English Muffins (updated Apr 29)

Been craving for English Muffins since my Big Breakfast at McDonalds the other day! Wahahha~ Tried to find them at Supermarket bread or frozen section but I cant see them anywhere... Thanks to a friend who helped me to get some Cornmeal from Phoon Huat, I finally have the last missing ingredients to make my own English Muffins! 

It so happen that I saw someone sharing a recipe in FB group and I KIV-ed it so that I can attempt. This recipe comes in handy and I am making them today. I used my Breadmaker to knead and leave it to proof. The dough wasnt sticky nor difficult to handle. 

I got a 530g dough which I made into 4 x 60g, 4 x 50g and 3 x 40g. Different sizes as I wanna see the size difference so nxt batch I can make them into my preferred sizes or even packed them for my gal's school lunchbox! 

I think the only flaw was it was too 'thin' cos I was worried about being too 'pong pong' and I sort of pressed it while pan frying them. Think nxt round I shall let them be slight pong for more chewy texture. Other than that, it taste equally as nice as what McDonalds is selling over Jam & Butter! 

And i packed this for their next day breakfast! Pan-fried the Muffins after spreading butter, put sliced cheese and 2 halve sausage b4 baking them for 5mins to melt the cheese. Tadaa~ Wonderful lunchbox to school, full of love!

English Muffins (adapted from BBC)

170ml Milk

22g Beaten Egg

300g Bread Flour

6g Salt

15g Sugar

15g Butter

6g Yeast

1) I put ingredients according to the sequence and let the breadmaker knead and proof.

2) Punch out air and prepare a baking tray with some cornmea scattered over. Divide into balls and flatten with palm. Proof for 30mins

3) Heat non-stick pan, place muffins slowly and fry over low heat. Carefully look after each side to brown  equally and not burnt. 

4) Sliced into halve after cool. Store in airtight once cooled and pan-fried b4 serving them. 

Honey Yogurt Bread Loaf

Bookmarked this recipe recently and decided to bake them today. I replaced with normal yogurt and substitute cake flour for milk powder as well.

The recipe makes a 550g loaf so I took 430g into loaf and balance into 20g mini dough x7. I loved the mini buns, very soft and nice, jus nice for the kids' snack box or breakfast. The loaf is just nice to sustain a day or two of BF for us too.

I personally preferred it into bread rolls, easier to eat as its petite size. Great for my kids' small fingers too. The loaf seems a bit drier, I wonder is it cos I added a bit too much flour when handling the dough?! Nonetheless, I will still attempt this recipe but only for mini rolls for my own preference.

Here's my gal lunchboxes with the 2 variations of the bread.

Honey Yogurt Bread Loaf (recipe adapted & modified slightly from MindPatch)
65g cold milk
65g cold water
30g beaten egg
50g yogurt
12g honey
280g Bread Flour
20g Cake Flour
4g Salt
30g Sugar
3/4tsp Yeast
30g Butter

1) I put the above ingredients in the following sequence into Breadmaker for kneading. Once dough comes together then I add butter and start cycle again.
2) After 1st proof, I took out to shape and leave to proof and bake loaf in Breadmaker. Mini buns was baked at 180deg for 20-25mins til lightly browned.

Pork Floss

Making pork floss at home, I have never thought I would be able to do it. Recently, or rather like last year back, I saw many variations of recipes and method of making them using Breadmaker or continuous frying & stirring over stovetop. But as I don't have much time, I didn't really explore them.

Recently, as my #1 started going to P1 and requested to have daily lunchbox packed for Recess, I thought it will be good to make simple corn porridge with minced chicken or pork and add some pork floss for flavour. So here I go.

My 1st trial I followed a friend's recipe and I also didn't keep close watch on the stirring in the Breadmaker and resulted in a drier floss, and also taste wise, a bit bland. 

My 2nd trial,  I followed a friend's way of tasting the seasoning before adding to meat or using for marinating to see if there is enough flavour. But being real BLUR, I forgot to take note of measurements but I really suggest using the taste test for the seasonings as the size of meat used might differ so good to taste them first. 

I will continue to make them, tasting the seasonings first each time. And will also explore making the chicken version too. Kids really like this 2nd attempt, esp my boy. Try it!! N my gal's lunchbox!

Pork Floss

1pc Lean Meat, cut into 4 chunks

Seasonings used - Sesame oil, Lt Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Brown Sugar, Honey & a bit of water ***

1) Boil meat with slice of ginger. Shredded when cool.

2) Put seasonings in a bowl and taste and add according to your preference. 

3) Add shredded pork into seasonings and mix well. Put into Breadmaker and use Jam function. 

4) After 1st cycle, check on floss to see if it's dried up or ready. As it was still quite wet, I started a 2nd cycle. Around 30mins into cycle, I checked and the consistency and dryness was right so I off and take floss out to cool before storing in air tight container.