Friday, November 5, 2010

Muffins. Diversity of tastes.

  
They are not just for breakfast at your desk. And they needn’t be bran! Serve our luscious muffins with casual lunches, serious dinners.
Muffin-Baking Basics
These recipes call  for  a standard muffin  tin (6 tablespoon\3 1\2 –fl ) oz 110ml cup capacity), usually yielding 12 muffins. Iа you bake the batter in oversize or miniature muffin tins, the yield will vary. So will baking times, with oversize muffins taking a few minutes longer to bake completely and miniatures a few minutes less. Be sure to test for doneness.
Finally, if you have only one muffin tin, bake the batter in batches; it will keep at room temperature until the first batch of muffins is done.


Potato Muffins
  Potato starch produces breads that are slightly chewy and have a subtle potato flavor. These muffins are wonderful for lunch with a green salad and cheese, or with any chicken dish. Or bake the batter in about 30 miniature muffin cups for placing out on the buffet table. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before serving – they are best just slightly warm or at room temperature. A flavorful caper-mustard butter (recipe follows) provides a nice contrast to the delicate muffins. 

makes  about  12 standard muffins

  • 1 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
  • 1 cup potato starch (potato flour)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1\2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1\2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1\2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 cup milk 
  • 1\2 cup warm mashed potatoes
  • 1 egg
  • 1\2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1\2 cup finely grated Swiss or Cheddar cheese

Preheat an oven to 400F, (200С). Butter standard muffin tins.
In a large bowl stir and toss together the flour, potato starch, sugar, baking powder, salt, and thyme. Set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together the milk and mashed potatoes, then add the egg, melted butter and cheese and whisk until well mixed. Add to the combined dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
Spoon into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about three-quarters full. Bake until a toth pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool in the tins for 3 minutes, then remove.