Sourdough (Whole Wheat) English Muffins

Source: adapted from King Arthur Flour, with some baking tips from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients: 

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 cups (454 g) warm water (I left the gram amounts on the things that I actually weigh instead of measure in a cup)

1 Tablespoon yeast

1 cup (227 g) sourdough starter

1/2 cup dry milk

1 Tablespoon table salt

2-3 cups (up to ~450 g) whole wheat flour

4 Tablespoons butter, softened

~3 cups all purpose flour

yellow cornmeal, for coating

Directions:

Combine the dough ingredients (sugar through whole wheat flour) in a large bowl and mix well. Add softened butter and some all purpose flour and mix well. On a floured surface, knead the dough (add more flour as needed) until smooth and elastic (it won't be particularly sticky).

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, until noticeably puffy. For best sourdough flavor, immediately place bowl in fridge (without rising first) and allow to chill for up to 24 hours (I usually make the dough midday or afternoon and take it out in the morning, so not quite a full 24 hours).

Gently deflate the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly cover with a towel and let it rest for a 10-20 minutes. Roll the dough to a large circle around 3/8" thick. Cut in rounds with a drinking glass. Glob the leftover bits into another ball and re-roll and cut until it's all used up. (I usually get 20-22 muffins from a batch.)

Place the rounds, evenly spaced, on cornmeal coated sheet pans. Sprinkle the tops of the rounds with more cornmeal. Gently cover with a dish towel and let rise for 45-60 minutes or up to 2 hours (if the dough has been refrigerated) until light and puffy.

Transfer as many as will fit without crowding onto an electric skillet preheated to 300 degrees F (I can get 6-8 per batch) and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Transfer the partially baked muffins to a cornmeal lined cookie sheet (I use the same one they had risen on) and finish baking for 5-10 more minutes in a 350 degree F oven, until internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F. Continue cooking and baking the rest of the muffins similarly. Let muffins cool on a rack, and then enjoy or slice and freeze for breakfast sandwiches of the future.

Notes:

I love English muffins, and have tried to make them a few times, but it wasn't until I landed on this recipe (with a sourdough starter I created during the pandemic like everyone else in the world!) and baking method combo. Now I make them every few months, keeping a stash in the freezer for whenever an egg mcmuffin hankering strikes. My friend's husband once said they taste more like English muffins than English muffins do. Ha! I'll take that as a compliment. They are delicious.

Shrimp Tacos

Source: adapted from Natasha's Kitchen (I have no idea how I stumbled on this in the first place, but it is a go-to in our house, so I'm so glad I did!)

Ingredients: 

For the shrimp:

1 pound raw shrimp (peeled, deveined and tail off) (I always get the extra small because there are more in a bag and it feels like everyone gets more for their tacos)

1 garlic clove, pressed or minced

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon olive oil

For the sauce:

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup mayo

1 lime, juiced

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon sriracha sauce (I usually use maybe 1/4-1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce because I don't usually have sriracha)

For the tacos:

8-12 tortillas, heated (we love small corn tortillas warmed up on the griddle for these)

cabbage, shredded (green or purple, whatever you like)

avocado, sliced

cotija cheese, crumbled

cilantro, chopped

lime, wedged

onion, diced (red or green, either is lovely)

Directions: 

First, thaw your shrimp if they're frozen. You can do this overnight in the fridge or in a colander under cool running water. Add seasonings, oil and shrimp to a medium bowl and toss to combine.

Next make your sauce: whisk everything together. Bam. Easy. You can put it in a squeeze bottle if you have one and you want to, but it's just as yummy coming out of a re-used sour cream container with a spoon.

Prep your tortillas and toppings by heating, shredding, slicing, crumbling, chopping, wedging and dicing as needed and desired.

Cook your shrimp in a singled layer in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat, 1-2 minutes per side, until just cooked through (they'll turn pink when they're ready).

Assemble your tacos by placing a few shrimp and a good drizzle of sauce and whatever toppings you like (I like ALLLL the toppings!) and chow down!

Notes: 

This is one of those recipes that is seriously so easy, but seriously SO good! And it's pretty quick once you have all the prepping done. We make them at least monthly, especially in the spring and summer, and they even worked pretty well as a meal for the family, cooked on a cabin stove at Red Canyon a couple summers ago with the Blanchards. (Scale ingredients as needed.)