English Muffins!

This is yet another recipe that falls into the "I didn't know I could make that at home!" section, which is turning out to be my new favorite challenge.

I just got Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. In typical fashion, I read it from cover to cover, got really excited about foccacia, cinnamon rolls, ciabatta, and baguettes, but then got really turned off by the amount of time it takes to make bread!! Most of the recipes require a 2-day period (so much time to proof) and who has that kind of time, really?

One recipe really caught my eye: english muffins. And the preparation time was slightly more reasonable: 3 hours. Not so bad, and I could make the dough and then go do other things in the meantime (like lose a soccer game...sad!).

Did you know that english muffins are not baked like most breads? They are actually made on a griddle or a skillet! That's how they get such nice flat, brown sides. Making bread on a griddle was much cooler than making pancakes, and just might be a new go-to weekend breakfast... that is if I can wake up on a baker's schedule and prepare these 3 hours before anyone wakes up... yeah, wishful thinking.

I'll be honest - until I tasted the muffins, I thought I had definitely screwed up the recipe. Nothing seemed to go right throughout the whole process! Mostly due to my impatience (another common theme for my cooking style), I added too much liquid and after several additions of flour, the dough was still sticky. But I decided to go with it and just let it rise, and it was fine.

Then, Peter assured that as I cook the muffins, "they will brown quickly but will not burn for awhile, so resist the urge to turn them prematurely." I took this a little to much to heart (or I had the temperature up too high...because my muffins definitely burned. Oh well, it adds flavor?)

But even with these little fiascos, they tasted oh-so-good! And the trick to getting the signature nooks and crannies: split the muffins with a fork, not a knife! Stab all around the edge of the muffin with a fork, then gently pull apart.

English Muffins

From The Bread Baker's Apprentice

Makes 6 English Muffins

• 2 1/4 c. unbleached bread flour (I couldn't find bread flour at my nearby Safeway because it is severely lacking in the baking department, but I used unbleached all-purpose flour and added 2 tbsp of high gluten flour).
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast (again - lacking in the baking dept - so I used active dry with water and sugar which probably contributed to the dough being extra sticky)
• 1 tbsp shortening at room temperature
• 3/4 c. to 1 c. buttermilk at room temperature (I used 1 c. which, again, contributed to the dough being sticky)
• cornmeal for sprinkling

Dough

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Stir in the shortening and 3/4 c. buttermilk until the ingredients come together in a ball. If necessary(!!!): pour in the some of the remaining 1/4 c. buttermilk - the dough should be soft and pliable.
3. Sprinkle flour on th counter, and knead the dough for 10 minutes. (If you are lucky enough to have a stand mixer, you can use it with the dough hook and knead for about 8 minutes). Sprinkle more flour if necessary to make a tacky (not sticky!!) dough.
4. Lightly oil a large bowl, put in the dough and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
5. Let bread proof (rise) for 60-90 minutes, or until it doubles in size.
6. Wipe the counter with a damp cloth and place the dough on the counter. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces and roll into small balls.
7. Line a sheet pan with parchment, spray with oil, and dust with cornmeal. Place the balls evenly spaced on the sheet pan, then mist with oil and sprinkle cornmeal on top.
8. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and let proof for another 60-90 minutes, or until the balls double in size, poofing both up and out.

Cooking

1. Heat a skillet or griddle to medium (~350 deg F), also preheat the oven to 350 deg.
2. Spray the pan lightly with oil and transfer the muffins to the pan, a couple at a time (they should be at least 1 inch apart). Keep the other muffins on the sheet pan covered with plastic wrap in the meantime.
3. Cook them for 5-8 minutes "or until the bottom of the dough cannot cook any longer without burning" (Ok interjection...HOW CAN YOU KNOW THIS?! I think that you need to be really vigilant looking for steam coming up from the bottom of the muffins. Otherwise, you don't want to disturb the muffins, but you also don't want to burn them...tricky...) Peter claims that they won't burn for awhile. Perhaps I should try a lower temperature next time.
4. Carefully flip the muffins with a spatula and cook on the other side for another 5-8 minutes, again taking care not to burn them.
5. Immediately transfer the muffins to another sheet pan (don't wait until the whole batch is done, do this as soon as they come off the griddle) and put in the oven for 5 minutes to make sure that the center is baked.
6. In the meantime, cook the rest of the muffins in this same cycle: griddle, oven.
7. Put the baked muffins on a cooling rack and let sit for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving. (30 minutes was a challenge for me...they smelled and looked so good! But waiting is definitely worth it)

Look! You made homemade english muffins!

welcome fall, i forgot you were coming

It's nice to be getting back to normal after weeks of craziness. Somehow during that time, fall started. We've been having such a bout of Indian summer here in Seattle that I hardly noticed, but after a few visits to Pike Place, it was impossible not to get excited about the new crop of beautiful little brussels sprouts, the pink blushing apples and shyly seductive squash. Now I just need some cold weather so I can cozy up to a nice warming soup.

A new friend moved to town, so last week I showed him where to shop in China town (I got to Hau Hau on 12th and Jackson). While we were there, I picked up some rice noodles, and ever since have been wanting to make phad thai. Since Erika and I were to have dinner before hitting up the (fabulous!) sea wolf concert Wednesday, it was the perfect opportunity.

I went to Pike Place after work on Wednesday to get some things I needed: green onions, bean sprouts, shrimp. I looked around the market and finally asked one of the produce sellers if they had bean sprouts. He looked me like I was an idiot. No, he said, we have those in the spring. Sprouts? Spring? he repeated to me slowly. Oh, I said. This made sense. Suddenly phad thai didn't feel like the right dish to be making at all, but I had already promised Erika and furthermore, asked her to bring peanuts. I decided to improvise. I looked around for something that could emulate the crunchy sweetness of the sprouts, and finally I decided on some pretty pink radishes.

Alright, here's the down-low on this dish. I've made it once before, to only moderate success. I love getting phad thai at the numerous thai restaurants around seattle, but the recipe I use comes from a site call Thai Table, which offers this disturbing quote:

"Great Pad Thai is dry and light bodied, with a fresh, complex, balanced flavor. I've never actually seen the red, oily pad thai in Thailand that is common in many western Thai restaurants."

It's true that I've seen recipes that call for ketchup, I assume to produce the red coloring, but I decided to go with authenticity. I don't have tamarind readily available, so I use a combination of lime juice and vinegar instead. I also used sesame oil for peanut, and added a touch of siracha for spiciness.

The technique to this dish is relatively simple, and once I get it down pat, it will be a nice go-to to have in my repertoire, as it's quite fast. I would rate the success of this specific iteration on the low side, simply because I didn't soak the rice noodles long enough and they turned out a bit tough. But I've learned my lesson! So aside from user error, the recipe is a good one.



Homestyle Shrimp Phad Thai

Adapted from Thai Table
Serves two with left overs

10 oz. dry rice noodles (I bought a package that was 16 oz, and a little more than half)
1 egg
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, cut into strips
1 1/2 cups shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 lime
4 teaspoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 pound shrimp
bean sprouts (or radishes, cut into strips)
vegetable oil
sesame oil
peanuts
1. Soak the rice noodles in warm water for (really) 10-15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare everything you will need, because once the wok starts, everything will go pretty fast. Chop the onions, garlice and vegetables and set aside. In a small bowl, mix sugar, fish sauce, vinegar, and the juice of 1/2 a lime. Prep and peel shrimp, set aside.
3. In a wok (or a large pot/pan with raised edges), heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat. When hot, add garlic, onions and mushrooms. Stir fry until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
4. Add softened rice noodles to wok, and stir vigorously to prevent sticking. When the noodles have heated through and softened some more, about 3 minutes, add the fish sauce mixture and continue stirring, about five minutes. Add radishes and green onions, two minutes more, then add shrimp, and continue stirring until all shrimp have cooked through and turned pink. The noodles will be very tangled and messy (yummy) looking.
5. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of chopped peanutes, fresh green onions, and lime wedge.

Signature Lasagna Rolls

Everyone has that-one-dish. The dish that elicits reactions like: "Oh my gosh, she's making X for dinner! Yay!" and the dish that makes people take just one more helping. This, my friends, is my signature dish.

Well, to be technical, it's my mom's dish - she gave me the recipe after testing it a few times. Or Giada De Laurentiis' dish - she may have invented this... But with a recipe so handled and stained in olive oil drops from years of heavy use, the lines get kind of blurry...

I even made this dish for a "Heritage Food Night" where everyone was supposed to bring something from our cultural background, or that we grew up eating. Lasagna is Italian...so it works, right? Humor me, but try this dish. It will make you want it to be part of your heritage, too.

This is a spin on traditional lasagna. Lasagna rolls take the messiness out of serving dinner, making cute little packaged lasagna servings. And it's actually kind of fun to make! You just roll up each individual noodle, then bake it all together. A little more work, but really quite cute!

Lasagna Rolls

From Giada De Laurentiis, via my mom :)

Bechamel Sauce:

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 tsp flour
• 1 1/4 c. whole milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• pinch ground nutmeg

Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk until bubbly, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and thickens, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper and nutmeg into the sauce. Pour it into a 9x13 glass baking dish and set aside.

Lasagna:

• 1 15 oz container of whole milk ricotta cheese (or homemade!)
• 1 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 cup (plus extra for topping) grated parmesan cheese
• 3 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped (I substituted turkey bacon this time, and it was delicious!)
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 12-15 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 2-3 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 450 deg.

In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, spinach, parmesan, prosciutto (or turkey bacon), egg, salt and pepper.

Boil a large pot of water with 2 tbsp olive oil. Boil the noodles until just tender, but still firm to bite. Drain and arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer.

Spread about 3 tbsp of the ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at one end, roll the noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the roll seam-side down in the bechamel sauce in the baking dish. Repeat with all of the noodles, or until the baking dish is full. Spoon 2 cups of marinara sauce over the rolls, then sprinkle with the mozzarella and 2 tbsp (or so) of parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheeses on top become golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes and then serve with additional heated marinara sauce, if desired.

Careful, this might become "your dish" too!