Homemade Hamburger Buns

3/15/11: Homemade Hamburger Buns

You should never let the name "hamburger buns" lead you into thinking that these circular buns that are split in half are just used for hamburgers. No siree! My family does sometimes use them for the ordinary hamburger but we have found a million and one other uses for this bread vehicle. Sloppy Joes, BBQ pork, turkey, and beef, chicken patties, steak-ums, sizzlers, pulled pork, fish fillets, and more.

That is why after my success with my homemade hot dog buns, I decided it was high time to try the faithful old hamburger bun.

So after using the exact same recipe that I used for the hot dog buns, here is what I came up with:

They were as soft and wonderful as the hot dog version. Very happy about this! So now I've been cutting way back on our hot dog/hamburger bun buying and keeping our freezer full of home-bakery freshness:

English Muffins for the First Time

3/15/11: Homemade English Muffins

They always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I don't mind this bit of advice, whatsoever, for breakfast foods tend to be my favorites. Eggs, toast, bacon, French toast, waffles, pancakes, bagels, and of course English muffins; when they make the scene, you know I am not far away.

I've tried making many a breakfast dish from scratch but up till a few weeks ago, I never gave English muffins a try. To me, they have always sounded a bit tedious and I didn't like the idea of a yeast dough being grilled. Scary sounding, don't you think? So when one evening came along when there wasn't a real need to make a full meal, I decided to give these muffins a try.

The recipe I chose to use was published in the Early Spring 2009 issue of The Baking Sheet. I wish I could type out the recipe here but it is copyrighted material. However, I noticed that the King Arthur's Flour website has some English muffin recipes available. So take a look at their Breakfast Sandwich Muffins and this English Muffin recipe. They may not be exactly like the recipe I found in the Baking Sheet, but the latter one does come close.

The making of the dough was very easy to execute, the only part that needs skill is the frying. I used a small non-stick skillet for the frying since I was making such a small recipe. (I would have used the king-sized griddle we have if the whole family was attending.) When frying, there is a need to keep the burner on low heat. So the muffins do take a while to thoroughly cook. I do, however, like my muffins to have a crispy exterior, so near the end of the cooking time I turn up the heat and allow them to form a crust.

I do not own special English muffin cutters so I did as the magazine suggest and use cleaned tuna cans. Works perfectly fine!

So here are the muffins. . .

I had my muffin with a smidge (OK, maybe a big smidge), of blackberry jam and a fried egg. They were wonderful! This makes me wonder. . . Do I love breakfast because of the inclusion of butter and jam in almost every single dish? Could be. ;)

The Secret of the New Fudge Cake's Fame

3/4/11: New Fudge Cake

Haven't seen a post on Sabbath Supper in awhile, huh? Now don't think that I haven't been cooking, for I certainly have! I actually have four future posts lined up. The problem lately, I think, has been the cooking. Once I've finished cooking lunch and dinner for the day, I just don't feel like thinking about food again and writing about it. You know what I mean?

But I've come to realize during the last couple weeks that I need to post more often. Forgetfulness in past meals I've made has created difficulty in preparing them again and I without posting, I sort of lose sight of how cooking can be fun and like an adventure. So that's my two cents on the situation and I hope to begin a posting spree for this month of April. :)

And now let me bring to you a long lost cake of mine. His name is New Fudge Cake and he is a chocolate cake with swiss meringue buttercream filling and a chocolate fudge frosting. Sounds a bit familiar? Same combination of cake and frosting was used for our past Christmas cake. It was such a good cake that there was an apparent need for another!

Here is New Fudge Cake #2:

So about now you are wondering about the secret of this cake's fame, right? Well, the answer can be summed up in one word: swiss meringue buttercream. OK, that's three, but you get the picture. :)