not over mix. 

Toss blueberries in a fine strainer with about one Tablespoon of flour to lightly coat. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries. With an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place batter into muffin cups filling each cup to three quarters full. Add remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries on top of the muffins and divide crumb topping over muffins. 

Bake about 25-30 minutes, until muffins are golden brown. Check muffins half way through and rotate if oven temperature is uneven. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin and it should come out clean; or when touched lightly the muffin should have a slight resistance to finger pressure.  

Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan.

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Garlic Artichokes

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This is a dish to share with someone special. Get rid of your knives and forks and start the evening with finger food, an artichoke with a delicious savory garlic dip makes it all that more interesting!

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Garlic Artichokes

Makes 4 servings

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle from Know Your Fire Cookbook

1 Lemon, cut in half

1/4 cup mint leaves washed, dried and chopped

8 cloves garlic chopped

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine

1 Tablespoon flat leaf Italian parsely

1/4 cup mixed Sicilian olives 

juice of 1 fresh lemon

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

Wash artichokes; remove outer leaves until pale yellow leaves are exposed. 

Cut off top two inches and stems so artichokes will sit upright. 

Remove fuzzy centers with the edge of a soup spoon and rub all surfaces with half of a lemon. Add juice of remaining lemon to water and dip artichokes to preserve green color. 

Mix mint, garlic, pepper, with wine, 1/2 cup olive oil and spoon into hollows of artichokes. Place in a pan just large enough to hold them upright. Add water to depth of three inches and remaining olive. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes or until just tender. Check by either pulling off a bottom leaf with ease or inserting small knife through bottom and it slides out with ease. Cooking will vary with size of artichokes. 

Remove artichokes, drain, cover and keep warm. Reduce cooking liquid until a syrupy consistency, add optional hot pepper flakes. Spoon sauce over artichokes; top with parsley, olives, lemon juice, olive oil and serve.

Note: Artichokes may also be grilled over a very high heat and topped with above flavorings. 

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Gnocchi

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Gnocchi is an excellent accompaniment for meat and poultry dishes. When prepared right, they are light as pillows, like dumplings. The secret is to not over mix the dough and to use just the right amount of flour. There are so many ways to make gnocchi; I prefer to bake the potatoes instead of steaming them, making a softer dough. Gnocchi is quite popular in the Mediterranean, with each country having their own version. I share below my version of Gnocchi which pairs well with bitter greens, like spinach.

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Potato Gnocchi

Recipe Chef George Hirsch | chefgeorgehirsch.com

2 pounds russets (baking potatoes)

Approximately 2 cups flour (variable) 

1 large egg

A pinch of sea salt

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake potatoes until easily pierced with a fork or a paring knife will easy slip through potatoes. Cool slightly, then peel the potatoes. 

Mash them while they’re still warm (a potato ricer or food mill works best). Season the potatoes with a pinch of salt and slowly knead in enough flour to obtain a fairly firm, smooth, non-sticky dough; exactly how much flour depends on the moisture from the potatoes. Add the egg, and enough flour so the dough does not stick to your hands. 

Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes, as it will resemble regular pasta dough. Divide the dough into four pieces.

Roll the dough out into a rope shape about 2/3 of an inch thick, cut the rope into one-inch pieces, and gently score the pieces crosswise with a fork to obtain slight ridges. With your finger, gently roll the pressed dough back off the fork. This may take a little practice. If the dough sticks to the fork, dip the fork in flour before you press the dough against it. Making this shape will help the gnocchi grab on to the tasty sauce it’s served with. 

Cook the gnocchi in abundant salted boiling water, removing them with a slotted spoon a minute or two after they rise to the surface. Drain them well and serve them with a few leaves of sage, melted unsalted butter and Parmesan, or meat sauce, or pesto sauce. 

Serve immediately while they are full of steam. The gnocchi are wonderfully light when hot. Once they cool off they become dense like a tire without air.

Gnocchi with Spinach

recipe Chef George Hirsch | Makes four servings

 1 lb. Gnocchi

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 cups fresh spinach, washed

4 fresh plum tomatoes, split de-seeded & chopped

2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Fresh ground black pepper

Heat a large pot with boiling water.

Pre heat sauté pan to medium temperature.  Add olive oil, garlic, onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add spinach and cover, reduce heat and cook for one minute. Remove from burner until the gnocchi is cooked. 

Add Gnocchi to rapidly boiling water. Simmer, until all gnocchi float to the top. Then cook one more minute.

Remove gnocchi from water and place directly into sauté pan.  Add fresh plum tomatoes and 1 cup of water from gnocchi pot, heat gnocchi with spinach sauce for 2 minutes.

Serve Gnocchi & Spinach topped with cheese, basil and pepper.

Make ahead Tip: Place any remaining uncooked Gnocchi in a container, dust with corn meal and freeze until you are ready to boil.

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Know Your Fire

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Be very careful saying BBQwhen you should be saying grilling - especially in BBQ country.

BBQ: It's a science of cooking protein by indirect heat, with dedication. I emphasize the word dedication because there is NO speedy way to BBQ. Two words, low and slow. I spent many years teaching the art of heat and fire, and in this case Q. There really is so much to learn and each Q occasion is always an unique experience with many factors; like air temperature, humidity, moisture, wind, etc. One of the best ways to Know Your Fire is to experience it first hand. It's one of those things you intrinsically feel and only come to understand when you are in the fire pit - so to speak. I tip my hat to all pitmasters. 

Grilling: This is the way most people will cook with their backyard grill; grilling proteins such as burgers, steak, chicken, seafood, as well as veggies. This is the use of direct heat cooking at a higher temperature for shorter cooking times over the fire. Again, practice makes perfect, so there's no time like the present to learn or expand your current grilling skills. 

Every Friday I will dedicate Daily FOOD posts to Know Your Fire Fridays; which happens to be the title of my fourth book and fourth PBS TV series. So whether you are a weekend griller or well seasoned in Q - I will be glad to share my tips and tricks with you right here.

This week let's start off with my Bourbon Sauce. I dedicate this recipe to my friends in Kentucky; the inspiration for this recipe. I've used this as a great finishing sauce for most proteins; including beef, pork and chicken.

Hope you have a great weekend! 

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Bourbon Sauce

Makes 5 cups

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

1 cup Dijon Mustard

1 cup steak sauce

1 cup bourbon 

1 cup honey

1 cup ketchup

1 Tablespoon orange zests

Juice of one lemon

Juice of one orange

In a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients; simmer gently for 4-5 minutes. Serve with ribs, steak, or grilled meats.

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