Test 1 - Cornmeal Muffins

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2015/02/perfect-corn-muffins/

Nailed it! Not too sweet and very corny... Now to replicate.
1 - Still on Test 1. The problem is not the recipe per-se, but how I read recipes. I totally just started a standard muffin recipe and mixed all the dry together and all the wet together before realizing that there's all these variations that I ignored.

Cooked Wet Batter:
Part 1
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup butter, cubed
Part 2
3 to 5 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup sour cream or full fat yoghurt or buttermilk?
Part 3
2 large eggs
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Melt the butter and allow to cool a bit. The time it takes to do the next steps should be plenty.
2. Heat oven to 425°F.
3. Grease standard muffin tin.
4. In a saucepan, combine milk and remaining 1/2 cup cornmeal. Cook until it’s thickened to a batter-like consistency, i.e. the spoon leaves a clear line across the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and add the cubes of butter, mixing until the butter is completely melted and combined, then transfer to a large bowl. Whisk in first the melted butter then, in this sequence, the sugar, then the sour cream until well combined. Finally By this time the batter should be cool enough, so go ahead and whisk in the eggs (but if you think it's still too hot, wait another 5 minutes).
5. Whisk together the remaining cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
6. Fold in the flour mixture until thoroughly combined and the batter is very thick. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups; it will mound slightly above the rim - try using an ice-cream scoop.
7. Bake 7 minutes, rotate the muffin tins and bake another 7 minutes or until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean, 13 to 17 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking to ensure even cooking. Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove muffins from tin and let cool 5 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Test 2 - Pumpkin Muffins

http://lovelylittlekitchen.com/best-ever-pumpkin-muffins/
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-pumpkin-muffins-224030

We still have loads of frozen pumpkin in the freezer. I kind of went off making pumpkin bread over the winter because we weren't as active as during the busy summer season. Spring is well on its way to becoming summer but crops haven't started producing, so it seems appropriate to draw from what's left of our winter stores.

1 - Yup, nailed it in one.

2 - Ben really liked them, I was a bit bored. I wanted to top to have browned a bit. As they were, they were soft and very moist. I used a Queensland Blue and didn't try to drain any excess liquid from the purée.

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée

NOTE : if making your own purée, bake the pumpkin instead of steaming to avoid excess moisture
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Melt the butter and allow to cool a bit. The time it takes to do the next steps should be plenty.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease your standard sized muffin baking pan.
3. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, melted butter and vanilla extract.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together just until well combined.
6. Fill each well of the muffin tin equally; they will be nearly full (to give your muffins a nice puffy dome).
7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Testing - Spicy lentils with egg

This ended up being pretty tasty. I sort of made it up, and while eating it and appreciating the flavour profile, we thought that a soft cooked egg would be nice with it. But in which fashion should the eggs be cooked?

1 cup cooked rice

2 cups cooked duPuy lentils cooked with 1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion

1/2 tsp smoked paprika, or to taste

1/4 cup harissa paste, or to taste

4 eggs (fried? poached? soft boiled?)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Fry up the onion in the olive oil until soft and starting to brown.
2. Add the harissa and allow it to melt into the onions
3. Add the rice and lentils, mix in, then add the paprika, with some salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Cover and keep warm while the egg cooks.
5. Serve with the egg on a bed of lentils, with some greens such as arugula. The yolk will dribble onto the lentils and make a lovely simple sauce.

Fried Egg Pesto Pasta - Published

https://mangeratrois.net/index.php/recipes/pasta/447-egg-pesto-pasta
http://www.marthastewart.com/945050/emerils-tuscan-pasta-egg-and-pesto-sauce

1 - It's all about the timing. I finally got it right, and it's really all about getting the pan off the heat at the right time - when the yolks are still runny and glistening.

1 lb dry pasta
2 Tbsps olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup + 1/4 cup pesto
6 eggs

1. Cook pasta with a pinch of salt until al dente.
2. Get a large serving plate ready.
3. Break the eggs into a bowl and set aside.
4. When the pasta is cooked, heat the oil in a pan and when very hot add the crushed pepper and the pinch of salt.
5. Add the cooked pasta and pour over the 3/4 cup pesto. Mix well by tossing and get the pesto nice and hot.
6. Pour the eggs over the hot noodles and leave to start cooking, giggling the pan a bit to get the whites down into the noodles.
7. When the whites start to form, take the pan off the heat source and break the yolks with a wooden spoon or spatula, and quickly mix up the contents to fold the frying pasta over the eggs.  Mix quickly to distribute the egg and allow the whites to cook a bit in the residual heat, but do not leave long enough to let the yolks cook.
8. Pour over the second remaining 1/4 cup of pesto, and immediately slide onto a large plate and serve. The egg should be soft and creamy.

Creamy Pesto Pasta Sauce - PUBLISHED

1 - I don't know how much cream I used, because I wasn't sure this would work and I just poured in cream until it looked right! Same with the pesto. Oh, and there was more sauce than pasta (I used 8oz and upped the quantity here). But it turned out pretty good...

8 oz uncooked pasta
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1.5 cups cream
1/4 cup pesto
2 oz Parmesan
1/4 tsp pepper
salt, to taste
A little extra Parmesan
Pine nuts to garnish

1. Boil pasta in salted water.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter, and whisk in the flour, whisking continuously until the mixture starts to turn golden. 
3. Stream in the cream, whisking constantly. Whisk until it starts to thicken.
4. Whisk in the pesto, the Parmesan and the pepper (3 p's).
5. Drain the cooked pasta, retaining a bit of the water, and pour in the sauce, mixing until the pasta is covered.
6. Taste, and add salt, if needed.
7. Serve, garnished with freshly grated Parmesan and a few pine nuts, and a few grinds of fresh black pepper.

Pesto Mac&Cheese - PUBLISHED

Some may feel that toying with a classic is aberrant, but I think this tastes pretty good!

8 oz dry chunky pasta like macaroni, fusilli, etc
2+2 Tbsps butter
3/4 cups panko
1 small onion
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup (about 2.5 oz) grated sharp cheddar
1 cup (about 2.5 oz) grated gruyère cheese
1/4 cup pesto

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Boil the pasta in some salted water until just al dente; tender but firm.
3. Meanwhile, grease a 2 quart baking dish and set aside.
4. In a hot pan, melt 2 Tbsps of the butter and mix in the breadcrumbs, stirring until evenly combined, and set aside.
5. Melt the remaining 2 Tbsps of butter and cook the onion until perfectly tender, about 5 minutes.
6. Blend in the flour, mustard, pepper and 1 tsp of salt.
7. Stir in the milk and stir until it thickens into a sauce. 
8. Remove for the heat source and stir in the cheese until well combined, and the pesto.
9. Pour the pasta in the greased baking dish.
10. Pour the cheese sauce over this, sprinkling the breadcrumbs over the surface.
11. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the top is toasted golden.