Food for Friday - Week 8

WOW!!! I can't believe that we are already 8 weeks into 2013!! I am loving the time I have spent with my girls these past two weeks. We have had so much fun just being together. The blessings of family shine through the darkest of days. My days have been full of Miss Ella and her beautiful smile!

 

For the past few months everyone I know has been consumed with "Downtown Abbey". I however had never watched an episode and wasn't really interested but after all the fuss I decided maybe I should check it out. We have a group of 5 ladies who wanted to get "caught up" on this phenomenon together so we meet once a week at each other's homes for "Abbey" time and lunch.We started with season 1 and now we are all HOOKED!! We watch two to three episodes at a time. Today was my day to host. We met after lunch so I decided we would have "tea". I made English Muffins , jam and tea. This is so much fun!! I can't wait till next week and we start Season 2!!

 

 

Thank you Lord for friends and family to share our lives with!! You have blessed me with so many wonderful people who have surrounded me with love. I am truly grateful. May we honor you in all that we do. AMEN!!

The recipe for this week is English Muffins. I am using a recipe I found on the internet. No featured cookbook this week. I have rewritten the recipe because I found the original hard to follow and somewhat inaccurate as it was written. Hope this version is readable and doable for you. I really encourage you to make these. English Muffins are NOT hard to make. They are a yeast bread but instead of baking them they are cooked on a griddle or iron skillet on the stove. Please try these!!! They are soft and yummy. You will never buy English Muffins again.

English Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water

1 Tbsp active dry yeast or 1 pkg

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbsp butter

3 cups flour, divided

3/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup cornmeal

 Directions:

Combine Water, Yeast and sugar.

Let mixture stand for 5 minutes until the yeast is "foamy"

Add 1 1/2 cups flour to a separate bowl with the 3/4 tsp salt. Mix well

 

Heat milk and butter together in microwave.  You want the butter to melt and the milk to be warm but not hot. It took my microwave 45 seconds to do the job. If the milk mixture gets too hot let it cool down before proceeding with the recipe.

Combine the Yeast mixture with the milk and butter mixture into the flour and salt bowl.

Beat with mixture paddle for 2 minutes to stretch the gluten. Then switch to dough hook.

Continue to knead with dough hook while adding the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour a small amount at a time. You can do this by hand on a board if you prefer. Stop adding flour when dough is smooth and elastic. I used only about 2 1/2 cups of flour at this point. Knead dough for 5 minutes.

Turn dough out onto board and shape into a ball.

Grease bowl with cooking spray and sit in a warm, draft free place to raise. Cover with dishtowel. Let raise until doubled about an hour.

When dough has doubled remove from bowl onto floured surface and roll out with rolling pin to 3/4 inches thick.

Cut the dough with desired size biscuit cutter.

Place on cookie sheet sprinkled with 1/2 of the cornmeal. I used parchment paper but you don't have to.

I got 10 muffins out of this dough. Sprinkle remaining cornmeal on the tops of the muffins and gently press into the dough. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes more.

 

When the muffins have risen the second time heat an iron skillet to medium heat. Spray the pan with a light coating of cooking spray. Drop the muffins into the pan. Turn heat to low. Cook the muffins for 7-10 minutes then turn and cook another 7-10 minutes until golden brown.

 

Remove the muffins to a cooling rack. Split the muffins with two forks to reveal all the nooks and crannys inside these delicious morsels.

English Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water

1 Tbsp active dry yeast or 1 pkg

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbsp butter

3 cups flour, divided

3/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup cornmeal

Directions:

Combine Water, Yeast and sugar. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes until the yeast is "foamy"

Add 1 1/2 cups flour to a separate bowl with the 3/4 tsp salt. Mix wel. Heat milk and butter together in microwave. You want the butter to melt and the milk to be warm but not hot. It took my microwave 45 seconds to do the job. If the milk mixture gets too hot let it cool down before proceeding with the recipe.

Combine the Yeast mixture with the milk and butter mixture into the flour and salt bowl. Beat with mixture paddle for 2 minutes to stretch the gluten. Then switch to dough hook.

Continue to knead with dough hook while adding the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour a small amount at a time. You can do this by hand on a board if you prefer. Stop adding flour when dough is smooth and elastic. I used only about 2 1/2 cups of flour at this point. Knead dough for 5 minutes.

Turn dough out onto board and shape into a ball Grease bowl with cooking spray and sit in a warm, draft free place to raise. Cover with dishtowel. Let raise until doubled about an hour. When dough has doubled remove from bowl onto floured surface and roll out with rolling pin to 3/4 inches thick.

Cut the dough with desired size biscuit cutter. Place on cookie sheet sprinkled with 1/2 of the cornmeal. I used parchment paper but you don't have to. I got 10 muffins out of this dough. Sprinkle remaining cornmeal on the tops of the muffins and gently press into the dough. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes more.

When the muffins have risen the second time heat an iron skillet to medium heat. Spray the pan with a light coating of cooking spray. Drop the muffins into the pan. Turn heat to low. Cook the muffins for 7-10 minutes then turn and cook another 7-10 minutes until golden brown. Remove the muffins to a cooling rack. Split the muffins with two forks to reveal all the nooks and crannys inside these delicious morsels. Keep in sealed bag or container for freshness.

Best eaten hot off the griddle!!! Toasted the next day is delicious too!! These are so tasty!!

Our little group really enjoyed these "English" muffins at our "Downtown Abbey" High Tea Party with butter, fruit preserves, and tea.

I hope you enjoy them as well. I would love hearing back from you if you try this recipe. It helps me to keep on doing what I do on Food for Friday!! I hope you are enjoying the recipes. Let me know if there is a special recipe you want me to highlight in the upcoming weeks.!!

Happy Trails,

Mtn Mama