2014 Cooking Club Week 44: Bacon & egg muffins

Here's something I like to throw together for a fancy Saturday breakfast, or else in large batches for work lunch. These are a bit like a quiche but without a crust. For anyone dieting or lo-carbing (I am doing both) these are a dream; high in protein and fat and pretty much no carbohydrate. 200 calories a pop for anyone who pays attention to these things.



Ingredients (makes 6 muffins):

6 slices bacon (I used smokey rashers from Lidl)
6 eggs
3 tablespoons cream
54g parmesan or grana padano, grated
A few big florets of broccoli
1.5 tsp olive oil
(Not an ingredient but you will need a muffin tin for these)

Method:

Heat your oven to 180 degrees (fan oven). Use the olive oil to grease a muffin tin - I put 1/4 tsp in each section and it was loads.

Steam or boil the broccoli for 5 or 6 mins until tender. Drain and leave to cool. (If you are some sort of maniac that doesn't like broccoli, you can leave it out. You can use any green veg you want - or just leave the veg out entirely if you are so inclined.)

Put a slice of bacon in each section of the tin. You want to basically wrap it around the walls of the muffin case and tuck any extra bit underneath. This is a bit fiddly but there's no need to be perfect - bash it around until it fits. I couldn't get mine to fully line the bottom and it didn't matter.

Put the tin into the oven for 5 mins to get the bacon started, then remove.

The broccoli should now be cool enough to just about handle - chop it up as fine as you like and chuck it in a bowl. Add the grated parmesan and a good few turns of black pepper. Mix really well. Inhale deeply, it smells amazing.

Spoon the broccoli-cheese mixture into the muffin cases, trying to keep the bacon on the outside.

Mix together the eggs and cream and pour this into the muffin cases, distributing evenly. It helps to use a fork to gently move the broccoli around so that the egg gets all the way through it and under it etc. The cases will be pretty full but don't worry. I didn't add any salt to the eggs as there is plenty in the cheese & bacon already.

Put the tin carefully into the oven, cook for 20 mins. When you take it out the muffins will have risen and be all golden and cheesey like so:



(I like the way the two guys at the back started to hold hands in the oven)

Leave them to cool in the tin for a while. Once they're cool enough, run a wee knife around the outside and they should come out pretty easily with the help of a spoon. Serve immediately or put them in an airtight container in the fridge. I bring 2 of these for lunch with me - a quick zap (1 - 2 mins) in the microwave and they're ready to eat.

Here's a pic of the inside: