SMS - (Savory) Bosc Pear, Blue Cheese, and Walnut Muffins

Hosted by: Andrea of Nummy Kitchen (recipe found here)

Recipe: Bosc Pear, Blue Cheese, and Walnut Muffins

Hello! Today is Sweet Melissa Sundays day to shine and share. Usually we bake something sugary sweet but this time we changed gears. Andrea chose savory muffins and what cute little muffins these are.

The muffins are quite moist just out of the oven with creamy Bosc pear chunks, toasted pecans (what I had on hand), and lots of crumbled blue cheese. I was worried about the flavor being overpowered by the blue cheese, but instead, hardly tasted the pungent cheese. Interesting.

I also wished I had added chives or green onions for color.

The recipe made 18 muffins instead of 12 and I found the muffins to be done at 20 minutes. In fact, my muffins were almost too done.

I had a complete mental block as to what I was serving my muffins with so dinner it is. I made smoky rib-eye steaks with loaded mashed potatoes and my garden vegetables, roasted with a red pepper dipping sauce.

The recipe came from a Fine Cooking magazine and takes about 30 minutes to cook and serve.

(All the ingredients in a loaded baked potato—bacon, scallions, cheese, and sour cream—are added to mashed potatoes.)

Smoky Rib-Eye Steaks with Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch chunks

4 slices thick-cut bacon

2 boneless beef rib-eye steaks (about 2 lb. total)

1-1/2 tsp. sweet smoked paprika

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup whole milk

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

3 oz. grated sharp Cheddar (3/4 cup)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 medium scallions, thinly sliced

(My first crop of Yukon Potatoes and Green Beans out of my Garden)

Directions:

Arrange a steamer basket in a large pot with 1 inch of water in the bottom. Spread the potatoes in the basket in an even layer, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and steam until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat, turning once, until crisp, 7 to 8 minutes total. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate; discard all but 1 Tbs. of the fat from the skillet.

Season the steaks all over with the paprika, 1-1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Heat the skillet with the reserved bacon fat over medium-high heat. Arrange the steaks in the skillet in a single layer. Cook, flipping once, until deep golden-brown outside and medium rare inside, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer the steaks to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, transfer the hot potatoes to a large bowl. Stir in the milk and butter and mash with a potato masher until just combined. Stir in the cheese, sour cream, scallions, and salt and pepper to taste.

Slice the steaks across the grain and transfer to dinner plates. Serve the potatoes on the side with the bacon crumbled on top.

(My first try at green beans. It is funny how proud I feel, even though I do not have beans like my Grandpa used to grow.)

Andrea, thank you for hosting this week and choosing a simple, easy recipe with a new flavor twist for us. My family enjoyed these with dinner and I have some in the freezer for later. Check out the rest of our baker's muffins to see how imagination can change one recipe into so many directions! Happy baking everyone and see you again soon, Shandy.