Last Monday morning, I made English muffins for breakfast. I mean, I "made" English muffins -- as in, from scratch.
I had been wanting to make these for a while but lacked English muffin rings -- really, not even I had those in my kitchen drawer. But I was able to track some down at Sur la Table in SoHo, where I conveniently had a gift certificate, thoughtfully given to me by my good friend (and future boss) David.
The recipe I used was published in the 1908 New York Evening Telegram Cook Book. I don't know much about the genesis of the cookbook, as the six-page introduction is missing. I do know that there were a lot of New York daily newspapers at that time, maybe dozens (historian friends -- please correct me here), and now we're down to just three all, very sadly, barely hanging on.
The recipe for Toasted Muffins, written in narrative form, begins: "The English housewife usually serves toasted muffins with sole for breakfast." Being an American, I served them with jam and butter.
These couldn't have been easier to make. Just mix a few ingredients together in the Kitchen Aid, and spoon the batter into the rings (which I greased and placed on a well-heated electric frying pan.)
These were easy, but were they good? I was pleased to see that they looked just like English muffins, complete with nooks and crannys, but DH and I thought they tasted a bit, um, gummy.
It was only several days later that I realized the problem -- and I'm almost embarrassed to admit it -- we forgot to toast the muffins! That would have surely addressed the slightly gummy texture and toasting seems to concentrate the flavor of bread, so I bet they would have been really delicious.
The recipe I used was published in the 1908 New York Evening Telegram Cook Book. I don't know much about the genesis of the cookbook, as the six-page introduction is missing. I do know that there were a lot of New York daily newspapers at that time, maybe dozens (historian friends -- please correct me here), and now we're down to just three all, very sadly, barely hanging on.
The recipe for Toasted Muffins, written in narrative form, begins: "The English housewife usually serves toasted muffins with sole for breakfast." Being an American, I served them with jam and butter.
These couldn't have been easier to make. Just mix a few ingredients together in the Kitchen Aid, and spoon the batter into the rings (which I greased and placed on a well-heated electric frying pan.)
These were easy, but were they good? I was pleased to see that they looked just like English muffins, complete with nooks and crannys, but DH and I thought they tasted a bit, um, gummy.
It was only several days later that I realized the problem -- and I'm almost embarrassed to admit it -- we forgot to toast the muffins! That would have surely addressed the slightly gummy texture and toasting seems to concentrate the flavor of bread, so I bet they would have been really delicious.
I love English Muffins!! Why didn't you save me any!!??!
ReplyDeletefeel free to drop these off for breakfast on your way to work any day!
ReplyDeleteI used to make English muffins in my teens and they were delicious. The problem was it was a recipe from a high altitude cookbook and I have never had a sea level recipe, so will try these. I do remember the dough must have been less battery since I rolled it out and used biscuit cutters to make the rounds.
ReplyDelete@Glitta: They need to be eaten in the moment. Next time you're here for breakfast, I'll make them.
ReplyDelete@Marcy: Don't have any of these, but I do have a lemon cake (which I'll write about soon). Let me know if you or Robert want some.
@Melissa: I've read about the roll-out English muffins, and apparently the pour-into-the-mold type are considered the more authentic, which does not mean the more delicious.
A "quart" of flour? Isn't that a liquid measure for a dry ingredient? How do you measure that?
ReplyDelete@luckygalnj: It is an unusual measurement, as so many are in the recipes I use. I looked it up on the internet and found that four cups equal one quart so that's how I measured. It seemed to work.
ReplyDelete