Buckwheat English Muffins and Punky's Dilemma

Wish I was an English muffin

‘Bout to make the most out of a toaster.

I’d ease myself down,

Comin' up brown.

I prefer boysenberry more than any ordinary jam.

I’m a “citizens for boysenberry jam” fan.

-“Punky’s Dilemma,” Simon and Garfunkel

Last winter, I covered one of the walls of my kitchen with chalkboard paint.  The first thing I wrote was "I'm a 'citizens for boysenberry jam' fan."  And though most of the wall serves as a rotating menu board of savories and sweets to make (and eat), the line stays.  As a constant.

But I recently crossed English Muffins off.  English Muffins.  There.  That’s better. 

I like English muffins lightly toasted, the crannies hotly bothered with butter.  No jam necessary.  Treated simply.  Smelling of yeast and toast. 

Which brings me to buckwheat.  Its slight nutty grittiness butters splendidly.  Though you could easily convert the buckwheat into a white or whole wheat translation and achieve grand results, I’m sure.

The recipe itself is not too terribly difficult, though it does require some attention.  If you have a griddle, you’ll be done in under an hour.  If you have a skillet, you’ll be batch-baking muffins in a cast iron from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM.  No matter.   It’s really no different than spending a Saturday with a pot of soup bubbling away on the stovetop.

I should be very, very clear here: the muffins are worth it.  You’ll need to cook them low and slow.  But they’ll rise, get billowy, and then shrug and slump a bit when you flip them.  They’re soft and easily split with a fork, with all the nooks and crannies you’d expect a proper English muffin to have.

And so the recipe stays.  As a new constant.  Ready to make the most out of a toaster.  Citizens, take note.

Buckwheat English Muffins

Adapted from The view from Great Island

Ingredients:

3½ cups bread flour, sifted

1 cup buckwheat flour, sifted

2 tsp active dry yeast

3 tbsp butter, softened

1½ tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1¾ cups lukewarm whole milk (about 110 degrees)

1 egg, lightly beaten

cornmeal, for sprinkling

Instructions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, yeast, butter, salt, and sugar and begin to mix on low speed with a paddle attachment (not dough hook).  Slowly pour in the milk and then the egg; mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes.  If the dough sticks to the bowl as it is mixing, scrape down the sides occasionally.  (Throwing in a pinch of bread flour while it is mixing may help too.) The dough is done when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic.

Form the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours. 

Gently deflate the dough and turn it out onto a surface dusted with flour.  Cut the dough into 12 equal-sized pieces by dividing it in half and then splitting each half in half and then dividing each of your four pieces of dough into thirds.

Form each piece of dough into a ball, stretching the ends of the dough and gathering them together underneath, so that the tops of each piece are smooth.  Flatten each ball into a 3½ inch diameter round; dust the tops and bottoms with cornmeal.  Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes.  (They will puff up a bit.)

Heat a cast iron pan on low heat (or set a griddle to 300 degrees).  Very lightly grease the pan with canola oil for the first round of baking (after this initial greasing I did not re-grease).  Working in batches of 3 or 4, place the muffin rounds on the pan. (This will be done all at once if using a griddle.)  Cook each muffin 15 to 20 minutes and then flip and cook the other side for 15 to 20 minutes more.  If you notice the muffins are browning too quickly, turn down the heat.  The muffins can be checked for doneness by inserting a thermometer into one of their centers; it should read 180 to 200 degrees.  Between batches, sweep off any leftover cornmeal bits so they do not burn.

Let cool and then split by working your way around the muffin with a fork.

Makes 12 English muffins

Notes:

-I questioned the recipe the entire way through.  No dough hook?  No blooming of the yeast?  No use of an oven?  But it yielded great results.

-If your kitchen is incredible dry, you may want to cover the English muffins with plastic wrap, instead of a towel, which can help prevent a skin from forming on the muffins (which may inhibit their rising).  I didn’t have any issues with the towel, but just a word of caution.

-As so often the case with me, they freeze well. (No need to split them prior to freezing.)

Protection with Meyer Lemon Parsnip Puree

It feels a little odd to wax poetically about fluffy parsnip puree in the presence of Meyer lemons right now. It’s a little precious. A little too perfect. Certainly the opposite of how I’ve been feeling lately. I’ve been a tad cranky.

Impervious also comes to mind. I’ve been listening to Simon and Garfunkel’s “I Am a Rock” on repeat. A lot. I’ve been unmoved at the sight of my tulips peaking up from the earth. (Which is odd, considering the deep, dark winter we’ve had.) Truthfully, I think I’m just exhausted from life at the moment.

Luckily, this dish came along and brightened my spirits a bit. It’s full of hope: scallops resting on clouds of parsnips. You may have noticed the recipe title lists the parsnips before the scallops. In a world where the scallop is king, here he’s almost more of a condiment. Though the scallops’ sweetness really elevates the dish and I think it would be a mistake to forgo them, it’s the parsnip that is the true star.

If you are lucky enough to find a farmer that has been keeping his parsnips all winter, you’ll perhaps find that they are unusually delicious; parsnips that have been sulking underground in the cold get sweeter when picked during the last days of winter or beginning whispers of spring. (One can only hope the same will soon be true for me.)

A tad skeptical on the pleasures of parsnips? It’s never a bad idea to invest in a little decadence. The addition of heavy cream, a vinegar syrup reduction, and a dose of floral Myer lemon may very well change your mind.

Or it could be that you’ve never had parsnips the way chef Jeremy Sewall intended. I was lucky to attend a dinner talk hosted by Island Creek Oyster Bar where he served this fantastic dish. He also had some gnocchi tossed in this recipe, but right now I know my limits. A mercurial temperament and dough associated with carefree lightness do not mix. I had to fill in some holes in the recipe (and sadly part with the gnocchi portion), but I think the dish came close to my first tasting of it at the talk.

Add a glass of muscadet (or perhaps a few swigs straight from the bottle, depending on your day) and consider yourself brightened. It really is a nice way to welcome spring. We won’t have Meyer lemons for much longer, so best to enjoy while you can. And for right now, I’ve got my Meyer lemons and my parsnips to protect me. I am shielded in a creamy puree. (Cue Simon and Garfunkel.)

Meyer Lemon Parsnip Puree with Seared Scallops

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

3 tbsp honey

3 tbsp butter, plus additional butter for cooking the scallops

6 parsnips, peeled and chopped into about 1/2 inch pieces

Kosher salt, to taste

1 cup heavy cream

4 Meyer lemons, zest and juice

Whole milk, as needed to thin to desired consistency

Scallops

In a small sauce pan combine vinegar and honey until syrupy and reduced to about half, which may take about 10 minutes. Set aside. Heat a medium saucepan on medium low heat. Add butter and cook until it starts to turn a deep honey color and add parsnips and salt. Cook about 10 minutes, or until parsnips start to soften. Add cream and continue to cook until the cream reduces and starts to coat the parsnips (there will still be a little liquid remaining). Add honey vinegar reduction, zest and juice of the lemons and puree mixture. Taste and adjust for seasoning and add milk to thin, if desired.

Puree makes about 3-4 cups (hard to say exactly when you eat it from the bowl of your food processor)

Notes:

-To cook the scallops, pat them down scallops to remove any moisture. Put dry pan on medium to high heat. Add butter and scallops. Cook for about 1 minute, until crust forms on the scallops and then briefly turn over and cook for another 30 seconds or so.