English Breakfast Muffins

These breakfast muffins do take a little bit of time to make when you include the rising times but they are well worth the effort. 

They taste absolutely amazing when accompanied by grilled smoked rasher, poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. 

The recipe for the hollandaise sauce is below but as it is very rich in butter you probably shouldn't have it too often!! This is a wonderful breakfast to make as a treat for someones birthday . . . .

If you don't want to make the muffins yourself there are plenty of versions to be bought at your local supermarkets

 
BREAKFAST MUFFINS
INGREDIENTS:
250ml milk
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 (7g) sachet dried active baking yeast
250ml warm water (45 degrees C)
60g melted butter or margarine
750g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons slightly grainy polenta (cornmeal)


METHOD:
Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. 

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, butter and 1/2 of the flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise.

Punch down the dough to let out some of the air. Roll out to about 1cm thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass or cup. Sprinkle greaseproof paper with (ground, but not powerdery) polenta and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with polenta also. Cover and let rise again for 30 minutes.

Heat a lightly greased heavy frying pan or griddle. Cook muffins for about 10 minutes on each side on a medium heat. Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked.

Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage.
To use, split and toast.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:
2 egg yolks
Tablespoon of cold water
4oz (110gms) butter (diced into cubes)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice. 
freshly ground black pepper to season.

Put egg yolks (free range if possible),
in a bowl over hot water or into a
heavy duty stainless steel saucepan on a low heat. Add the cold water and beat thoroughly. 

Add diced butter bit by bit, beating all the time. As soon as one piece melts, add the next. The mixture will slowly thicken, but remove from the heat immediately if it if it shows signs of becoming slightly curdled / scrambled, and add a little cold water, if necessary and whisk briskly to bring it back to a smooth consistency. 

Keep whisking until the sauce is made. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice (approximately) and freshly ground black pepper to taste. 
Keep sauce warm while you poach eggs. 

Place grilled rashers on toasted muffin, followed by the egg's on top and drizzle -  or even better - smother with the hollandaise sauce!!