Baked Feta with chilli oregano and smoked paprika

November 11, 2013 By

If you are ever looking for something easy to take to a friend’s house or have people coming over look no further! This recipe for baked feta with chilli, oregano and smoked paprika is an easy way to prepare a great entrée or finger food dish that is absolutely moreish!

Baked feta is a traditional Greek way of preparing feta, and through adding simple ingredients to the salty cheese it simply enhances the dish. To make baked feta you don’t have to be fancy and buy the cheese over the counter at the deli. You can simply use the one from the cheese counter from your local store. Next all you do is simply place the cheese in a small baking dish and top with olive oil, chilli flakes, oregano and the smoked paprika. Then simply cover the dish with some aluminium foil and place in a pre-heated oven.

While the feta bakes, simply prepare your plate with either some crackers, fresh bread or bread crisps. I’m a huge fan of kalamata olives, so if you want to jazz up the plate a bit Brooke tends to put a small bowl to accompany the cheese.

After about 10 – 15 minutes the cheese should be warmed through and ready to serve.

We love snacks and if you are looking for something to go with this then try our ham and cheese croquettes.

Baked Feta IngredientsFeta and Olive Oilbaked feta with chilli, oregano and smoked paprikabaked feta with chilli and oregano and smoked paprikaBaked Feta with bread crisps and olivesBaked Feta on bread crisp

Baked feta with chilli – Recipe Instructions

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Baked Feta with Chilli
 
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This recipe for baked feta with chilli, oregano and smoked paprika is a quick and easy way to prepare a great entrée.
Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 150 g Feta
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • ¼ tspn chilli flakes
  • ¼ tspn dried or fresh oregano
  • ¼ smoked paprika
  • Olives, crackers or bread to serve
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C
  2. Place the feta in an oven proof baking dish and drizzle with olive oil
  3. Sprinkle spices over the feta, and cover with aluminium foil
  4. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes
  5. Serve with crackers, bread or olives

 

Filed Under: Snacks Tagged With: ,

MYO Bruschetta

September 23, 2013 By

As you know I love anything snack related and bruschetta has to be one of the most simple and flavour packed snacks (or antipasto) you can make. Normally Brooke and I would make traditional bruschetta recipe with tomato, onion, basil and drizzled with olive oil. However on this lazy weekend in winter it wasn’t the best time for buying basil.

As a result, we started looking for ingredients and opted for non traditional options including chorizo, feta and kalamata olives to add with some fresh tomato and onion for a make your own bruschetta station. Now some of you may be thinking this doesn’t have any resemblance of bruschetta, however there are no rules to say what you can’t use as your toppings. However, I am sure if you love chorizo as much as me you will not doubt the flavour combinations.

Now unfortunately Brooke isn’t the hugest fan of chorizo (weirdo), so to have a bit of fun with it we created a make your own bruschetta. This meant keeping some of the ingredients separate then, each of us could top ours with more of our favourite toppings.

To start we diced the tomatoes, removing the seeds and mixed with some diced onion. To season we used olive oil and a dash of balsamic for a nice tang. Next we simply crumbled the feta and combined this with some kalamata olives. Lastly we cooked off some chorizo. You want to make sure you cut this small enough so it stays on the bread.

To serve we lightly grilled some bread in the pan to crisp it up a little to act as the perfect carrier for this flavour packed combination.

Looking for other great snack recipes then try savoury muffins recipe or baked feta with chilli recipe.

Bruschetta IngredientsMake Your Own BruschettaBruschetta with Olives, Feta and chorizoBruschetta with chorizo, feta and kalamata olivesClint eating Bruschetta

MYO Bruschetta – Recipe Instructions

MYO Bruschetta
 
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Make Your Own Bruschetta with chorizo, feta and kalamata olives.
Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 100 g Feta
  • 4 Tomatoes, diced with seeds removed
  • ¼ red onion, diced
  • 1 chorizo sausage
  • ¼ cup pitted kalamata olives (in half)
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • ½ Tbsp balsamic
  • 1 French stick / baguette
Instructions
  1. Dice the tomatoes and onion, ensuring you remove the seeds from the tomatoes.
  2. Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic over the tomato and onion in a small bowl.
  3. Crumble the feta into another bowl, and add in the olives. Be careful not to crumble the feta too much.
  4. Cut the chrizo into pieces, then cook in a preheated fry pan.
  5. To crisp the bread slightly. Toast off in a pan, or cook under the grill till golden brown.
  6. To serve keep elements separate and allow guests to build their own bruschetta.

 

Filed Under: Snacks Tagged With: , , ,

Healthy savoury muffins recipe

September 16, 2013 By

When Brooke told me that she was going to make this vegetarian healthy savoury muffins recipe, at first I was a little skeptical. Anything with the word vegetarian typically has me scrunching up my face as my initial reaction. The thing was, as Brooke began to rattle off the list of ingredients including, Kalamata olives, semi sun-dried tomatoes and feta just to name a few I was quickly being won over by this savoury muffins recipe.

The thing about these vegetable muffins is they are incredibly versatile, you can have them for breakfast, lunch or dinner or even just as a lunchbox snack. Brooke and I took them to work with us throughout the following week. Personally, I couldn’t seem to get past morning tea without eating mine. However, Brooke managed to wait and have hers with soup at lunchtime.

Not only are these really tasty savoury muffins, but they are also really filling and pretty healthy too. The beauty of these muffins is you can also freeze them to eat during the week or whenever you feel like a sugar-free snack.

I can definitely see this healthy savoury muffin recipe becoming a go to recipe in case of a snacking emergency. Although I think next time I will sneakily add some bacon or chorizo while Brooke is preoccupied in the kitchen (Insert evil laugh).

If you have a craving for something sweet and vegetable savoury muffins just won’t cut it then check our recipes for blueberry and lemon cupcakes, pecan slice, apple and rhubarb crumble or no bake mars bar slice.

Spinach, Semi Sundried Tomatoes, Feta, Kalamata OlivesSavoury Muffins Mixturehealthy savoury muffins in TinSavoury Muffins in Tinhealthy savoury muffins recipe

Vegetable savoury muffin baking tips

Like all baking practice and precision with measurement makes perfect! However, try these helpful tips to make your vegetable savoury muffins turn out on the first attempt.

Its important that when you wash your baby spinach leaves you remove as much excess water as possible. Running your spinach through a salad spinner is a good way to do this. Alternatively placing the spinach on paper towel and gently drying will work.

Don’t over stir the savoury muffin mixture. Resist the temptation to over beat your batter as this will cause your savoury muffins to become touch. You want the final mixture to be lumpy in texture. It should only take 10-12 strokes with a wooden spoon to blend your mixture.

Don’t skimp of the vegetables. If you don’t like on of the veggies, don’t just leave it out but instead replace it with an alternative.

Thoroughly grease the muffin tin before adding the batter. They tend to turn out better without paper cases or muffin cups. We recommend that you spray the pan with canola oil however you also could use olive oil.

Keep an eye on the baking time. Because of the variation in the water content in your ingredients and because all ovens are different you want to monitor them closely. If you take them out too early your savoury muffins could be uncooked in the middle. Bake them too long and they can become dry. Use a skewer to test your savoury muffins a couple of minutes before the end of the bake. If your skewer comes out clean then they should be perfectly cooked.

How to store your savoury muffins

Once you’ve made such great savoury muffins you will be keen to ensure you get to enjoy them all. While to some that could mean trying to eat as many as soon as possible if you store them properly they can be enjoyed over a longer period of time. These are our tips for storing muffins;

Leave your savoury muffins for around 3-5mins after cooking to allow them to firm up before you transfer to a cooling rack.

The muffins you don’t eat warm, ensure they cool completely on a wire rack. Storing your muffins when they are even a little bit warm will result in condensation which you need to avoid, or you will be left with soggy muffins.

Depending on how many muffins you have made you may either want to store dry, refrigerate or freeze your muffins.

We always like to freeze savoury muffins, its such a great way to store them and if they are properly frozen they will be good for at least 2 months (but will remain safe well past then). For best quality we like to individually wrap muffins in clingfilm and then transfer them into containers or Ziplock freezer bags. To reheat – just pop them out of the freezer and place them back in the muffin tin. Reheat at 170c (350f) until heated through. Alternatively, allow them to thaw and reheat them in the microwave.

You can refrigerate them muffins, however this tends to alter the texture of the muffin and we don’t recommend this.

Storing muffins at room temperature is better than refrigeration when it comes to retaining the quality of the flavour. The best way to store them is to line an air tight container with kitchen paper, and place them on top, if you have two layers worth then add another sheet of baking paper in between before seeling the lid. The paper should help to avoid any moisture build up. If you live in a warm climate I recommend only storing for a day or 2 at room temperature. Make sure you freeze them if you don’t think they will be gone in 2 days

Savoury muffins recipe instructions

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Savoury Muffins
 
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Yummy savoury muffins with Kalamata olives, semi sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and feta and more.
Author:
Recipe type: Baked Goods
Cuisine: Australian
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups self-raising flour
  • ½ bunch spinach
  • 150g feta cheese
  • ½ cup semi-sundried tomatoes
  • ¼ cup Kalamata sliced olives
  • 2tbspn parmesan
  • 1⅓ cup milk
  • 50g melted butter
  • 1 egg
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 200c and brush a 12 muffin pan with canola oil.
  2. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add shredded spinach, crumbled feta cheese, chopped sundried tomatoes, olives, parmesan and stir to combine. Whisk together the melted butter, milk and egg until just combined and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together.
  3. Spoon mixture into prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Serve warm with some butter or avocado if you prefer. Yum!
Notes
You can easily change the filling to whatever you like – bacon, corn, asparagus, fresh tomato etc.

 

Filed Under: Baked Goods Tagged With: , , ,