Sun-dried tomatoes and olives muffins

I've been baking many muffins lately, and trying different varieties...
I would say that muffins are my newest field for baking experiments. I made several tests and experiments with other baked goods - tarts, cakes, cookies, breads, focaccia, and more - but muffins were not in my repertoire yet. Until I discovered how good, tasty and pretty they can be....and absolutely easy to make, and super fast too.
I've always liked muffins - not all of them actually, as I had also the unlucky chance to see, and eat, muffins with the same specific weight as bricks and others so flattish to resemble more a sweet pizza - but I had somehow undervalued their potential. And in fact muffins, when properly made and baked, are a really delicious treat, very good-looking too; and the funny thing is that the less you work the batter, the better muffins come out: the only trick for moist, soft and domed muffins is to mix the ingredients (to be precise add the liquid mixture to the dry mix), as less as possible, just to roughly combine everything. Not a secret though: everyone seems to know it, it's written on every cookbook, magazine, website, blog; it's important just to put in practice this simple advice.

Chicken nuggets (my way)

Chicken nuggets, besides being one of the "signature" items on the menu of the most popular fast food chain (no need to name it), are also present in most of the kids menus all over the world. Because almost all children (and often also parents) love them; except my son and maybe few other kids in the world (excluding vegetarians of course). In particular he doesn't like those nuggets made using bite sized pieces of chicken, where the taste and texture of the meat is fully recognizable even if they are covered in breadcrumbs, usually very salty and deep-fried. But my son actually dislikes almost all kinds of meat and fish and also cheese: I would say he is unconsciously vegetarian, and he would have pasta, then pasta and more pasta, both for lunch and dinner (he is really Italian!).

But when I made these chicken nuggets, beyond any expectations, he liked them, so I want to share the recipe for those moms looking for different ways of presenting meat to their children, especially if like my son are not meat and chicken lovers.

Raspberry Thumbprints

I bake a lot of cookies! Cookies for breakfast, cookies for coffee, cookies for my kid, cookies for an after-dinner treat - usually these fall into the chocolate cookies category - and sometimes, cookies for making baking experiments. Cookies are perfect for the last scope. In fact usually they are quite easy and fast to prepare (and thanks to the outside temperature here in Dubai I do not even have to wait long for butter to get soft), made with ingredients generally available at home and, let's say, "easier" to eat than for example a cake or a tarte: who can refuse a two-bite dessert? I know, there also some giant cookies that are much more challenging than a layered cake, but I consider them an exception.
Today's cookies are exactly an experiment inspired by a recipe, seen on Martha Stewart's website, for thumbprint cookies whose ingredients included cornmeal. Since I love the crunchy texture given by this flour (some regional Italian cookies made with cornmeal are in my opinion delicious) I wanted to try; I also loved the presence in the dough of orange zest which gives a fresh hint.
The original recipe called for cranberries in the filling jam: not being cranberries available here, I used raspberries which I like and paired perfectly with the base (but I think that also strawberries would work well). I made few adjustment and the result was even better than expected: crunchy on the outside thanks to the sugar crust, with a crumby and nutty interior texture due to the presence of cornmeal; the slightly acidity of raspberry filling perfectly balanced by the sugar crust; all perfumed by the orange flavor. Delicious!

Aperitivo time: Cheese savory cookies

A typical Italian tradition is that of aperitivo, which literally is an alcoholic beverage served before a meal to stimulate the appetite; the word comes from the Latin verb aperire which means to open and in fact it is intended to open the stomach to the upcoming meal but also, in formal and structured occasions, to open the meal literally as it is the very first course served. But more commonly it is a sort of pre-dinner ritual of having a drink before going home from work or to a restaurant or somewhere else for dinner. Since the drinks typically served as aperitivo are alcoholic (even if also non-alcoholic drinks or cocktail are now included in all aperitifs menus), and are drunk when stomach is empty, some nibbles and snacks which can be eaten with fingers usually accompany them, like chips, olives, cheese bites, crackers.

In more recent times Italian bars started to serve such a wide variety of finger foods and nibbles that the aperitivo has become a substitute for the dinner and, at the same time, an opportunity to socialize and spend time with friends. But that's a long story and I will probably will write about it with more details in the future.

Today I want to share one recipe that I consider perfect when offering an aperitivo at home. When we have guests for dinner, before sitting at table, I like to have some conversation and to open their stomachs with a glass of wine (preferably sparkling, white or rosé). And with the wine I like to serve something small and easy to eat,stimulating appetite (and possibly not spoiling it). These cookies are perfect for this scope.