Bet you thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth, huh? Well, not exactly, but things have been a little busy and unfortunately I've been neglecting my blog. There is some rather fun news though. One is that my baby had his first birthday last month, and two is that my husband graduates from university in 3 weeks. Yay! We've got the housing bug bigtime--we can hardly wait to get into our own place. :)
I've been working with several recipes in the meantime, and I've had a lot of success with the originals. The one that I had the most fun with was the sourdough English muffin recipe, so I'll share that one with you first. I tried an English muffin recipe a few months ago, but it tasted so bland without the sourdough zing. So, I bought a start from my local grocery store (if yours doesn't carry packaged start, I'm including instructions for a basic start at the end of this post), found a better recipe, and voi la, perfect English muffins! And yes, you can make these sourdough English muffins entirely from food storage. Unlike most homemade breads, these muffins will keep for at least a week and still taste great.
Sourdough English Muffins
Makes at least 2 dozen (closer to 2-1/2 dozen)
Before you go to bed:
1 c. starter (if yours isn't bubbly enough, and you don't think it will raise bread, use 1 tsp. yeast in addition)
2 tbsp. honey
2 c. reconstituted powdered milk
4 c. all-purpose flour (or 2 c. a-p flour and 2 c. whole wheat flour)
Combine starter, honey, and milk in a large glass or plastic bowl. Stir in flour, 2 c. at a time, until well combined. There's no need to knead--you'll do that later. Spray a little cooking oil over the top of the dough so that it doesn't dry out overnight, cover with plastic wrap and a towel, and let rise overnight.
When you get up:
1 scant tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1-2 c. all-purpose flour
Cornmeal
Stir down your dough. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the top, and combine. If the dough is too sticky for kneading, add 1/2 c. flour at this time and work in with a wooden spoon. Once your dough is cohesive enough, turn it out onto a floured board and work in as much flour as you need. When the dough no longer sticks to your hands, knead for five minutes. Pinching the dough should feel like pinching your earlobe.
Lightly flour board again and roll dough to 1/2 inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter or an upside down drinking glass to cut as many rounds as you can. Place cut dough onto a corn-meal-dusted baking sheet. Knead together remaining dough, roll out, cut, and repeat.
When all your muffins are cut, sprinkle the tops with cornmeal, cover with a towel, and allow to rise for about an hour.
Preheat a cast-iron skillet (a non-stick griddle works well too) with a tiny bit of butter over medium-low heat. When the butter sizzles, place as many muffins as will fit on your skillet. Pan-bake for about 4 minutes per side, TURNING ONLY ONCE. When you flip your muffins over, squash them a bit with the spatula so that they cook flatly on the second side.
To serve, insert two forks into the side edge of the muffin and pull the top and bottom apart. This creates the "nooks and crannies" that taste so good when filled with butter. Toast to desired blackness, and smother with butter. Mmmmm!
Original recipe can be found at http://www.sourdoughhome.com.
If you can't find a start, you can make one.
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. yeast
2 c. lukewarm water
Combine ingredients in a glass or plastic bowl and stir with a wooden or plastic spoon. Do not use metal anything when working with the starter. Once combined, the start should have the same consistency as pancake batter. If it's too runny, add more flour--if too thick, add water. Place a paper towel or piece of cheesecloth over your start and allow it to sit in a warm (about 85 degrees) place overnight. The next day, remove one cup of the liquid and replace with 1/2 c. water and 1/2 c. flour. This is called "feeding your start," and while it's out of the fridge, you'll need to do it every day. Once your start becomes bubbly and has a fermeted, sour odor, you can store it in the fridge and reduce feedings to once a week. The longer you leave it out of the fridge, though, the more flavor your start will develop. Every once in a while, you'll need to pour your start into a fresh container. I use a glass quart jar with a paper towel over the top.
