The perfect weekend breakfast?

Last Sunday, after an early morning sojourn to Columbia Road Flower Market with my friend and supercook Kate, Kate cooked brunch.   It was my first foray of the year to Columbia Road and as my small garden is already bursting with perennials, my windowsills and greenhouse are packed with seedlings and it is too early to succumb to bedding plants, I agreed to venture north of the river simply to keep Kate company (although with secret hopes of treating myself to a clematis).  Columbia Road was reliably piled high with cut flowers, herbs, bulbs, bedding plants, vegetable plugs, larger shrubs, perennials, exotics - a veritable nursery crammed into a short north London street - and having walked its length and breadth, top to bottom, bottom to top and top to bottom again, I became the unwitting but very willing owner of one large rosemary bush (I am cooking my existing plant more quickly than it is growing), two pink hellebores, three purple leafed phlox, a tray of stocks, one cup of coffee, one croissant and two clematis (Vyvyvan Pennell and Daniel Deronda, both double flowering, then single second flowering later in the summer, impossible to resist...).  Kate had a similar sized haul, plus a banana tree.   Does a small garden ever reach capacity? 



Flowers and plants galore



Market Holders at Columbia Road

Supercook Kate had left the dough to prove whilst we were out and by the time we returned, arms sore, tummies rumbling, the dough had rised enticingly to the top of Kate's mixing bowl and was soft and springy and ready to be shaped into rounds.   Below is Kate's recipe for English muffins: we ate them with perfectly poached eggs (lovingly laid that morning by Kate's hens) but they are equally delicious with marmalade, honey or jam, or simply cut in half, toasted and served with a generous lick of butter.

English Muffins

(The recipe actually comes from the River Cottage Bread Handbook by Daniel Stevens, essential reading for the novice or experienced baker.  I have cooked many of the recipes from this wonderful book and they have never failed to rise (which where yeast is involved cannot be taken for granted...) or raise a smile from my breakfast/dinner guests (my naughtly little sister has a particular weakness for the hot cross buns on p.152, actually for any hot cross buns, but these are exceptionally good)).

500g strong white bread flour

5g powdered dried yeast

10g fine salt

325ml warm water

Drizzle of sunflower oil

Handful of semolina flower for coating

Mix the flour, yeast, salt and warm water in a bowl and knead (either by hand or in a food mixer fitted with a dough hook) until combined.  Add the oil and  knead for a further 10 minutes until the dough is silky and smooth.

Shape the dough into a round, coat it with a drizzle of extra oil and place it in a clean bowl.  Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and leave the dough to rise until it has doubled in size (how quickly the dough will rise will depend on the temperature of the room.  For a quick rise, put the dough somewhere warm.  For a slower rise, leave it in a cooler room).   

Once it has doubled in size, tip the dough out onto a work surface and gently press all over to deflate it.  Divide the dough into 9 pieces and shape each one into a round, approximately 1-2cm high.  Dust the rounds all over with semolina flour (this gives the muffins a lovely crust) and leave them to prove for a second time on a wooden board, covered again with a plastic bag, until doubled in size.

Heat a large heavy based frying pan over a medium heat.  Place the muffins gently in the pan (you may have to cook them in batches depending on the size of your pan) and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Gently turn the muffins over and cook slowly for a further 10 minutes, turning every now and again.  

Leave to cool on a wire rack (but eat while still warm). 

Have a good weekend x