I’ve still not cracked this recipe. I tried this one a few
months ago and it was an absolute failure, the muffins themselves ending up in
the recycling bin. I altered the recipe from the previous attempt, but they
still weren’t quite right. They’re supposed to be green, but mine had no vague
resemblance to Kermit.
I hadn’t been too
sure about the recipe when I’d first done it. It required you to melt butter
and sugar, then add milk, spinach, nutmeg and yeast and wilt the spinach. What with
using fresh yeast, I was worried about taking the temperature too high, so the
spinach didn’t actually get that wilted. So instead this time I didn’t put the
yeast in; I took the milk mixture to a higher temperature to wilt the spinach
and then rubbed the yeast in the flour (with a dash of salt in too, of course) while
I was waiting for the milk to cool down. This seemed to work better... the
spinach was at least limp. So, wet mix went into dry and gathered together into
a ball, then turned out.
Second issue from last time, and this is more to do with me
muddling instructions. I thought they’d
implied that the dough needed working for a fairly long time, because 10
minutes mixed by a machine sounded like a lot. I missed the key words 10
minutes “at half speed”... doh! (No pun intended) So I just worked it like I
usually would... because when I first try things, I never do the obvious
thing... apparently.
Last alteration of the recipe. It said leave to rise once,
shape, then cook straight away. I found other recipes that told you to shape,
then prove, then cook, so I went with those, again another method I was more
comfortable with.
It didn’t help me with my inability to move something that’s
been shaped without ruining its shape, so my muffins were a bit on the squiffy
side. And cooking, which was done in a hot, dry pan. I can’t seem to get the
temperature right and managed to “blacken” a few of my muffins. Fearing that
they weren’t cooked all the way through, I put the in the oven for a bit.
I let them cool before crossing my fingers and cutting one
open. They appeared cooked, but still not bright green (maybe the spinach
needed more wilting?). I bit into a piece. Hmm... doughy. That was my first
thought. So my mind immediately went to “was the dough ok”... yes, the dough
had seemed fine, worked to the right stage. “Was the pan too hot?”... erm, yes,
probably. They were just on the verge of cooked, but maybe they’d needed a
little longer. “Were they too thick”... again, yes probably, especially as they’d
puffed up even more when proving. I clearly haven’t got the hang of these
griddle-cooked doughs yet.
In the hope of getting some advice, I asked one of my tutors
in college about cooking English muffins. He said his work always did them in
the oven...
Cheats.
Simplified recipe
Ingredients
30g butter
2 teaspoons sugar
300ml milk
A very generous handful of spinach
A generous grating of nutmeg
450g strong white flour
10g fresh yeast
A generous pinch of sea salt
Semolina for dusting (or flour if you don’t have any)
Method
1.
Melt the butter and the sugar in a saucepan. Add
the milk, then the spinach and the nutmeg and heat it all enough to wilt the
spinach. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down to about 25°C, or lukewarm
2.
Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and rub in
the yeast, then add the salt
3.
Once it’s the right temperature, pour the wet
mix into the dry and work into a dough ball. Turn out onto a work surface and
knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Put back in the mixing bowl,
cover and leave in a warm place to double in size
4.
Dust your work surface generously with semolina
(or flour) and turn the dough out, then dust the top with semolina too. Pull it
out and stretch and push it with your hands to about half an inch thick. Use a
circular cutter to cut out your muffins. Transfer to a baking tray, cover and
leave in a warm place to double in size again
5.
Once risen, heat a large pan on the hob (no need
for oil... although Delia would tell you to use lard). You want something
approaching a medium heat, to give your muffins some lift from the pan but not
so much that the outside burns before the inside cooks
6.
Transfer your muffins to the pan and cook until
golden on that side, then flip and repeat. Use the usual tap test (hollow
sound... yes?) to check that they’re done
7.
Refer back to the internet for recipes using
English muffins- trust me, there are loads
References
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/sweet/english-muffins.html
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