Thanks! The bowl I got from Sur la Table a while back - link
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Nice, I’m a big fan of toasted English muffins for hamburger buns, they get crispy, don’t fall apart and the nooks hold sauce well. Admire your restraint on the amount of chips.
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Yep I like them as hamburger buns too for the same reasons. They are also maybe a bit more versatile than buns as you can make breakfast sandwiches and eggs Benedict and such with them.
I may or may not have had more chips afterwards 
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I also like “English muffins”, Mr. Happy! Unfortunately, we don’t have them here and I have never tried making them.
Spring elixir is finally here! It’s the most expensive in the first 3 weeks. The farm where I always get mine from the price drops to a reasonable level only in the last 3 weeks but theirs is the absolute best.
Don’t care if it’s expensive. Nothing to look forward to these days. It’s depressing in this country. First asparagus meal of the year. Only needs potatoes and Riesling to go with it, anything too bold will overpower the king of spring vegetable!
Behind the steamed asparagus are melted butter (a little bit goes a long way), asparagus “essence” (basically an intense stock made from the peel) in the covered round butter dish, young potatoes (very flavourful and sweetish). Soft boiled eggs and parsley on top of the asparagus.
The only Riesling I have in the fridge this week
Crazy weather from hell we had this week. It started on Monday and ended on Thursday. Lost a few established winter hardy plants this winter and now I am afraid for my other plants. Planted many expensive alliums last autumn, just hope they can make it through this week and the next.
Earlier this week: storm, hail, snow, sun, rain sometimes all at the same time, night and day for 3 full days.
My poor chives (3 pots). Chives are my “hero herb”. They survive it all and they return every year as if nothing happens.
Since travel is impossible at the moment I have to travel in my mind. Bornholm is an island in the Baltic sea, a Danish territory but it’s closer to Germany, Poland and Sweden than to Denmark. One of the things the island is known for is the quality smoked herrings. I have quality smoked herring from the North Sea so I’ll take that. (Bought from my fishmonger whom I order oysters every week)
This is how they eat smoked herring on Bornholm, “sun over Bornholm” (or insert name of another town on the island). The raw yolk is to moisten and further enrich the herring. I like my yolks cooked sous vide for the custardy viscosity)
Official site of Bornholm:
The moon a couple of weeks ago:
Only one day later it was lower and already less round. The bare branches give it a cool effect.
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Hi Presunto,
Here is a recipe for Englsh mufffins from Elizabeth David. I have the book in which she published it, but I can’t find it! Here it is, as I found it onthe internet.:
https://www.recipelink.com/msgbrd/board_31/2003/JAN/16505.html
Let me know if the recipe doesn’t come through correctlyl
Equivalencies
1 cup flour 125 grams
1 cup water 237 grams.
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Thanks for that. The link doesn’t load for some reason (“error loading page”?).
I saved 2 in my bookmarks for when I get crumpet rings (still haven’t got around to):
Muffins are made from a yeast dough. Crumpets fom a batter.
English Muffins
rec.food.baking/Dave Walkden (1996)
Source: English Bread and Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David (Penguin,
Inc.) 1977 Books
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons Olive oil, clarified butter, or lard – see notes
1 3/4 cups Milk and water mixed (aprx) – see notes
rice flour(for dusting) – see notes
-
Measure the flour into a large oven-proof bowl. Put the bowl into a 285 degree oven for 7 to 10 minutes.
-
Meanwhile, mix the milk and water and softened fat and warm them to ‘blood heat’. Use a little of the mixture and the sugar to proof the yeast.
-
When the flour is well warmed stir in the salt, add the yeast mixture and the remaining liquids. Using a wooden spoon, mix the dough well. Very quickly it will become coherent, elastic and smooth, but will be rather too soft for hand kneading. Cover the bowl and leave to rise for about 50 minutes at 70 degrees.
-
Break down the dough, divide into 7 or eight equal portions. Using rice flour for dusting, mould each into a round. Place onto a rice flour dusted baking sheet (non-stick preferable.) Cover with a cloth and leave to recover volume for about 35 to 45 minutes. They should not be allowed to rise too much or they will loose their characteristic shape while cooking.
-
Warm a griddle over very low heat. Elizabeth David states that using butter or fat on the griddle is unorthodox but may be necessary according to the griddle material (well seasoned cast iron should require no fat.) Very carefully transfer the muffins one by one using a wide thin pallet knife which can also be used to pat the muffins back into shape should they have become flattened or spread as they were transferred.
-
Let the muffins cook SLOWLY over VERY MODERATE heat allowing 8 to 10 minutes for each side. When the first batch is cooked put them into a folded cloth or transfer them to a low oven to keep warm. Inevitably, the second batch will be a little more risen and puffy than the first batch.
-
When fresh from the griddle muffins should be a good biscuit on
both sides with a broad white band around the waist; they should be about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, smooth and lightly crusted on the outside and honeycombed when split open.
TO TOAST:
'Muffins should not be split and toasted. The correct way
to serve them is to open them slightly at their joint all the way
around, toast them back and front, tear them open and butter the
insides liberally. Serve hot." – Marian McNeill, “The Book of
Braekfasts” 1932:
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How was it?!
It tasted like the “real beef” version! The meat is marinated a bit in this case so that probably helps.
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Good to know - thanks!
xxxxxxx
Looks great… and thank you!
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Spicy Tuna Salad on Leftover Rice - Hot Pepper Tuna, Regular Albacore, Dressing of Vegenaise, Vedge Oil, Sesame Oil, Rice Vinegar, Mirin, Soy Sauce, Ponzu, Topped w/Everything Bagel Mix, Furikake, Scallions
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Got some habaneros to make fermented chilli sauce. Made the first batch then a week later got another half kilo for a second batch. The same market stall still had the last of habaneros so I had to get them as they are not so common here. Scotch bonnet peppers are readily available and I always use them to make my own sauces.
Buy tabasco sauce? You mad?! Tabaso you make yourself.
The partner got shortcrust pastry dough by mistake. I filled the parcels with vegs and beef shin.
Hand-painted porcelain from Germany. The design was developed by Meissen porcelain producer in Meissen, Germany. The straw decor is "strawflower" and the name of this series is “Saxon Blue”. Read history of this design click on this link (translated from German article).
Jäger produced the series for about 10 years. Back then it was still DDR (East Germany). It’s still being produced by other porcelain manufactures and each piece is still hand-painted and each brush stroke is irreversible.
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Thanks!
David’s version has no bicarb of soda, as mentioned in the Guardian article.
No crumpet rings to be found but I think I’ll try using a tiny Staub pan to hold the shape.
“Beach clams”. The fishmonger doesn’t know the exact species, just “beach clams”. 4 kilos here.
As part of lunch
People usually eat shellfish with some form of starch but I just want to eat them straight up and wash down with beer or wine. Starch or carb is a waste of shellfish. 2 other meals from the same clams:
I can eat rice but don’t like it, and the partner feel the same about shellfish and roe but we compromised this time.
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Fried calf’s liver with onion. I like to eat it with raw Sauerkraut with or without bread.
Finally, a new oven! The one that came with the house stopped working properly last year. It was a Bosch but Bosch had long ceased producing the same combi oven (compact microwave + oven) so I had to do lots of research to find a replacement. It’s damn hard to find one that fits in the same space perfectly. And then more problems trying to decide which to get and if it meets my criteria.
This one:
https://www.miele.co.uk/e/compact-microwave-combination-oven-h-7840-bm-graphite-grey-11093700-p
Not a millimetre to spare! Gorgeous thing and is the most “high-tech” anything I have in the house.
Options for German language and also for English. Apparently they customised some parts of the menu for Australia. Me thinks instead of English they got “Australian” 
British English option pleases me immensely.
Big touch screen data plate
A quick button for “Popcorn”. No use for me but it’s a microwave function for 2.5 minutes so I’ll use it to reheat something instead. Loving the new oven. Quiet and nice to use. Looks and feels extremely “premium”.
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