YES! English Muffin Success!

Homemade from scratch English Muffins! Really very easy…don’t know why I haven’t attempted them before! And SO DELICIOUS! –especially with Dundee Orange Marmalade…mmmmm!
Did you know that English Muffins are “pan-baked” — on a griddle instead of in an oven! SO EASY! and So delicious FRESH off the pan!

Try them yourselves: I found this recipe at SourdoughHome. You do need a sourdough starter, but that is part of the fun of ‘from scratch’ and there are directions at SourdoughHome.com for making a starter (or you can purchase one for guaranteed results!). That takes anywhere from about 3 days to a week first, so count that into your time. But then, once you have a starter, it is just an overnight process…

Sourdough English Muffins

Another recipe stolen from the net. This time, it’s Jo-Ann who provided this stunning English Muffin Recipe. The taste is awesome.

The Night Before:
(Recipe from: Bake Your Own Bread & Be Healthier-Stan & Floss Dworkin)
1 C starter
2 tablespoons honey
2 C reconstituted powdered skimmed milk (or whole milk)
4 C unbleached white flour

Mix starter, honey and milk in mixing bowl until smooth. Add 4 C flour, 2 C at a time, and mix in. There’s no need for gluten development now, so do not whip-just get all the flour thoroughly wet. Cover with clean towel and leave at room temperature in a draft free place.

The Next Morning:
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1-2 C unbleached white flour
2 tsp sea salt
cornmeal for sprinkling.

Stir down mixture (it will have risen considerably). If it has risen too high and fallen, no problem, just stir down the rest of the way. Sprinkle a scant teaspoon baking soda and 2 teaspoons sea salt over the surface of the dough and work in.

Flour your board with 1 C flour or more (up to 2 C), until dough is medium stiff – enough to roll out. Once you have enough flour in (I go by feel-never too dry and always moist) and the dough longer sticks to your hands, give it a 5 minute kneading.

Flour board again and lightly roll dough to about 1/2-inch thick. Take a 3 inch round cutter ( a bit larger diameter, different shapes, OK) and cut as many rounds as you can-rolling the left over dough out and cutting more until the dough is all used up. Try to keep them very uniform in thickness and diameter.

As you cut each round, place on cornmealed wax paper-don’t allow raw muffins to touch–they will stick. When all rounds are cut, sprinkle corn meal over tops of muffins.

Allow to rise in warm place, covered, for about an hour or until risen again.

Now Comes The FUN Part!
Preheat a griddle (I used a non stick T-Fal 12 inch griddle pan) with a TINY bit of butter, until butter sizzles. Use a low flame or heat setting so the inside of the muffin bakes and outside does not burn. Pan bake one side for about 4 minutes and turn. Squish down a bit with spatula and pan bake other side for about 4 minutes. Turn only once so be sure the one side is cooked before turning. While you can skip the butter if you have a non-stick skillet, they won’t taste as good without it!

HAVE FUN AND ENJOY!

Wanderlust

Since most of my journey’s these days are to the Phoenix area, and so most of my shared discoveries are from that area, when this post came to my attention, wanderlust kicked in and I found myself dreaming and wishing I could share similar discoveries from exotic lands. Don’t misunderstand:  Phoenix is a fun place! But it lacks a bit of the intrigue of the exotic places we might find abroad, such as a restaurant named “W by Wanlamun” in Thailand.

Having enjoyed my vicarious experience of discovering great food in an exotic location while reading this well-written post (which is supported with intriguing descriptions and pictures), I want to share it –and it’s curious restaurant– with you. I hope you find the discovery as delightful as I did.

Who knows– some of you, while traveling abroad, just might find yourselves in Chiang Mai, Thailand. And when you do, PLEASE confirm for me, the Great Food at this Fun Place!

And until I can get a little further away, I invite you to also visit Wanderlust and Lipstick for great travel tips, guidelines, stories and inspiration!

Please enjoy this post:  Local Flavor: W by Wanlamun