So, things have been a little crazy lately. It seems a shame to happen right after I start this whole thing, but hey- I put it off this long, so the first post is kind of like a preview. Like a pilot episode of a show, the kind where you see the pilot a season before the show starts.
Fortunately for all you food lovers and critics, you only had to wait a couple weeks.
I’ve been cooking a lot, like usual, but not really bothering to record any of it. Until today. It’s Easter Sunday, and I couldn’t care less. I did decide, however, I wanted to try something new, and for some reason, I decided muffins was the road to take! Ah, who knows why? Nobody, that’s who.
A quick survey of what I had showed me I was perilously on my beloved unbleached white all-purpose flour! A horrific thing to behold.. Not nearly enough for muffins remained. In the back of the cabinet, however, I’d found forgotten hope: whole wheat all-purpose flour, sealed in a bag with an air-tight seal, from a few months back working with whole wheat sourdough. Perfect. Almost.
After a lot of thought (read: 45 seconds or so), I decided on chocolate muffins. Because, believe it or not, chocolate and whole wheat work excellently together! But chocolate muffins are a little bland, in my opinion…
Some of the less-obvious ingredients in these particular muffins
The answer? On the plate. Anise seeds and cloves. I don’t know if you’ve ever used the two of these together, or even if you’ve ever used either at all (save thanksgiving, for the cloves), but they are both wonderfully aromatic, remarkable flavours. In fact, if you’re bored, take a teaspoon of each, along with a teaspoon of white sugar, with a mortar and pestle, and just grind it silly. Got that? Right, now take a good, long, gentle sniff… Isn’t that just marvelous? Haha! You could even throw that in a simmering pot with a neutral oil, or unscented wax, and make an entire room smell equally magnificent!
Ah, but I digress. Anise and chocolate go together marvelously, as well. Anise is one of my favourite flavours in the world, and as such, I know that certain things just work with it- mint, citrus (ideally lemon), and chocolate being a few. So I think you can see how I came to settle on this strange, earthy, wonderful combination.
Ready to grind?
Ground!
Next up, we had to put together the actual batter. The dry half involved about three cups of flour, a teaspoon of salt, three teaspoons baking powder, and four tablespoons cocoa powder, along with our little mixture here, and finally three-quarters cup of light brown sugar, and one half cup of white sugar.
Whoo! Trusty PSP for music, and DSi stylus for taking pictures.
This was about the time I realized: this bowl will be way too small. A moment later, I’d added the sugars, and fixed the bowl problem.
new, bigger bowl! Hah!
Much better. Now, to assemble the ‘wet team’, in the words of my semi-pesudo-faux-mentor Alton Brown. Our moisteners included one whole egg, two egg yolks, a stick of butter, one teaspoon of vanilla, two tablespoons lemon juice, and a cup and a half of milk.
Looks like I need practice separating eggs, its been far too long.
Here we commit a cardinal sin of muffins: melted butter! Oh no!And you know what? This is where I found out I'm out of milk.
Lumps in the batter are not a problem.
So, so very many problems. But life goes on, and muffins make everything better. One rule of muffins that absolutely must be observed, however, is the rule of minumum stirs. Especially with a flour that has a slightly higher protein component, like this whole wheat flour, agitation and introduction of water creates gluten. Gluten gives structure, and make a magnificently chewy bread, but a terribly dry muffin.
When all is said and done, we have batter! Whoo!
I buttered a muffin pan (no silly paper cups, here), and sprinkled a touch of dark brown sugar into each cup, just to make them a little gooey. Also, I decided to top them with a bit more anise seed: a pinch of seeds, a pinch of dark brown sugar, and a pinch of white sugar, back into the mortar! Enough topping for about a dozen muffins.
Into a 350 F oven until risen, and checked for doneness with a toothpick.
the first six, ready to bake
They look pretty awesome, ready to bake and all, if I do say so myself! Haha.
And finally..
It's about muffins, not presentation! Shut up, Jeanette!
I apologize for the photo quality. I made the assumption, however, than poor photos were better than no photos, so my DSi came in handy, snapping these ‘gorgeous‘ shots.
Now, for a closing word about pitas. In my previous post, I made some. They were marvellous. They go stale within a few days, however, and one must repurpose them. Frisbees come to mind after around a week, but a day or two before then, chips is the way to go! After separating the pitas into a ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ half, giving me two rounds per pita, I cut each into 8 pieces, like a pizza. Arranging on a cooking sheet, they are easily brushed with olive oil, in which a tablespoon of sugar has been ‘dissolved’. Then, a few grinds of fresh black pepper, a healthy sprinkle of salt, and a pinch of an appropriate herb (parsley, maybe?), before going into a 300 F oven until crispy and golden.
There, how's THAT for presentation?
The dip seen here is also homemade- a half cup each of mayonaisse and sour cream, fresh black pepper, minced onion, garlic powder, parsley, and more tarragon.
