Here’s a really easy recipe to follow that makes Bacon and cheese muffins, a delicious snack that is ideal for picnics or lunch boxes. It takes 15 minutes to prepare and 12 to cook
We had them for a snack lunch with vegetable sticks and they were devoured in minutes with cries of ‘Can I have some more please mum!’
Music to my ears
Bacon and cheese muffins
Ingredients. Makes about 12
6 rashers of smoked bacon
150g self raising flour
50g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp mustard powder
salt and pepper some mixed herbs
1 large egg
125ml milk
Method
1. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with cases
2. Place your bacon rashers on the enamel plate in the upper position and select GRILL 1 for 10 minutes
3. Drain the bacon and chop into bite sized pieces
4. Sift the flour into a medium sized bowl, add most of the grated cheese, mustard powder, seasoning and mix well
5. In a separate jug add the milk, add the egg and beat
6. Add the chopped bacon pieces to the flour mix and add the wet mixture too and mix until just combined without over-mixing to avoid tough muffins
7. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese
8. Place in lower position on wire rack. Select Convection 180C for 12 minutes. Bake until golden and springy to touch
I mentioned in December that I had gone to Panasonic HQ for the second time and we focused on the Panasonic microwave combination oven. Here’s an insight to what a day as a Panasonic Intelligent Living Mum is like and some combination oven recipes below.
My task was to roast a chicken you can see the result above but in under 50 minutes we had a tender and moist browned roast chicken.
So after one month of owning a combi oven what have I been using it for?
Jacket Potatoes with tuna and olive mayonnaise
There is a special button for potatoes with three settings, boiled, jacket and frozen potatoes.
The minimum weight for jackets is 200g which is a good sized potato. Wash and dry the spud and prick several times with a fork, place on wire shelf. Choose Jacket setting, enter weight and press start.
The Panasonic combi will cook my spud in under 20 minutes and browned it too so it was crispy on the outside, perfectly cooked inside, a perfect lunch option for me.
Gratin Dauphinoise – layered potato
Served on Christmas eve with the poached salmon and was a big hit
Ingredients
1 clove of crushed garlic
700g potatoes sliced thinly
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
150ml double cream
25g butter
Layer the potato slices in a glass dish, seasoning with salt, pepper and nutmeg between each layer. Mix garlic with cream. Poiur on the cream evenly over the top of the potatoes and dot with butter. Place on wire shelf and cook on CONVECTION 190C + LOW MICROWAVE for 25-30 mins, check potatoes are cooked by inserting a knife.
Ready to go in
Pizza
There is a special button for pizza too with two settings, chilled and frozen.
I cooked a chilled 250g Margarita for the children for their tea one evening, it was cooked perfectly in under 7 minutes. This option really does save energy therefore would be noticeable on your electric bill. There is no preheating the oven so you are using the power source for 7 minutes as opposed to 15 + preheating in a normal oven
Red cabbage with apple and onion
This was during one of our Christmas dinners where we were hosting for large numbers. I hadn’t read the book properly and was guessing times. A whole sliced red cabbage with 1 apple and 1 onion chopped in, a little stock and salt and pepper took about 30-40 minutes using the microwave.
The above photo shows how far microwave ovens have come along, on the left is the old part and is unbelievable heavy, on the right the new substitute, lighter and more efficient
Christmas Pudding
My brother made our Christmas pudding this year and we finished off the cooking in the Panasonic combi
Vegetable and chickpea curry
You can see this being made in the video. As the Mister doesn’t eat rice I always buy a vegetable curry for him to go with his curried meat. When I tasted this at Panasonic HQ, I was sold and have made it this past month. It’s easy and delicious too
Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsps veg oil
1 courgette sliced thickly
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1/2 small cauliflower, cut into florets
50g dried apricots chopped (optional)
1 clove of garlic
1/2 tin of chickpeas
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground corinader
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 piece of root ginger grates
225ml hot vegetable stock
(I used a desert spoon of curry paste instead of all the dried spices)
1. Place the onion and oil in the casserole dish. Cover and cook on HIGH power for 3 mins
2. Add the prepared vegetables, apricots, garlic, chickpeas and stir in the spices and stock
3. Cover and cook on HIGH power for 15-20 mins, stir 2 -3 times during the cooking
The Panasonic Intelligent Living Mums group had a second visit to the Bracknell offices in December and the whole session was focused on their microwave combination ovens.
I am sooooo impressed.
My old microwave is a hand me down that has been shunted around the family for about 15 years now, it was on it’s last legs but in all honesty I hardly ever used it so buying a new one just to look pretty seemed a bit excessive.
Whilst we were there it was very hands on as we used the microwave ovens to make lunch; I roasted a chicken in 50 minutes using all three elements of the oven, microwave, grill and convection oven. It was really succulent as well.
Easy combination oven recipes
Penny and Monika made a delicious vegetable curry that I will definitely be trying in the new year, Clare and Filippa made a bolognaise sauce from scratch, a second cheat’s bolognaise sauce was made using a jar of tomato sauce which was just as delicious and some chocolate brownies were made which were heavenly.
This was all to show just how verstaile the Panasonic microwaves are, how much time they can shave off your normal cooking time and what fabulous finished products they produce.
Whole Roast Chicken in a combi oven
Unpack the chicken from it’s plastic and weigh it – what I didn’t realise is the huge difference in weight from the automated supermarket label and the actual weight of the bird. My ticket said 1.35 and the scales said 1.65 – this would make the difference in a cooked chicken or uncooked when using a microwave.
Place chicken breast down to keep the bird moist. Place in oven set timer for minutes cooking per weight of bird
Microwave will beep half way through to let you know to turn the bird over, this will nicely crisp the top
Final beep, remove chicken form oven and serve, It was delicious and moister than a normal oven would cook
THEN Panasonic sent me my own NN-CF771 to try out and I am beside myself with joy. I used it straight away to make
Creamy Chicken Gratin
and you won’t believe how easy and quick it was. 40 minutes total and hardly any work
You will need:
Oven accessory – base of the oven then wire shelf in lower position
Dish – 9″ gratin dish/glass pyrex
Ingredients
350g leeks
25g butter
2 tbsps plain flour
300 ml milk
225g cooked chicken (I microwaved 500g in the microwave on MEDIUM for 12 minutes)
100 g chopped ham
175g gryere cheese – I used cheddar
Slice the leeks and place in a large bowl with the butter. Cover and cook on HIGH microwave for 3-4 mintues
Add the flour and mix well. Stir in the milk and heat on HIGH microwave for 4-5 mins until thickened. Stir halfway through.
Add the chicken, ham and cheese. Season and mix well (I added a handful of chopped mushrooms that needed using too.
Pour into the dish. Place on wire shelf and cook on CONVECTION 230C + Grill 3 + LOW MICROWAVE for 15 – 20 minutes.
Look at these beauties Almond topped mince pies….
Check out Panasonic’s The Ideas Kitchen where you can find recipes, tips and ideas to use all of your appliances. The Ideas Kitchen blog is currently showing Clementine and polenta sponge which sounds delicious. There are lots of videos showing you how to make the most of your products and competitions too.
Disclosure: Panasonic sent me a combi oven for the purpose of this review, there will be more to follow as I am so impressed with it
Here’s a really easy recipe to follow that makes Bacon and cheese muffins, a delicious snack that is ideal for picnics or lunch boxes. It takes 15 minutes to prepare and 12 to cook
