*chirp, chirp*

*chirp, chirp*

Are those crickets I hear? Yes, the blog has been a little…how shall we say…”quiet” lately. Believe it or not, I have been cooking. But I’ve also been working and planning and traveling and…well, lots of other “-ings.” And all of those other th”ings” have thrown the proverbial wrench in my plans to blog. Drat.

I realize I may have entirely lost anyone who, at one point or another, read my blog. Alas, that would be very sad indeed. So in the hopes of recruiting people back to POTP, I give you…Homemade English Muffins.

Remember when I made that sourdough starter all those weeks ago? Well, I found an excellent use for the leftover starter, replete with Nooks and Crannies. Oh. Yes.

The recipe is dead easy, as long as you have a starter going (and if you don’t, starting one is dead easy too). I made my muffins with 1/3 whole wheat flour and 2/3 regular flour because, well, you know me. I likes me some whole grains.

So my apologies for my absense — both on this blog and all of yours. I assure you that once I’m a Mrs. in less than two months (!!), the nooks and crannies between my blog posts won’t be so large…

Whole-Wheat Sourdough English Muffins

Make sure your starter is “fed” before you start this recipe. Remove your leftover starter from the refrigerator, add a half cup flour and a half cup water and let the mixture sit at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. You’ll need 1/2 cup for the recipe and you can save the remainder for a later date.

1/2 cup fed sourdough starter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
Cornmeal, for dusting

In a large bowl, stir together the starter, 2 cups all-purpose flour and water, mixing until the mixture is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit out overnight (anywhere from 7-12 hours).

The next morning, add the baking soda, salt and sugar to the dough and gradually add the 1 cup of whole wheat flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky and pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll the dough until about 1/2-inch thick. Use a lightly floured 2-3 inch biscuit cutter and cut the dough into as many rounds as possible. It’s okay to smoosh together the scraps to cut out new muffins.

Sprinkle an ungreased baking sheet with cornmeal. Place the muffins on the baking sheet and cover them with a clean dish towel. Let the muffins rise for about 45 minutes.

Lightly grease a large skillet, wiping away any excess (or you can use a nonstick skillet). Heat the skillet over medium high heat.

Transfer the muffin rounds to the skillet in batches, flat side down first. Cook the muffins for about 5 minutes on each side. The tops and bottoms of the muffins should be light or medium brown when they are cooked through.

Let the muffins cool slightly, then enjoy slathered with butter or your favorite jam! You must let the muffins cool completely before storing them. You can also freeze cooled muffins for up to 3 months.

Yield: ~15 English Muffins (depending on the size of your biscuit cutter)

I feel a little like a spinning top these days. Planning wedding, juggling different news stories at work, making time for friends and family — my plate has been a little full. By my calculations, I will be out of town for 5 out of the next 7 weekends. It’s enough to make a girl’s head reel.

The weekends are when I get s%*# done. Hence, being away on the weekends means heaps of dirty laundry pile up, plants go without watering (sorry, buddy…) and the refrigerator becomes more and more like a desolate wasteland. Sigh… Dinners will be lookin’ a little strange for the next few weeks…

Weekends are also when I do the bulk of my cooking, and certainly any cooking that takes more than 30 minutes. So much to my dismay, I won’t be eating anything like this roast chicken for quite some time — which is sad because it was super tasty.

This is another one of those dishes that transports you across the Atlantic, making you feel like you’re sitting in a cafe in Aix-en-Provence (one of my favorite places, I might add). The olive oil, the herbes de Provence, the olives and tomatoes — just thinking about them makes me long for another trip to Aix, where I could read, relax and dine…instead of whirling across the northeastern United States managing my life.

Poulet Provencal
Adapted from Gourmet, March 2008

1 pound tomatoes (3 to 4 medium), cut into wedges
1 large onion, cut into wedges, leaving root ends intact
1/2 cup drained brine-cured black olives, pitted if desired
4 large garlic cloves, sliced, plus 1 teaspoon minced
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence, divided
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds)

Preheat the oven to 400F with the rack in the middle.

Toss together tomatoes, onion, olives, sliced garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 13- by 9-inch or other 3-quart shallow baking dish. Push vegetables to sides of dish to make room for the chicken.

Stir together minced garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, remaining teaspoon herbes de Provence, and remaining tablespoon of olive oil

Trim any excess fat from chicken and pat dry, then rub inside and out with seasoning mixture. Tie legs together with string, then put chicken in baking dish. It will fit snuggly among the vegetables.

Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of a thigh (do not touch bone) registers 170°F, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Remove the chicken from the pan and let sit on a cutting board for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with the vegetables and pan juices.

Yield: Serves 3-4, depending on the size of the chicken