Muffins - English or otherwise...

The other day I wanted to have a what I call 'eggy muffin'. Very similar to that horrid thing those crappy golden arcs sell by what I imagine is a comfortable margin but everything to my own standards. Well of course - what else would you expect?

I've always just bought the muffin parts but since getting on the baking bandwagon I've now decided it is time to take the plunge and make my own. So armed with a recipe (Rose Levy Beranbaums's from the Bread Bible) away I went.

Her recipe was quite easy and although you can let the sit for longer (24 hours if you like) I didn't. I made it with the minimum hours needed and they still turned out great. My only thing since making them is that I would probably form them by hand (using my largest cutter yielded too small of a muffin) and I would finish them off in the oven to keep them warm while continuing the cooking on the cast iron griddle. Only because mine seems to make them blacker than even I like.

However, all I can say is how easy they are. I will no longer buy them and instead will just freeze the leftovers. Now...on to brioche! Wish me luck!

Biscotti and other crunchy things....

Have another meeting this week at work so am making Chocolate Biscotti. I found this recipe from another blog and thought it was interesting in that it contained butter and not oil, which is how most biscotti are made. So thought I'd give it a go and see how well it works. I have made biscotti in the past - usually just a plain one with nuts or chocolate chunks in it.

However, this recipe is quite good and so chocolaty that a dipped layer of melted chocolate would be surplus to requirements. But then again I'm not a chocoholic but I do enjoy things made with good quality chocolate. I'll have to get some Valrhona chocolate as that makes the best brownies and I bet it would lend just the right amount of depth to this treat too.

I have to say that the tip of letting the logs cool was also quite helpful. I have always cut the biscotti while warm and wondered why I had more crumbs than biscotti. I now will always do this.

I also liked the tip of brushing the logs with a beaten egg white. This added a glossy shine the biscotti while also I think keeping the whole log together with less crumbs than I have had in previous batches.

So now that you have been tempted go ahead and try the recipe. You might be sorry because you'll see how fast they go! Enjoy!

Winter comfort foods

There is something about winter and making comfort foods. I tend to always cook and bake more in the winter months than the summer ones. Not that I don't bake or cook in the summer time but I tend to make stews and soups much more now than in summer. Summer is about enjoying the weather and in England it changes so quickly you have to enjoy all the sunshine you can get!

Over the weekend I made some split pea soup - lovely. The chunks of carrots and potatoes made it more like a chunky feast that needed a fork rather than a spoon. I also made a loaf of bread which went nicely. J usually likes cream crackers with his soups but with my home made ones he doesn't use them - doesn't want to adulterate them! Awwww, how sweet.

Now a bit more about the reduced aisle. Unfortunately, the nearest thing you can find reduced in America is when it's on sale. Over here in the UK when something is coming close to its sell by date the store staff reduce the item's price by usually half if not more depending on what it is and does it sell.

I am quite lucky and find a lot of things that I continually use reduced. I also go through these phases where I find the same things consistently reduced. For instance, I love hummus and I might go through a few weeks of always finding this reduced then it will be organic produce, or something similar. I try to shop at least three sometimes four times a week for my fresh vegetables and fruit so this provides me with ample opportunity to scour the usual reduced aisles.

I'm not sure what others do but for me and J this provides plenty of variety of what I might find but also allows me to try new recipes without having to get numerous ingredients at top prices. I usually have a well stocked larder and pantry so the basics and staples are almost always there and available. It also is economical as I am not making a mint in money and have to make it stretch.

Do you buy reduced? Is there anything that you wouldn't buy on the reduced aisle? I don't think there's much I wouldn't buy except for things that look off or I know are well off.