So when one has been too busy with other things to post on her blog for, oh, about 4 months, she has a couple ways of proceeding. Never post again and abandon the blog. Start back and try to catch up with all that has happened in the time lapse. Or apologize to the 15 people who read the blog regularly in the past, and go forward, leaving the readers to wonder what happened in the lapse.
Having learned in college that once I fall behind (such as with reading for my religion class freshman year or philosophy class senior year), it is nearly impossible to catch up after a period of time. There simply are not enough hours in the day or days in the week. I apologize, but other than if the topics fit into what I plan on blogging about, you will likely not read about the books I have read, recipes I have tried, or other events of the last 4 months. Sorry. Just can't do it, so the second option above is out.
For people who hate this blog (there probably are some, though I would think that if someone hates it, they wouldn't continue to read it. If they do, then it is their own stupid fault.), I enjoy blogging too much to abandon it. Option one, out.
So, dear readers, my apologies for a long absence. My only excuse has been excessive amounts of work, though there were plenty of other distractions as well, some enjoyable, some tolerable and some that just needed to be completed. I am back now, so let me get started already!
Eating: The fall CSA is upon us. The tomatoes have wrapped up. The cabbage and winter squash are abundant. The root vegetables are coming in. Continuing a theme I started last year in When Life Gives You Kale, Make Kale Chips and then in Part 2 of that post, here are some additional recipes.
When Life Gives You Tomatoes...
Make Tomato Pasta Sauce. My grandma called just to give me recipes to use up the 10+ pounds of tomatoes that I picked after we got home from vacation. This was one of them. I only made 1/3 of the recipe because I had already used a bunch of the tomatoes for Roasted Tomato Soup (already blogged on the first "when life gives you..." post), Chicken Pasta Fresca (posted here) which really has a different name that I can never remember, as well as Salsa (recipe to follow shortly). I also froze some of the cherry tomatoes like I do with strawberries (wash them, freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then pack into freezer bags). And I ate a bunch while picking them and as a snack (or 4 snacks).
Anyway, here is Granny's Tomato Sauce recipe:
4 medium onions, chopped
3 small garlic gloves
3 Tbls oil
4 1/4 pounds tomatoes
4 six-ounce cans tomato paste
1 pound mushrooms, sliced (I did not add the 'shrooms)
1 C. chopped parsley
3 Tbls sugar
3 Tbls salt
4 tsp oregano leaves
2 bay leaves
In a large kettle over medium-high heat, heat oil and cook onions and garlic until limp. Discard garlic (I left mine in but had crushed it and couldn't really find it to get it out). Add remaining ingredients. Simmer covered on low for 2 hours. Refrigerate until chilled and freeze. (Mine is in freezer bags in 1 cup serving sizes - 1/2 C for each of us - and I used the immersion blender to smooth it out. Someone at my house doesn't like chunks in his sauce.) Yummy and not full of preservatives and junk.
Reading: I have read about 15 books since I last blogged, so will only comment here on the most recent couple. As you may know, I have been reading some of the Newbery Medal winners this year, starting with the one that won the medal the year I was born. I figured I would have enough to read if I just stuck to my lifetime for now. The most recent NBM book I finished was Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson, the winner in 1981. Ms. Paterson also wrote the 1978 winner Bridge to Terabithia. I loved both of these books, enough that I plan to seek out more by the author.
Jacob Have I Loved is the story of Sara Louise (aka "Wheeze" to her sister, and "Louise" to most everyone else) who lives in the shadow of her talented, beautiful, delicate twin Caroline. They live with their family on a small island in Chesapeake Bay in the 1940's, where all struggle to make a living by crabbing. Her cranky grandmother (who has dementia, per my diagnosis) lives with Louise and her family, and taunts Louise with a quote from the Bible: "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." which references another set of twins long ago engaged in a bit of sibling rivalry. I learned a lot about crabbing, the Bible and sibling relationships. Easy read and very good.
Bridge to Terabithia I read a couple months ago, and had actually listened to it in my car about 7 years ago (when I used to commute and listen to audio books to try to quell the road rage). It is a story of Jesse, an artistic boy who is all alone even in a group or in his big family, and Leslie, a newcomer who is smart and tomboy. Like Jesse, she also doesn't quite fit in. Together they create an imaginary land where they rule as king and queen. I don't want to spoil the book so will stop there, but overall an amazing story of the type of friendship that transforms a person's life. This book was made into a movie a few years back (I have not seen it), and it is a book that gets challenged and banned frequently, so I believe it is better known than Jacob. Both are worth checking out.
Book club just discussed The Romanov Bride by Robert Alexander. This is the author's 3rd book of historical fiction about the Russian Revolution, the first being The Kitchen Boy. I thought Kitchen Boy was the stronger of the 2 I have read (the middle one is Rasputin's Daughter and is on my shelf to read next) but liked this one as well. In all 3, he has taken peripheral characters to tell the story of the Revolution from their viewpoints. In Kitchen Boy, we are with Tsar Nicholas and his family during their last days, through the eyes of a servant. In Bride, we learn the two sides of the Revolution - one through Pavel, a peasant-turned-assassin working for the revolutionists, and one through Ella, a Romanov duchess and the sister of Tsarina Alexandra. The story is told in alternating voices between the two. I found this a perfect way to tell both sides, how it displayed the mistakes made on the part of the royals as well as the way the Communists used propaganda and stirred up mob mentality to get the peasants to revolt and carry out assassinations. The story of Ella herself was quite interesting (after her husband is assassinated, she starts a convent and provides nursing to the poor, soldiers, and whoever else needs it). Since the author had access to her letters and diaries, and since she was a real person, her story was the stronger of the two. Pavel's story is more of a vehicle to tell the revolutionists' point of view and his character is more flat and stereotypical, though definitely serves it purpose.
Weeding: The veggie garden got cleaned out yesterday. The asters are blooming their purple heads off and the mums are in full bloom as well. Some of the plants (notably the Husker Red Penstemon) have beautiful fall color in their leaves. The Husker Red is a deep burgundy color all summer, then turns brilliant red in autumn. So lovely.
Thank you for coming back to read my blog. I hope you enjoyed it. I missed blogging and will try to post more frequently in the coming weeks.
Until we eat again,
Hallie
Showing posts with label new recipe 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new recipe 2013. Show all posts
Monday, October 07, 2013
Sunday, June 09, 2013
A Fiesta of Recipes
Eating: We have been eating this year, I promise. I just have not been a prolific blogger. The predictions for 2013 included trying a new recipe each month. So far, I have averaged a recipe a month. In May, there were 2 new recipes.
I have pinned many recipes on Pintrest, mostly when I was PWH (pinning while hungry), but have been poor at trying many of the things I have pinned. A couple weeks ago, I tried one recipe that I had pinned several months ago: Homemade Enchilada Sauce. This is one of those things that may fall into the category of "why would you even to bother to make that from scratch?" but it was delicious, I know exactly what was in it and it didn't really take all that long. The recipe was pinned from a blog called "Gimme Some Oven". Always love a good pun...
The color and heat of the enchilada sauce is going to depend on the type of chili powder you use. I would recommend using half the amount of chili powder and adding more to your taste. You can always add more, but can never take back what you have already added. Ours was more brown colored, which was fine with me. We use Penzey's Chili Powder (regular, not hot. We are Minnesotans.). I love Penzey's and we are lucky to have a store not too far so we can go in and smell the spices before we buy, but you can order them online or from their catalog too. I didn't mean to do an advertisement for Penzey's here. I just really like their spices - they are fresh and there is a huge variety. We actually made a bigger batch of sauce because our enchilada recipe (taken from the can of Old El Paso enchilada sauce. No comments on using homemade sauce to make a recipe from the side of a can. I get that it is weird.)
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
2 T. vegetable or canola oil
2 T. flour
4 T. chili powder (more or less to taste, as I noted above)
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. cumin
1/4 t. oregano
2 C. chicken broth
Heat oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan (no need to consult a medium before doing this...). Add flour and stir 1 minute (you may recall this is called a "roux"). Stir in the spices. Gradually stir in broth, whisking continually to remove lumps. Reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes until thick. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Or use immediately to make your enchiladas.
***
As a bonus, here is the enchilada recipe we use.
Easy Beef Enchiladas
(from Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce can)
1 lb. ground beef
2 10 oz cans enchilada Sauce (or 20 oz of yummy homemade enchilada sauce)
6 oz (1 1/2 C) shredded cheese (we actually only used 1/2 C of cheese - we find the cheese inside the enchiladas to be more than we need or want)
12 count package of flour tortillas for soft tacos (I think they are the 8" size)
Heat oven to 375. Brown ground beef until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in 3/4 C enchilada sauce and 1 C cheese (this is the cheese we skip). Spoon enchilada filling onto tortillas; roll up and place seam-side down in lightly greased 13x9x2" baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over top; sprinkle with 1/2 C cheese. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.
***
We must be on a Mexican food kick. The other recipe we tried was potato and chorizo tacos. This is a recipe I first saw in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about a year ago (or more). It went into the menu database and about once every 3 months, E would say, "What is this recipe?" and I would explain where I got it and that we had not made it because I couldn't find chorizo. We would discuss that it sounded really good and that we would look for chorizo. And then 3 months later, the same conversation would occur.
So finally, in a part of the grocery store I don't usually look at, I found chorizo! And now we have taste-tested the recipe and are adding it to the regular rotation. Easy and tasty. I am not sure what size tortillas they are recommending but it must be super-small ones because it says the recipe makes 12 tacos. We used 10" tortillas, and doubled the recipe and had 8 tacos. Unless you are using the really little tortillas, expect 4 tacos. Chorizo is a cured sausage. Ours was not in casings and just looked like seasoned ground pork. Which I guess is what it is. We did not add the onion but since we like peppers, we chopped and cooked those up in place of the onion. We did not have green salsa (aka salsa verde) so used regular red stuff. E snipped some fresh cilantro from the front step. We skipped the lime, but only because we didn't have any.
Potato and Chorizo Taco
(from "Tacos" by Scott Wilson (Sasquatch Books), as printed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune)
1/2 lb. medium russet or white potatoes, quartered (I used Yukon gold)
1 T. olive oil
1/4 medium white onion, cut in 1/4" wedges (optional) - I did not add this
1/4 lb. Mexican chorizo in bite-size pieces, removed from casing
Corn or flour tortillas
Green salsa, chopped onion and cilantro, lime wedges, for toppings
Put potatoes in a medium-size pot and cover them with water. Bring the water almost to a boil, then lower it to a simmer, cooking potatoes until barely tender, between 10-15 minutes. Be sure not to overcook them. Drain potatoes and put them on a plate to cool, then cut them into 1/2" cubes. Meanwhile, heat a medium-size pan over medium fire and add the olive oil. Tilt the pan to coat the bottom and add the onion, cooking until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the chorizo and saute, stirring occasionally, for 7-10 minutes more, until cooked through. Add the potatoes and stir in gently. Cook until the potatoes are warmed through, about 5 more minutes.
Serve on warm tortillas, topped with salsa, chopped onion and cilantro, with lime wedges on the side.
***
There you have it. 2 new-to-me recipes, both well-received in our house.
Bon appetit (or however you say "good eating" in Spanish)!
Until we eat again,
Hallie
P.S., Last summer we had began a tradition of Thursday Pizzas and tried out a number of different flavors/toppings. We are working on a chorizo and potato pizza for this year. If you are curious about past pizza posts and recipes, just type "pizza" into the search at the upper left-hand corner and all the blog posts in which I mention pizza will come up. There are a quite a few... It is the perfect food, in my opinion.
I have pinned many recipes on Pintrest, mostly when I was PWH (pinning while hungry), but have been poor at trying many of the things I have pinned. A couple weeks ago, I tried one recipe that I had pinned several months ago: Homemade Enchilada Sauce. This is one of those things that may fall into the category of "why would you even to bother to make that from scratch?" but it was delicious, I know exactly what was in it and it didn't really take all that long. The recipe was pinned from a blog called "Gimme Some Oven". Always love a good pun...
The color and heat of the enchilada sauce is going to depend on the type of chili powder you use. I would recommend using half the amount of chili powder and adding more to your taste. You can always add more, but can never take back what you have already added. Ours was more brown colored, which was fine with me. We use Penzey's Chili Powder (regular, not hot. We are Minnesotans.). I love Penzey's and we are lucky to have a store not too far so we can go in and smell the spices before we buy, but you can order them online or from their catalog too. I didn't mean to do an advertisement for Penzey's here. I just really like their spices - they are fresh and there is a huge variety. We actually made a bigger batch of sauce because our enchilada recipe (taken from the can of Old El Paso enchilada sauce. No comments on using homemade sauce to make a recipe from the side of a can. I get that it is weird.)
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
2 T. vegetable or canola oil
2 T. flour
4 T. chili powder (more or less to taste, as I noted above)
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. cumin
1/4 t. oregano
2 C. chicken broth
Heat oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan (no need to consult a medium before doing this...). Add flour and stir 1 minute (you may recall this is called a "roux"). Stir in the spices. Gradually stir in broth, whisking continually to remove lumps. Reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes until thick. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Or use immediately to make your enchiladas.
***
As a bonus, here is the enchilada recipe we use.
Easy Beef Enchiladas
(from Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce can)
1 lb. ground beef
2 10 oz cans enchilada Sauce (or 20 oz of yummy homemade enchilada sauce)
6 oz (1 1/2 C) shredded cheese (we actually only used 1/2 C of cheese - we find the cheese inside the enchiladas to be more than we need or want)
12 count package of flour tortillas for soft tacos (I think they are the 8" size)
Heat oven to 375. Brown ground beef until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in 3/4 C enchilada sauce and 1 C cheese (this is the cheese we skip). Spoon enchilada filling onto tortillas; roll up and place seam-side down in lightly greased 13x9x2" baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over top; sprinkle with 1/2 C cheese. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.
***
We must be on a Mexican food kick. The other recipe we tried was potato and chorizo tacos. This is a recipe I first saw in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about a year ago (or more). It went into the menu database and about once every 3 months, E would say, "What is this recipe?" and I would explain where I got it and that we had not made it because I couldn't find chorizo. We would discuss that it sounded really good and that we would look for chorizo. And then 3 months later, the same conversation would occur.
So finally, in a part of the grocery store I don't usually look at, I found chorizo! And now we have taste-tested the recipe and are adding it to the regular rotation. Easy and tasty. I am not sure what size tortillas they are recommending but it must be super-small ones because it says the recipe makes 12 tacos. We used 10" tortillas, and doubled the recipe and had 8 tacos. Unless you are using the really little tortillas, expect 4 tacos. Chorizo is a cured sausage. Ours was not in casings and just looked like seasoned ground pork. Which I guess is what it is. We did not add the onion but since we like peppers, we chopped and cooked those up in place of the onion. We did not have green salsa (aka salsa verde) so used regular red stuff. E snipped some fresh cilantro from the front step. We skipped the lime, but only because we didn't have any.
Potato and Chorizo Taco
(from "Tacos" by Scott Wilson (Sasquatch Books), as printed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune)
1/2 lb. medium russet or white potatoes, quartered (I used Yukon gold)
1 T. olive oil
1/4 medium white onion, cut in 1/4" wedges (optional) - I did not add this
1/4 lb. Mexican chorizo in bite-size pieces, removed from casing
Corn or flour tortillas
Green salsa, chopped onion and cilantro, lime wedges, for toppings
Put potatoes in a medium-size pot and cover them with water. Bring the water almost to a boil, then lower it to a simmer, cooking potatoes until barely tender, between 10-15 minutes. Be sure not to overcook them. Drain potatoes and put them on a plate to cool, then cut them into 1/2" cubes. Meanwhile, heat a medium-size pan over medium fire and add the olive oil. Tilt the pan to coat the bottom and add the onion, cooking until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the chorizo and saute, stirring occasionally, for 7-10 minutes more, until cooked through. Add the potatoes and stir in gently. Cook until the potatoes are warmed through, about 5 more minutes.
Serve on warm tortillas, topped with salsa, chopped onion and cilantro, with lime wedges on the side.
***
There you have it. 2 new-to-me recipes, both well-received in our house.
Bon appetit (or however you say "good eating" in Spanish)!
Until we eat again,
Hallie
P.S., Last summer we had began a tradition of Thursday Pizzas and tried out a number of different flavors/toppings. We are working on a chorizo and potato pizza for this year. If you are curious about past pizza posts and recipes, just type "pizza" into the search at the upper left-hand corner and all the blog posts in which I mention pizza will come up. There are a quite a few... It is the perfect food, in my opinion.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Upside Down and Fried
Eating: One of predictions for 2013 involved trying a new recipe each month. February flew by with a plan, but the new recipe did not happen. In March, I made 2 new things and am just now telling you about them in April. I am feeling a bit over-extended lately, a little turned upside-down and fried. Just like my 2 recipes.
The plan for February was to try the Five-Ingredient Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe from my Weight Watchers Weekly dated January 27-February 2. This is the little 12 page magazine-y thing they hand out when I weigh in and go to the meetings. Then while waiting for the meeting to start, I page through and check out the tips, ideas and recipes. I should tell you that the meeting I have been going to is at 5pm and the WW center is next door to Dominoes Pizza so I do spend a fair amount of the meeting thinking about food. I actually think about food a lot of the day, whether or not I am going to Weight Watchers. Here is the recipe and my photos of the process. It was simple and tasty. The recipe as written says serves 10 and is 4 PointsPlus per serving. Because it is easier to cut into 8 than it is in 10, we made it 8 servings for 5 PointsPlus per serving. You could make it 4 servings for 10 points each or eat it all and count 40 points. Whatever you do is between you and your tracker.
The recipe said to use a "round 9" flameproof aluminum pan" which I thought was too many adjectives to describe a pan. And I didn't know if mine was flameproof so I used my oven-safe frying pan that happens to be about 9" across, round and flameproof. It worked splendidly. E and I agreed this cake would be best served slightly warm.
Five-Ingredient Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
1/4 C. unsalted butter, divided
1/4 C. packed light brown sugar
3/4 lb. canned pineapple rings in juice, 1/4 C. juice reserved
1 large egg
1/4 lb. vanilla cake mix, about 1 scant cup (FYI, a cake mix is about a pound which means from one box, you can make this 4 times. For a total of 160 points, which is more than I care to eat in a day.)
Preheat oven to 375.
Melt 2 T. butter in round 9" flameproof aluminum pan (or similar) over medium-low heat (make sure to cover entire pan bottom); sprinkle sugar over top. Carefully place pineapple rings in a single layer in bottom of pan (use 7 rings). Increase heat to medium-high and cook until pineapple caramelizes (isn't that just a yummy word??), flipping once, about 2 minutes per side; remove pan from heat.
Melt remaining 2 T. butter on stovetop or in microwave. In medium-size bowl (or whatever you melted the butter in), beat egg with the melted butter. Add cake mix and reserved pineapple juice; combine well.
Pour batter over pineapple; bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Allow cake to cool for about 15-20 minutes; when still warm, loosen sides with a knife (f needed - my pan was non-stick so I didn't) and invert cake onto a serving plate. Slice and serve.
The second "recipe" we made in March was my first-ever attempt at fried rice. One day we had Honey-Hoisin Pork Tenderloin and brown rice. The next day, the leftovers were combined with a little soy sauce, some ginger, and a whole pile of veggies (we used pea pods, julienned carrots, and water chestnuts) but no eggs (someone doesn't like eggs and I can live without them in my fried rice also). It was very good and quite filling. I don't really have a recipe other than chop it all up and cook in the wok until it looks hot and done. I had a picture of it to show you, but cannot locate the device with which I took the picture. Dang. It looked really good. When I find it, I will post.
Until we eat again,
Hallie
P.S., I am not doing the A-Z Challenge this year due to aforementioned feelings of over-extended, frazzled and fried. I invite you to check out the challenge and browse a few of the blogs who are participating.
The plan for February was to try the Five-Ingredient Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe from my Weight Watchers Weekly dated January 27-February 2. This is the little 12 page magazine-y thing they hand out when I weigh in and go to the meetings. Then while waiting for the meeting to start, I page through and check out the tips, ideas and recipes. I should tell you that the meeting I have been going to is at 5pm and the WW center is next door to Dominoes Pizza so I do spend a fair amount of the meeting thinking about food. I actually think about food a lot of the day, whether or not I am going to Weight Watchers. Here is the recipe and my photos of the process. It was simple and tasty. The recipe as written says serves 10 and is 4 PointsPlus per serving. Because it is easier to cut into 8 than it is in 10, we made it 8 servings for 5 PointsPlus per serving. You could make it 4 servings for 10 points each or eat it all and count 40 points. Whatever you do is between you and your tracker.
The recipe said to use a "round 9" flameproof aluminum pan" which I thought was too many adjectives to describe a pan. And I didn't know if mine was flameproof so I used my oven-safe frying pan that happens to be about 9" across, round and flameproof. It worked splendidly. E and I agreed this cake would be best served slightly warm.
Five-Ingredient Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
 |
| the five ingredients |
1/4 C. packed light brown sugar
3/4 lb. canned pineapple rings in juice, 1/4 C. juice reserved
1 large egg
1/4 lb. vanilla cake mix, about 1 scant cup (FYI, a cake mix is about a pound which means from one box, you can make this 4 times. For a total of 160 points, which is more than I care to eat in a day.)
Preheat oven to 375.
Melt 2 T. butter in round 9" flameproof aluminum pan (or similar) over medium-low heat (make sure to cover entire pan bottom); sprinkle sugar over top. Carefully place pineapple rings in a single layer in bottom of pan (use 7 rings). Increase heat to medium-high and cook until pineapple caramelizes (isn't that just a yummy word??), flipping once, about 2 minutes per side; remove pan from heat.
 |
| mmmmm... caramelizing |
 |
| pour the batter and then bake |
 |
| The finished cake - Delicious! |
The second "recipe" we made in March was my first-ever attempt at fried rice. One day we had Honey-Hoisin Pork Tenderloin and brown rice. The next day, the leftovers were combined with a little soy sauce, some ginger, and a whole pile of veggies (we used pea pods, julienned carrots, and water chestnuts) but no eggs (someone doesn't like eggs and I can live without them in my fried rice also). It was very good and quite filling. I don't really have a recipe other than chop it all up and cook in the wok until it looks hot and done. I had a picture of it to show you, but cannot locate the device with which I took the picture. Dang. It looked really good. When I find it, I will post.
Until we eat again,
Hallie
P.S., I am not doing the A-Z Challenge this year due to aforementioned feelings of over-extended, frazzled and fried. I invite you to check out the challenge and browse a few of the blogs who are participating.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The Great English Muffin Experiment
Cooking: It all started with a courtesy copy of the paper and a hair-brained idea.
We subscribe to the Saturday and Sunday Star Tribune. I love to read the paper. One of my favorite times of the week is Sunday morning, usually before E is up. With my Sunday paper and a fresh cup of coffee, I curl up under a hand-knit afghan, tune the radio to 89.3 The Current to listen to one of my favorite DJs (Bill DeVille) and music programs (United States of Americana), and read the paper. I have no order particular order to reading it. Sometimes I start with the funnies, the ads or something similarly light. Other times, I read the headlines and other "real" news first. It all depends on my mood and what catches my eye. I don't get the weekday paper anymore because I can't keep up with reading it and found myself recycling it un-read. If I could get the Thursday along with the Saturday and Sunday, I would. That is the day the Food section is included, and as you may guess, I love reading the food section. But they won't let you get Thurs/Sat/Sun by subscription. Believe me. I have asked. However, on select holiday weekends throughout the year, we get a courtesy copy of the Thursday paper. It just so happened that Martin Luther King Day was one of those weekends and, due to the popularity of Downton Abbey and all things British lately, they did a feature story and recipe on English muffins. I thought, "We like English muffins. I could totally make those."
There you go. The long version of the first sentence - the courtesy copy of the paper and the hair-brained idea.
I decided the English muffin recipe was going to be my new recipe for January and that I would photograph along the way to blog about it. The ingredients are all things a person usually has at home. The directions are very straightforward and there are pictures with the article of some of the key steps. One problem - the dough needs to sit for 12 hours or overnight. This took some remembering on my part. After more than a couple declarations of "I'm going to make those muffins tomorrow." I finally did it, Sunday February 3rd, the morning after book club potluck at my house (I add this to explain the wine bottle and corkscrew that appear in some of the pictures. I am many things, but a Sunday morning drinker I am not). Here is the recipe, courtesy January 17, 2013, Taste section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, (bolding and comments in parentheses are mine) and my story.
English Muffins - makes 6
1 C milk
1 T butter
1 T honey
2 t instant (or rapid rise) yeast, or 1 packet
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
2 T cornmeal
1 T all-purpose flour
In a small saucepan, heat the milk until just warm. Turn off heat and stir in butter and honey until melted. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together yeast, flour and salt. Stir in milk mixture until combined, then stir vigorously for a minute, about 200 strokes. (This will make your arm feel as if it is about to fall off. The instructions say you can rest after 100. I may have rested multiple times and kind of lost count of how many strokes. I may try the dough hook on the stand mixer for this part next time.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a draft-free place overnight, or for 12 hours.
In the morning or after 12 hours, mix the cornmeal and remaining flour in a small bowl.
Mark the surface of the dough into 6 pieces, like a pie. This is your guide for proportions. (I apparently didn't do this very well. See uneven sizes later on...)
Heat a heavy pancake griddle or cast-iron pan over medium heat until drops of water sizzle. An infrared laser thermometer should read between 350 and 375 degrees. You'll be turning down the heat to low once the muffins go on the griddle, but you want an initial burst of heat. An electric skillet takes away much of the guesswork. Heat it to 350 degrees. (I used my lefse griddle - does that make these Norwegian muffins?)
Dip a serving spoon in water and scoop out one-sixth of the dough, deflating it as little as possible, and place it in the cornmeal mixture. Gently flip it over. Once coated, the dough can be picked up and patted into a rounder shape, if necessary (of course it is necessary). Place it on the griddle and repeat the process until all six muffins are shaped. Reduce heat to low.
With a spatula, occasionally check under the muffins to see how quickly they're browning. It should take a full 10 minutes to reach a deep golden color. If they're browning too fast, reduce the heat. If they remain pale, boost the heat to medium. After 10 minutes, gently turn them over to cook the other side. (This part took a bit of fiddling with the temperature of the griddle and a lot of checking on the progress.)
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and move a rack to the center position.
After 10 more minutes, the muffins should be a golden brown on both sides. Place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to bake for another 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Nutrition info per serving: 220 Calories, 41g Carbohydrates, 7 g Protein, 3g Fat, 2g Sat fat, 7mg Cholesterol, 235mg Sodium, 59mg Calcium, 2g Fiber.
Diabetic exchange per serving: 2 bread/starch, 1 other carb, 1/2 fat
(Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 6)
After they cooled, we used a fork to split them and toasted to our preference of brownness. A couple were topped with peanut butter and others were eaten for lunch with a couple slices of deli turkey and a slice of provolone (warmed under the broiler for a melty open-faced sandwich). Both ways were excellent. I would make these again. With a little forethought and planning.
Until we eat again,
Hallie
We subscribe to the Saturday and Sunday Star Tribune. I love to read the paper. One of my favorite times of the week is Sunday morning, usually before E is up. With my Sunday paper and a fresh cup of coffee, I curl up under a hand-knit afghan, tune the radio to 89.3 The Current to listen to one of my favorite DJs (Bill DeVille) and music programs (United States of Americana), and read the paper. I have no order particular order to reading it. Sometimes I start with the funnies, the ads or something similarly light. Other times, I read the headlines and other "real" news first. It all depends on my mood and what catches my eye. I don't get the weekday paper anymore because I can't keep up with reading it and found myself recycling it un-read. If I could get the Thursday along with the Saturday and Sunday, I would. That is the day the Food section is included, and as you may guess, I love reading the food section. But they won't let you get Thurs/Sat/Sun by subscription. Believe me. I have asked. However, on select holiday weekends throughout the year, we get a courtesy copy of the Thursday paper. It just so happened that Martin Luther King Day was one of those weekends and, due to the popularity of Downton Abbey and all things British lately, they did a feature story and recipe on English muffins. I thought, "We like English muffins. I could totally make those."
There you go. The long version of the first sentence - the courtesy copy of the paper and the hair-brained idea.
I decided the English muffin recipe was going to be my new recipe for January and that I would photograph along the way to blog about it. The ingredients are all things a person usually has at home. The directions are very straightforward and there are pictures with the article of some of the key steps. One problem - the dough needs to sit for 12 hours or overnight. This took some remembering on my part. After more than a couple declarations of "I'm going to make those muffins tomorrow." I finally did it, Sunday February 3rd, the morning after book club potluck at my house (I add this to explain the wine bottle and corkscrew that appear in some of the pictures. I am many things, but a Sunday morning drinker I am not). Here is the recipe, courtesy January 17, 2013, Taste section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, (bolding and comments in parentheses are mine) and my story.
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| Dough, after 12 hrs |
1 C milk
1 T butter
1 T honey
2 t instant (or rapid rise) yeast, or 1 packet
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
2 T cornmeal
1 T all-purpose flour
In a small saucepan, heat the milk until just warm. Turn off heat and stir in butter and honey until melted. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together yeast, flour and salt. Stir in milk mixture until combined, then stir vigorously for a minute, about 200 strokes. (This will make your arm feel as if it is about to fall off. The instructions say you can rest after 100. I may have rested multiple times and kind of lost count of how many strokes. I may try the dough hook on the stand mixer for this part next time.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a draft-free place overnight, or for 12 hours.
In the morning or after 12 hours, mix the cornmeal and remaining flour in a small bowl.
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| scooping out the portions |
Heat a heavy pancake griddle or cast-iron pan over medium heat until drops of water sizzle. An infrared laser thermometer should read between 350 and 375 degrees. You'll be turning down the heat to low once the muffins go on the griddle, but you want an initial burst of heat. An electric skillet takes away much of the guesswork. Heat it to 350 degrees. (I used my lefse griddle - does that make these Norwegian muffins?)
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| coating it in cornmeal |
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| checking the progress |
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| muffins on the lefse griddle |
After 10 more minutes, the muffins should be a golden brown on both sides. Place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to bake for another 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
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| bake at 350 for 10 mins |
Diabetic exchange per serving: 2 bread/starch, 1 other carb, 1/2 fat
(Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 6)
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| split it with a fork and toast |
Until we eat again,
Hallie
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| Me, enjoying an English muffin. Please ignore the Sunday morning hair and jammies |
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