07 December 2014

Muffins for breakfast or brunch

It's always surprising how easy it is to make from scratch most of the foods that in the U.S. we only buy in bakeries or supermarkets. Bagels, dinner rolls, pie crusts, puff pastry, brioche, U.S.-style biscuits and cornbreads (including hushpuppies), sandwich breads, and other baked goods have been successes for us. Now it's muffins — English muffins, as we call them, to distinguish them from corn or blueberry muffins, which are American standards.


I read on this site that English muffins were invented in New York (by a British immigrant who was a professional baker) and made made their way back to the old country much later. They resemble British crumpets in some ways, but they are yeast-leavened, not made with baking soda or powder. Crumpets are made in metal rings or forms on a griddle from a loose batter. Muffins are also cooked on a griddle, but from a stiff dough that holds its shape without the help of a ring.


The main thing about making them yourself is that you have to plan ahead so that the English muffin dough has time to rise. When you put them on the griddle or in a dry skillet to cook them, you dust them with coarse wheat semolina. That prevents them from sticking to the hot cooking surface.


As you can see, these muffins came out great. Walt made them, of course. He's the real baker. English muffins, like bagels, are not something you find easily in French supermarkets. Necessity (or gourmandise) being the mother of invention, you end up making your own one day or another. The muffins are especially good toasted and then eaten with good French butter and some home-made preserves or jam. I see Eggs Benedict in our future.

Here's a recipe that Walt found on a BBC food site and adapted to work with the ingredients we had on hand. And here's another recipe for them. And while I'm at it, here's a French recipe.

18 comments:

  1. Definitely I am am going to make them English ones ..looks deliciuos

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    1. wow I have made them. They are great. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Nice one Walt....
    Ken, the crumb on this muffin looks perfect!!
    And with butter and jam....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!
    But all the supermarkets around here, from Loches to Chatellerault...
    sell ones British made, packaged for France....
    with a little Onion Jaques flag on the packet...
    including "complet"...
    which I haven't bought yet....
    to me, a muffin like this one should be "white"...
    toasted, cut in half and toasted on the inside....
    then served up with streaky bacon and a poached egg...
    with sossijis and baked beans...
    and a re-heated tinned plum tomato.
    Real roadside-diner breakfast...
    British Style!!
    Damn...
    done it again...
    gotta go make toast!!

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    1. I guess there's a bigger market for British products down there than there is here. We did see muffins like these at SuperU last week, though, in the regular bread section and not with the imported British products.

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    2. They've never been with the British products...
      usually with the quatre-quarts, madelines, sponge fingers, brioche, etc...
      but not with the pain de mie...
      for some reason only known to French marketing...
      and Himself!

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  3. These look great! Just like a bought one :-) Crumpets are easy to make at home too (they are yeast based too, btw). I have spells where I make them regularly -- probably coming up soon now that you've reminded me of them.

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    1. Crumpet recipes are all over the map. Baking powder or yeast. Leavened pancake batter, in other words.

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    2. I should add that since we don't have crumpets in the U.S., I don't really know how they are made. I found this web site about the difference between crumpets and English muffins.

      Also, our muffins looked store-bought but had that fresh home-made taste :^)

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  4. thomas' promises! (jingle for thomas' english muffins)

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  5. They now have muffins in our neighborhood supermarkets, but they are not really very good. I'm very tempted to try your recipe. Care to share how Walt altered the recipe? I use muffins as hamburger buns; they are not sweet like the buns they sell here.

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  6. Last year I went to the famous Betty's Tearoom in Harrogate for brunch. The group at the table next to me were a film crew working nearby, and my immediate neighbour had one of my favourites - scrambled egg with dry-cure bacon on a toasted muffin. Walt's muffins look just as good as the Betty's muffins! By the way, "Betty" was Swiss, and male ...

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  7. It looks great; I'll have to try one of those recipes. I've made a few attempts at English muffins over the years, and mostly failed.

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  8. Exactly, Ken... they look store-bought, but oooohhhhhh what a difference that home-made taste adds, eh? Yumm!

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  9. Yes, eggs benedict will be in your future. Breads are so good this time of year. Do they make hot water cornbread in NC? I've had a hankering for it lately. http://www.cooks.com/recipe/mb8k97ro/moms-hot-water-cornbread.html

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    1. Evelyn, that "recipe" says the hot-water cornbread is "Similar to Hush Puppies, only better." That I have to taste. Thanks. No extraneous ingredients.

      I'm thinking that English muffins made with cornmeal might be really good.

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  10. Blog serendipity -- I JUST answered a comment about the term "hush puppies" on another blog, and there you go mentioning them. I'm afraid I don't exactly know what they are...something Southern related to corn meal? Or grits? And I have to say it may not be THAT easy to make homemade bagels, English muffins, or puff pastry while working 50-hour weeks, even in France...or is it?

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    1. Betty, back in my California days, when I was either at the office or on the road (commuting) 60 or even 75 hours a week, I certainly wouldn't have had time to cook like this or to blog. Anybody who can work full time and also do a blog has all my admiration.

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  11. I would like english muffins! i love new york style bagel is my favorite. thanks for sharing.

    Bagel Shops New York

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