Home Made English Muffins

I am a fatalist, which means I believe in fate. There are too many things in this world that seem like coincidences but were totally intended by the universe. Case in point: on more than one occasion, I have decided to make something with the intent of searching for a recipe and before I can even open Google, up pops a recipe a blogging friend has posted on Facebook or Instagram! The very thing I had decided I would make! Coincidence? I think not, it’s fate!

That is my story of the English Muffins. I was walking back from getting a mani-pedi in our hood, thinking about the upcoming weekend visit with our dear friends from Wisconsin/Arizona (they have two homes) and I realized that I didn’t have a breakfast planned for one of the days and I remember wanting to try baking English Muffins, so on my walk home, I decided that I would bake English Muffins!

Upon my return, I sat down at my kitchen desk to catch up on Facebook and low and behold, dear Lorraine has reposted her recipe for…wait for it…English Muffins! That is fate! I was destined to bake English Muffins that afternoon.

Makes 6-8 English Muffins.

Please click here for the original recipe.

Please click here to print this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 200 mL (7 oz) milk
• 5 g (1 tsp) sugar
• 3 g (1 tsp) instant dry yeast
• 20 g (1 oz) butter
• 320 g (2  1/2 cups) AP unbleached flour
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) salt
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) baking powder
• 1 small egg
• cornmeal for dusting

Directions:

1. Heat the milk to 37° C (100° F), sprinkle in the sugar and yeast and mix well. Allow to proof for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. Melt the butter and set aside to cool a bit. Add the butter to the milky yeast (once proofed) stir in the egg and mix well and set aside.
3. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in the large bowl of your stand mixer, add the liquid all at once and beat/knead for about 10 minutes or until smooth and silky.
4. Lightly cover with oil and set aside in a draft free spot for about 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 325° F (160° C).
6. On a lightly floured board, turn out the dough and roll out to about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thickness. Cut 8-10 cm (3 1/4″ to 4″) rounds. Dust with cornmeal (brush off any excess) and cook over a low heat in a cast iron frying pan for about 3 minutes each side (do not oil). Finish baking in the preheated oven 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature is 199° F (93° C). Allow to cool slightly, and then separate each into two using a fork to maximize the nooks and crannies!

The top one is perfect!

Notes:

• If you cannot get small eggs, then take 1 large egg and whisk it to incorporate both yolk and whites, weigh it and divide by 2. Use half in this recipe and save the other half for something else.
• In hindsight, my English Muffins pictured puffed up way too tall, so I have modified the instruction to roll out to half of the original thickness. Plus you should get a few more that way.

Like Lorraine, I like a little English Muffin with my butter.

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Basil and Sun-dried Tomato Gougières

In October I did some really cool TV jobs! I cooked for the lovely and talented Chef Anjum Anand from her I love India Cookbook for Your Morning (click here to see the segment (about 1 min of commercials)) and Mark Bittman, the original author of the infamous No-Knead Bread! recipe (click here to see the segment (only about 30 seconds of commercials)) and Ocean Wise Executive Chef, Ned Bell from his beautiful new cookbook, Lure!

Ned is awesome! It was indeed a pleasure to work with him. Yes, those are ‘sensible shoes’ as a fellow food stylist recently mentioned on instagram!

Mark was incredibly humble and amazing to work with (although, I wish the camera-man would have said something about the angle of the burgers!)

Mark released his Tenth Anniversary Edition of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook, simple meatless recipes for great food! The book is enormous, over 700 pages and it’s packed with great info, techniques, and wonderful recipes.  Although Mark is not vegetarian, he believes we should be enjoying a more plant-based diet. What I liked about his recipes is that they are truly vegetarian and not just cop-out vegetarian like spaghetti with tomato sauce that you see on some menus! I cooked tofu, tempeh, seitan and a really interesting beet burger. The recipes were easy to follow and came together quickly without special equipment. I will definitely make a few again and even others from the delicious cookbook.

Although this recipe isn’t from his cookbook, it is indeed vegetarian.

Makes about 50 gourgières. To print the recipe, please click here.

Ingredients:

• 250 mL (1 cup) water
• 128 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• Pinch salt
• 128 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 40 g (~1/4 cup) sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil)
• 15 g (~3 cloves) garlic cloves, finely minced
• 7 g  (~10) basil leaves, chiffonade

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F (218° C). Line a baking sheet with wet parchment paper (crumple the parchment into a ball and saturate with cold water and wring out, flatten with your hand on the baking sheet).
2. In a heavy bottom saucepan, combine the water, butter, salt and garlic and heat until melted. Remove from heat and add the flour all at once, stirring well. Return to heat and cook for a couple of minutes until it comes away from the sides of the pan.
3. Remove from the heat and beat in one egg at a time until fully incorporated, being careful not to scramble the eggs. Fold in the herbs and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
4. Using a small ice cream scoop dipped in water with a splash of oil, scoop out single balls onto the baking sheet about 5 cm (2 inches) apart. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops are golden and the puffs have poofed about double in size.
5. Cool on a wire rack. Continue to bake until you have exhausted your batter.

A light and delicious cocktail nibble.

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Banana Bran Muffins with Belgian Milk Chocolate Chunks

In early September, our dear friends came for a visit and JT and I planned a full schedule of fun activities! We went hiking at a conservation area, saw King Lear in High Park (which turned out to be reimagined from a female perspective, Queen Lear), we traveled to Montreal for a few days with a stop in Kingston to visit the newly refurbished Kingston Penitentiary. The time went quickly and a much-needed fix with special friends. Our days were packed, so I made these Banana Bran Muffins for a breakfast on the morning we went hiking, as we were also having lunch at an adorable little cafe near the conservation area. Scroll down to see a few pics of Kingston Pen.

Banana Bran Muffins with Belgian Milk Chocolate Chunks

Original recipe from Company’s Coming, Muffins and More by Jean Paré.

Makes about 10-12 medium-sized muffins

Please click here to print this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 128 g (1 cup) flour
• 60 g (1 cup) all bran cereal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips or chunks (I used Belgian milk chocolate chunks)
• 60 g (1/4 cup) coconut oil
• 75 g (1/2 cup) coconut sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 65 mL (1/4 cup) sour milk (milk with 1/4 tsp lemon juice)
• 250 mL (3 medium or 1 cup) bananas, mashed

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400° F (200° C). Prepare muffin pans by spraying with non-stick spray.
2. Combine flour, bran, baking powder and soda and salt in a bowl and mix.
3. Cream coconut oil and sugar with 1 egg until well blended and add the other egg and beat well. Combine the soured milk and mashed bananas and mix well.
4. Pour into the dry mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups to about 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
7. Cool slightly and serve.

These muffins have excellent texture from the moistness of the bananas and the bran cereal.

An old postcard of the Penetentiary

Riots of 1932, 1954 and 1971

Our tour guide

Happy Prisoner

High Security Visitors Cubicles

These wings are called Ranges

Another Range

Interesting graffiti that wasn’t pornographic. Money for Salmon. Wasn’t there a song about that?

Centre dome where they typically changed out as each Range has a turn (eating, working etc).

Marital Conjugation Ward

Corrections Officer Tour Guide

Trades School

Matress Factory

Finally, where they belong!

This is what the original cell looked like

Last Century Prison Standard

Actual cell.

21st Century Prison Standard

This is part of the mental health and senior’s wing

This is part of the mental health and senior’s wing

Notes:

• These muffins are not nearly as sweet using coconut sugar as using regular white sugar.

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Crispy Herbed Cheese Tuiles

In early September, we had our dear friends come to Toronto for a visit and then we all drove to Montréal for a few days to help celebrate Montréal’s 375th Birthday! We usually have a cocktail or ten when we see our dear friends and I never like to drink on an empty stomach so I make tasty, protein rich cocktail munchies. I have made parmesan crisps before (here) but I came across Ina Garten’s recipe and it was slightly different so I wanted to give it a try. They have a delicate, slightly grainy texture (from the flour) which is not off putting but definitely different than using just plain cheese. They are quite moreish, so if you have a crowd, you might want to make a few batches. These are not crackers, they are too delicate to hold a dip or sauce. These are meant to be eaten on their own with a cocktail. And we do cocktails!

One tablespoon works perfectly in my 5 cm (2 inch) form.

Crispy Cheese Tuiles

Makes 10-12 tuiles. Please click here to print this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 85 g (1 cup) parmesan cheese, grated
• 10 g (1 tbsp) AP unbleached flour
• 2 g (1 tsp) fresh herbs, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F (176° C). Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Combine the cheese, flour and rosemary and mix well.
3. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until lightly golden, cheese will crisp up as they cool.

These will be perfect with our welcome back martinis!

Notes:

• I used Parmesan and Rosemary for one and Gruyère and thyme for the other.
• Any hard cheese will do, as long as they render and crisp up.
• The grate is best short, longer strips will be difficult to form into the smallish circles.
• Store in the refrigerator for 5 days in an air tight container.
• These do not freeze well.
• It was rather humid in early September so I had to crisp them up in the oven just prior to serving, a minute or two at 300F should do it.

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Sherry Braised Beef Short Rib with Cauliflower Blue Cheese Risotto

The chef at our favourite French Bistro has left and his long-time sous chef has taken over. In general, the menu changes to suit the new chef but, because this is a traditional French Bistro, very few of the menu items changed. Sadly, one item that did change was the serving of the braised short rib, one of JT’s favourites. Instead of blue cheese risotto, the chef serves it with greens and pommes fourchette (literally, forked potatoes) and it’s not quite the same. When I mentioned that I was going to make short ribs, JT specifically asked me to make the blue cheese risotto. This dish is extremely rich, so I suggested that I make it with cauliflower rice instead of real rice and JT agreed. The meat is cooked on low for a long time but that is what makes it so delicious, so don’t fast forward and use high, low and slow is the way to go. Also, cut the carrots into good sized chunks so that they don’t disintegrate during the cooking process, my carrots still had great texture at the end.

Sherry Braised Short Rib with Cauliflower Blue Cheese Risotto

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Please click here to print this recipe.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 500 mL beef short ribs
• 200 g onions, finely chopped
• 125 mL beef stock
• 125 mL cooking sherry (or red wine)
• 15 mL (1 tbsp) tomato paste
• 200 g (1 medium) carrot, cut into one-bite chunks
• 120 g (1 stalk) celery, finely chopped
• 20 g (3 cloves) garlic, finely minced
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 10 g (1 tbsp) corn starch, dissolved in a small amount of cold water

 

Directions:

1. Season short ribs with salt and pepper.
2. Brown the short ribs in small batches in a cast iron pan, transfer to a pre-warmed slow cooker.
3. Add onions to the hot cast iron pan and cook until translucent, add celery and garlic and cook until garlic becomes aromatic. Add the carrots and cook for about a minute. Transfer to the slow cooker.
4. Combine the stock, sherry, tomato paste and mix well, use to deglaze the cast iron pan, turn the heat off. Add the cornstarch that has been dissolved in a small amount of water and stir well into the deglazing liquid. Pour the liquid over the meat and carrots in the slow cooker. Stir well.
5. Lay the fresh thyme and bay leaf into the slow cooker and cover with braising liquid. Cook the ribs for 5-6 hours, covered on low or until meat comes cleanly off the bone. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf.
6. Serve on top of a bed of cauliflower blue cheese risotto (I didn’t jot down the recipe, but this one would be delicious).

 

Notes:

• Always brown meat in small batches, otherwise you’ll end up steaming them instead of browning.
• I sprinkled the seasoned ribs with Mycryo and got a gorgeous sear.
• My sauce turned out to be the perfect consistency, not soupy at all.

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