You have probably also noticed that I don't have seafood category anywhere on this blog. And once again, the reason is very simple: I strongly dislike it. I mean, if seafood equals tuna, I would certainly and cheerfully say "Yes, I would like a double portion, please!" But... BUT, unfortunately (for me), that's not the case. I occasionally eat hake, and that's all. Everything else is on my no-thank-you-list: shrimps, octopus, oysters, squid... They all look gross enough to me to make me feel averse to seafood. I barely decide to prepare them for the rest of my family, and it's only when I cannot "escape" from their constant requests. I know many of you will say I'm missing a lot, both flavors and health benefits, but alas, that's me - the squeamish kid! :)
But let's get back to tuna now. I love it in salad, on pizza, in a sandwich, in pasta sauce, and now I used it in a savoury cake! Well, savoury muffins, to be precise. And those muffins are really hunky-dory. Due to cheese, they have creamy, almost pudding-like texture, and their flavor is perfectly balanced between the saltiness of tuna and sweetness of some vegetables.
I saw this recipe on a cooking show, and it intrigued me a lot as I have never used tuna in cakes before. But, to be honest, I wasn't sure if I'm going to like the flavor, so I decided to make the smallest dose possible: with one egg only, and the rest of the ingredients cut down accordingly. I wasn't much satisfied with the result, as muffins turned out too gummy and looked like raw. On the other hand, I liked the flavor, so I decided to alter the recipe in order to enhance their appearance.
The original recipe was saying only 1 tablespoon of flour per egg, which seemed just too little for me with all that liquid. So, the second time I made them, I added a lot more flour and I guess I nailed it! This time they were perfectly soft and fluffy, with such a rich and diverse flavor! Since we liked them a lot, I doubled the dose the very next time!
I shall point out that the ingredients below are those I used in my version of the recipe. The quantities given in brackets are those from the original one.
The recipe makes 20 standard muffins:
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- Prepare the ingredients: mince the onion, and grate the cheese (I used Gouda).
Drain tuna well by pressing it in a strainer, for example. Note that you'll need 150 g of drained tuna, which you should get from 1 1/2 150g cans. Crush it with a fork if using chunks. - Beat eggs until foamy. Add milk and oil.
- Stir in cheese, onion and tuna. Season with some salt and pepper, but be careful with the salt!
- Then add flour and stir carefully until homogenized and lumpless. You will get a thick batter.
- Divide the batter between muffin molds (lightly greased and floured if not silicone) and bake into a preheated oven at 200°C for approx. 20 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
And here they are, served together with the super delicious Tuna Cornbread (recipe to follow soon)...
And this is how those Tuna Muffins looked like when I made them following the original recipe:
Enjoy and bon appétit!