Comfort food on a cold day

I did something today I haven't done in years: made a batch of English muffins. Actually, a triple batch (because why go through all the work for just a few?).

English muffins are one of Older Daughter's favorite things. Nothing like a little comfort food on a cold winter's day.

I measured the shortening using the displacement method, something I prefer to do with all hydrophobic ingredients.

Milk, shortening, sugar, salt, heat.

Warming to between 120F and 130F, just enough that the shortening starts to melt.

Then I poured the warm liquid into the flour/yeast combo, and mixed it.

Time to add more flour. Before:

After:

Next step: Kneading.

Ready for the first rising.

Since I tripled the recipe, I knew better than to try to let the dough rise in just one bowl. Instead I greased two bowls, and split the dough in half.

Setting it to rise in front of the cookstove.

An hour later, the risen dough was making the towels look pregnant.

Punch down, let rest.

Rolling and cutting. My cutter is a tuna can.

Each one gets brushed with water (both sides) and dipped in corn meal.

I filled the (barely warm) oven with pans of raw English muffins for the second rising, so two overflow pans went on the warming shelf above the woodstove.

The range that came with the house includes a central griddle feature. I'd never used this feature before, but it worked well. English muffins are "baked" by putting them on a griddle and turning them ever few minutes until baked through.

The final tally. Well, not quite. A number somehow disappeared into thin air the moment they came off the griddle, snitched by Certain Parties Who Shall Remain Nameless.

Yep, comfort food on a cold day.

A day of domestic duties

It has been a busy, busy week -- sorry for the silence on the blog!

Saturday was a day of domestic duties. Younger Daughter was off with friends and Older Daughter had an outdoor project she was working on, so the domestic duties fell my way.

I did a lot of cooking/baking. Here are the makings for two apple pies. In the back is a bowl of dough rising for a double batch of English muffins (just before putting it in the oven to let rise).

After this, I made three quiches.

Then I finished the English muffins. Here the dough has gone through the first rising. I rolled and cut the dough while Older Daughter brushed the muffins with water and dipped them in cornmeal before letting them go through the second rising.

(Mostly) unbaked loot for the day: English muffins, apple pies, quiche.

Baked loot.

Naturally all this industriousness left the kitchen a disaster. Don wondered if there were any dishes I hadn't dirtied. Before...

...and after. (Much better!)

Besides kitchen stuff, I also washed and hung four loads of laundry, using both the folding rack...

...as well as the hanging rack Don made me last year after our clothes line broke. We haven't gotten around to fixing the outdoor clothes line yet, but that's okay -- the indoor ones work great.

That was my Saturday.

Making English muffins

Older Daughter has been after me to make English muffins, which she far prefers to the store-bought variety. I roped her into the procedure so she could learn how to make them.

The recipe comes from my classic Better Homes and Gardens cookbook:

Heating the milk, shortening, sugar, and salt to between 120 and 130F.

Mixing the rest of the ingredients.

Kneading.

Ready for the first rising.

Punching down.

Rolling and cutting the muffins.

While I cut the muffins using an old tuna can...

...Older Daughter brushes each muffin on both sides with water, then dips the sides in cornmeal.

I doubled the recipe, which yielded 36 muffins.

Into the oven for the second rising (sorry for the blurry photo). The oven has a pilot light and stays warmish as a result, a good place to let dough rise.

English muffins are "baked" on the stove, not in the oven. Cook them in a dry (ungreased) pan or griddle for about thirty minutes, flipping them every five minutes.

First batch done. (This is the stage when the kids steal hot muffins and spread them with butter so it melts.)

These freeze very well, so it's worth making at least a double batch.

Here's the recipe:

ENGLISH MUFFINS

5 1/4 to 5 1/2 cups flour
2 pkgs active dry yeast
2 cups milk
1/2 cup shortening, margarine, or butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Cornmeal

In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan, heat and stir milk, shortening, sugar, and salt until warm (120-130F)(I heat this up gently in the microwave) until the shortening almost melts. Add to flour mixture. Beat with a mixer on low speed for three minutes. Using a spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes). Shape into a ball. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (about one hour).

Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest ten minutes. Roll dough to slightly less than 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a 4-inch round cutter, rerolling scraps. Lightly brush muffins with water and dip both sides into cornmeal. Cover, let rise in a warm place until very light (about 30 minutes).

Cook muffins in an ungreased pan on low temp for 30 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. Yield: about 18 muffins.

Making English muffins

Our older daughter is particularly fond of English muffins, largely because she enjoys making mini-pizzas with them. Yesterday she asked if I could make a batch.

I use the recipe found in this cookbook under the "bread" section (and no, I won't type it in - it would take too long).



After the first rising, it's time to shape the muffins. This is our production line. In the back, Younger Daughter is cutting the dough into circles using an old tuna can. In the middle are the fresh-cut muffins. In the front are the muffins that have been brushed with water and dipped in cornmeal. I doubled the batch, which gave us almost four dozen.


Now the muffins must rise a second time. I tucked them near the woodstove (where it's warm), behind a fire screen to keep the dogs away.


English muffins aren't baked, they're pan-cooked. Here I have one dozen just starting to cook on the griddle. Keep the heat low and flip them every five minutes. It takes about twenty-five to thirty minutes to cook a batch.


Almost ready. You'll notice there are a lot fewer muffins. That's because the kids can't resist snitching hot muffins off the griddle and eating them right away.


The finished batch. They freeze very well.