Savory French Breakfast Muffins

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For march edition of 'this book makes me cook', the book selected was - 'Blackberry wine', a classic food-related book by Joanne Harris. Its the story of Jay Mackintosh, who has only one successful book in his credit and now, in his soul-searching journey, reaches a small town in France, where he buys a chateau and starts living there. Each and every character in this novel is so captivating that they actually haunt you even after you finished the book and the sheer brilliance of the author is - "She wrote the book from the point of view of a bottle of wine!". The 'Specials', as they are called talk, rustle and react to the circumstances around Jay. They take him back to Jay's childhood memories which revolves around an old mad named Joe, who grows all kinds of vegetables & fruits and makes wine of his own.

Would I read it again, you ask? I would say definitely because the style of Joanne's writing is so pleasing and enchanting.

..I made some 'Savory French Breakfast Muffins' - a savory twist to these classic French muffins. This is my first time to try out savory muffins and though they were very moist from inside, the top was a little flaky and hard. Any ideas about how to get around this problem?

Savory French Breakfast Muffins (Makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of All purpose flour
1.5 tsp Baking powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1 egg
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/3 cup of Butter, melted
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp extra-virgin Olive oil
1/4 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Bell peppers (I used red and yellow)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.

2. Combine the dry ingredients - all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, pepper and salt in a large bowl.

3. Whisk egg, buttermilk, oil and butter in a medium bowl. Fold in cheese and bell pepper. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly blend in the wet ingredients with a spatula.

4. Scoop the batter and fill until 2/3rds into the muffin pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Storing the muffins:

Wrap leftover muffins individually in plastic wrap, place in a plastic storage container or ziplock bag and freeze up. To thaw, remove plastic wrap, place it in a paper towel and microwave for 30 to 60 seconds.

Check out what other members of my book club made for this event:

Strawberry Preserve by Simran

Off these also go to BBD 18: Quick Breads, hosted by Mansi of 'Fun & Food Blog'.
[Update] - For the month of April, the book club has unanimously voted for a Jane Austen special. Choose any book of hers and cook something inspired by it.
Do you wanna join our book club? If so, just leave a comment on this post and I will get back to you. Chao :)

Have a fun week ahead.

signing off for now,
Siri

Happy Ugadi :)

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Wishing you all a very a Happy and Prosperous Ugadi 2009!!

Cheers,
Siri

No Knead Pizza

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Those were the days when I used to peer through the Sbarro counter to get a glimpse of how they make a pizza. I always loved their pizzas and Strombolis (minus the huge a amount of butter they use) and was always under the impression that making a 'pizza dough' is an art to learn, and moreover for a novice baker like me, it was something like - 'No way!, I can never make it'.

... But surely thats not true according to Jim Lahey, the founder of Sullivan Street Bakery ('No Knead Bread' fame). When I saw his article in Tasting Table (my favorite food newsletters of all), I was so excited to see how simple his recipe was. I tried it out and voila! I surprised me myself. The pizza crust was so delicious that I wanted to have more and more. :) Thanks Jim!

No Knead Pizza (Adapted from Jim Lahey's recipe)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting (I used all-purpose flour)
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast (I used Fleischmann's RapidRise)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of (lukewarm) water

Toppings:

Pizza Sauce (store-bought)
Fat-free shredded Mozzarella cheese
Veggies - Onions, Tomatoes, Peppers

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the yeast and salt. Add the water and stir until blended (the dough will be very sticky). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 12 to 24 hours in a warm spot, about 70°. (I mixed the dough at night and let it rest till morning - for about 14 hours.)

2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Generously sprinkle a clean cotton towel with flour and cover the dough balls with it.

4. Let the dough rise for 2 hours. (I skipped this step as I was too eager to see how it turns out. Nevertheless, the outcome was yummy , so no regrets! :) )

5. Stretch or toss the dough into the desired shape, spread the pizza sauce cover with toppings & cheese and bake on top of a very hot baking sheet (or pizza stone) until the base is slightly browned and the cheese is starting to sizzle. Serve warm! (I baked at 350 F for about 15 mins)

Have a lovely day ahead :)

signing off for now,
Siri