Muffins are a type of rich bread that are baked in little portions usually in paper cups and can be flavoured with fruits, jams, nuts, biscuits and many more. There is an English variant which is griddle cooked but the muffin discussed here is American variant which is baked in oven as compared to the English muffin which is cooked on griddle or hot plate.They look like cupcakes and small cakes in the shape, but they in general lack the frosting and are not sweet as the cupcakes.You can hold a muffin with one hand. Often served during breakfast, they can also be served as light snacks. There are many flavours and variations of muffins and the bottom line is that there is always a special ingredient that defines the muffin. The special ingredient can be a fruit such as blueberry for example or maybe a vegetable like pumpkin. Other ingredients can be banana, orange, strawberry, raspberry, almond, cinnamon, lemon, chocolate chips and peach. You can make your own signature variant by combining two or more of your choice of ingredients. Chocolate and cashew muffinsIngredients(Makes 6 muffins)Butter unsalted 200gIcing sugar 200gEgg 4 noFlour 200gCocoa powder 1 tbspBaking powder ½ tspVanilla extracts few dropsCashewnut ½ cupMethodSift flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together and keep aside. Pre heat the oven to 180 degree C.Cream butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy and the sugar is dissolved.Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix slowly to combine egg. Gradually add the flour mixture using cut and fold method to make a smooth batter.Pour the prepared batter in the muffin cups and garnish with cashewnut.Bake for 15-18 minutes or till a knife pierced through muffin comes out clean.Remove from baking tray and muffin mould and serve hot or cold as desired.Note: Please note that while filling up the muffin mould fill only till half the mould as the muffin mixture will expand during baking.RosemaryRosemary is a Mediterranean woody herb with spike shaped leaves. The name rosemary is derived from the Latin for dew “ros” and sea “marinus” or “dew of the sea”. Rosemary herb is the perfect pot herb to have in your kitchen garden. It is consumed either as fresh herb or dry herb in whole or powdered form. When cooking, it’s best to use whole sprigs and then remove the sprig since the tough leaves do not soften during cooking. The leaves are used as a flavouring in foods such as stuffing and roast lamb, beef, chicken and turkey. The sprig when used whole is an excellent garnish for the food being served along and also imparts its bitter, astringent taste. The herb is highly aromatic when cooked and imparts mustard like smell. While buying rosemary choose fresh over the dry form as it will have subtle flavours compared to the dried rosemary which has a stronger and pungent flavour. Fresh leaves should be dark green coloured. It can be stored in plastic bags in a refrigerator. Dried rosemary should be kept in an airtight container and placed in cool, dry place and can last for several months.Rosemary scented chicken Serves 2IngredientsChicken breast 4 noRosemary sprigs 3-4 noBeef bacon strips 8-10 noGarlic, chop 1 tbspOlive oil 2 tbspSalt to tasteCrushed pepper to tasteButter 4 tbspLemon juice 1 tbspMethodPlace chicken breast using a meat hammer or using the blunt side of the knife to tenderise the meat.Marinate the chicken with chopped garlic, olive oil, chopped rosemary sprigs and season.Place two bacon strips on chicken breast and roll over to shape it like roulade.Secure using aluminum foil and close the ends so that the roll does not open up while cooking.Place in a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes at 170 degree C. Once cooked, remove the aluminum foil and slice the chicken roulade.Prepare a sauce using the dripping from the baking tray and adding butter and lemon juice to it, also cook a whole rosemary sprig in it.Reduce till the sauce consistency is achieved. Serve on a bed of butter garlic tossed potato and pour the prepared sauce and garnish with the cooked rosemary sprig.Note: You can omit bacon strips from the recipe if you don’t prefer bacon.* Tarun Kapoor is executive chef at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel. Send your feedback to: exe.chef@horizonmanor.com