Recipe: English Muffins ... the good, the bad and the not-so ugly!

I love to bake bread and yeast-filled products.  I'm getting pretty good at it and we've only bought one or two loaves of "bunny bread" from the grocery since Christmas.  The kids are learning to like "mom's bread" even if it isn't as soft and fluffy (and full of junk) as the store-bought kind -- it is MUCH cheaper than the $3+ per loaf I was paying ... so, they suffer a bit.

 

With summer rapidly approaching, I will run into a snag with my bread baking.  My dh, who spent much of his formative years in the bayous of Louisiana will NOT let me turn on the oven once the temps go above 70 -- it is a hard and fast rule around here. 

 

So, I'm looking for bread recipes that I can cook on the grill, stove-top or elsewhere (and I don't want  a bread machine ... have gone that route before and it's not fun, stress-reducing or fool-proof!).

 

Last night I made salmon cakes with homemade english muffins ... and the muffins were excellent.  I think I have found a great recipe ... and method of making the little blighters which makes them both edible and delicious!

 

Here's the recipe with my changes and notes: 
English Muffins (based on a mix of different recipes from online and cookbooks)

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tbls active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 tbls butter
• 3 tbls milled flaxseed
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 4-5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a micro-safe bowl, warm the milk, sugar and butter until warm. Stir till all is melted. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and 2 cups of flour, or enough to make a soft dough; use the least amount of flour possible to make it not stick, but you want a soft, light dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise about an hour or 1-1/2 hours.
3. Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can. You can also form the dough into balls and flatten – just be gentle. The muffins should be about 1/2-inch thick before rising. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise – you must do the cornmeal step else the muffins stick badly to the wax paper. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour.
4. Heat non-stick griddle (if using electric, keep heat around 225-250). Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side. Continue to flip over every 5 minutes or so until muffins are a lovely browned color (or if you are in a hurry, preheat oven to 250-275 and place muffins on rack for 10min or so). Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. To use, split by perforating with fork tines all around the muffin, and toast (or eat untoasted, just not as good).

 

This recipe made about 16-18 slightly smaller-than-storebought muffins.  I fork-split the left-overs and froze them in a ziploc bag ... this morning the muffins were amazing (see the picture above)!

CHRISTMAS!

It usually takes so long to get to the day of finally celebrating Christ's birth!  Maybe because of the snow earlier this week (that threw all our plans katywampus) or because Kotch is home and helping so much or just because I'm getting older: for whatever reason, Christmas came "early" this year!

And, boy did we have fun:

Up for Midnight Mass at our parish ....

treats left out for Santa in case he came while we were gone ...

gift opening when we got home (and found that Santa had left the family a Wii ... incl a charger base ... smart Santa ... and a Nancy Drew game) 

with gifts from college-aged sister who spoils her siblings:

and hand-knit gifts for each of my loved ones (the boys are wearing the vests I made them):

hats and scarves for the girls ...

 

and wool slipper-socks for the guys (dh also got a cozy hat to keep his hair-challenged head warm in our chilly 65-degree house).

We finally all were abed by 3:00 a.m.  Dh and LegoManiac were up for 9:00 Mass (LM served) and then we attempted taking a family Christmas picture:

The girls got tired of the boys' attitudes and decided to have a picture with Big Z in lieu of their two brothers ...

then we made Almond Kringle (recipe to follow)

and roasted chesnuts (just because we could ...):

and playing Wii and making Miis for all the family ... fun!

A very blessed and happy Christmas to one and all and prayers for a holy, healthy and happy 2010

from our house to yours ...

 

Here's the recipe for the Almond Kringle:

Almond Kringle (from the Solo Foods website)

(NOTE:  I halved the recipe to make just one cake; my changes for one are below but you can click the link to get the recipe for doing two)

1 tbls dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbls granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 can Solo almond filling (or about 1 cup of almond paste; the filling is so easy to use, but some folks are purists -- I'm NOT!)

Optional:  powdered sugar icing = powdered sugar + water

Sprinkle yeast over warm water and stir to dissolve. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes or until foamy. Combine flour, granulated sugar, and salt in large bowl and stir until blended. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat eggs and milk until blended. Add to dry ingredients with yeast mixture and stir just until all particles are moistened. (Dough will be sticky) Cover bowl with plastic wrap and overwrap with aluminum foil. Refrigerate overnight. (dough will rise very slightly)  [this is one thing I really like about this recipe is that I can START it in the evening and cook it hot for breakfast/brunch]

Grease one baking sheets and set aside.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Sprinkle 1 piece of dough with flour and knead gently 10 to 12 strokes on lightly floured surface. Roll out to 18 x 12-inch rectangle. Spread almond filling in 3-inch strip lengthwise down center of dough. Fold 1 long side of dough over filling and fold other side over. Pinch edge and ends to seal.  Place, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet.Cover with towel and set aside in warm, draft-free place to rise until light, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack.

Finish:  ice with powdered sugar mixed with just enough water to drizzle (once cooled) or dust with powdered sugar.   Serve warm.

Recipe: fastest yeast bread ever!

I was so excited on Thursday, September 17th ... it was cool enough during the day (actually pretty rainy, yucky, knitting-or-read-aloud kind of weather) to inspire me to cook a true Fall dinner:  homemade split pea soup, sweet italian sausage, mixed greens salad and homemade bread.  The warmth of the house from taking the chill out of the air was only exceeded by the aroma of successful home cooking!

Here's the bread recipe, tweaked from one I received many years ago from a friend in Greenville, SC.  Kristy's version was very good .... but I'm not one to follow directions too well.
Fastest Yeast Bread Ever (this is how I made it; feel free to tweak as necessary):

Heat to body temp, 1 cup 2% milk with 1 cup plain (full-fat) yogurt
Meanwhile, prove 1 T yeast in 1/2 cup hot (100 degree) water and 1 T sugar

Transfer liquids to bowl and blend in:

• 1-3/4 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill whole grain high-fiber cereal (with flaxseed)
• scant 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill stone-ground corn meal
• 1 T honey

Cover and let dough rise 15 min in warm spot.  If you live in a dry climate, cover with a damp towel to ensure the dough doesn't dry out.

Add 1 T olive oil and stir in.  Than add, 1 cup at a time till a firm dough develops:

• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 4-5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Divide dough into two and knead into a stumpy, football shape.  Place on greased baking sheet.  Cut slashes in the top (I always do a Cross and say a little prayer for the health of my family).  Cover and allow to rise another 10 minutes in a warm spot. Preheat oven to 400 while rising.

Brush loaves with olive oil and place in preheated 400 degree oven.  Bake for 20 minutes or so.  Remove from baking sheet and place loaves right on oven rack ... bake another 5 minutes or until hollow-sounding when thumped.

Voila -- yeast bread in an hour that is amazingly good ... warm from the oven and the next day, too!