English Muffins

It's funny to me that English muffins are English... for some reason that always perplexed me when eating them as a child in America. Regardless of my feelings about their British origin, Harry and Ron do enjoy them over their Christmas holidays at Hogwarts (in Britain, of course!):

"They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork-- bread, English muffins, marshmallows-- and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work" (Sorcerer's Stone 199).

There is a fairly simple recipe for this breakfast bread in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, so that is the recipe we shall use today.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 stick (4 Tbs) butter

1 cup warm water

1 Tbs (1 packet) active dry yeast

1 Tbs granulated sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted. Set it aside to cool.

2. Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and let it stand until the yeast dissolves and the mixture puffs up.

3. Mix together the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and yeast mixtures and stir to combine.

4. Knead the dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic (5-10 minutes)

5. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turning to coat the dough on all sides with the oil. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours, until doubled in size.

if by 'doubled' you mean tripled...

6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/2" thick.
7. Stamp out circles with a 3" cookie cutter (I use a glass and a knife).

8. Lightly spray a large skillet with cooking spray. Cook the muffins over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes on each side, or until light brown on each side.

9. Serve immediately while hot or allow them to cool and then split open and toast before eating.

Slather these with some butter or jam and enjoy! They are quite a delicious breakfast! (Even if you're not lucky enough to be eating them by a fire in the common room of your wizarding boarding school in Britain at Christmastime :)

Bread

Not surprisingly, bread appears often throughout the Harry Potter series. Often it is accompanied by cheese, or thickly sliced and topped with butter at the Weasley table. But its first appearance is at the beginning of Harry and Ron's first Christmas holidays at Hogwarts:

"They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork-- bread, English muffins, marshmallows-- and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work" (Sorcerer's Stone 199).

This is also one of those rare opportunities I love so much because J.K.Rowling has not specified what kind of bread our young wizards enjoy by the common room fire. So I get to choose! Today we shall make Tomato and Rosemary Focaccia. I have wanted to try this recipe for quite some time. It comes from an excellent British cookbook called Vegetarian Bible, from the earth to the table, edited by Micola Grimes and Fionna Biggs. If you're looking for a good staple vegetarian cookbook, this is a good one!

Heads up, I apologize in advance for any less-than-focused photos... while making pumpkin soup the other day, my camera decided it just couldn't take it anymore... and jumped into a sink full of water. Of its own free will, of course. Yes, I tried the rice thing, and that did allow me to access my photos, but the lens refuses to funcion :( This means I'm taking photos with my phone. Thank goodness for crazy technology! 

Moving on!

You Will Need:

4.5 cups flour, plus extra for dusting (the book recommends Strong White Bread Flour, but I only had all-purpose, so that's what I used)

1.5 tsp salt

1.5 tsp active dry yeast (that's less than 1 envelope)

2 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary, plus extra sprigs for garnish

6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing

1.25 cups lukewarm water

6 oven-dried or sun-blush tomato halves

1 tsp coarse sea salt

Firstly, oven-dry your tomatoes: cut grape or cherry tomatoes in half and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes until shriveled.

1. Sift together the salt and flour in a bowl and stir in the yeast and chopped rosemary.

2. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in 4 Tbs of the olive oil, and mix quickly with a wooden spoon. 

3. Gradually stir in the lukewarm water but do not overmix. (I had to add an extra splash of water).

4. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes. The dough may be quite wet (mine wasn't), but don't add more flour.

5. Brush a bowl with oil. Shape the dough into a ball and place into the bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, until doubled in size.

6. Brush a cookie sheet with oil. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter and punch down, then knead for 1 minute.

7. Place the dough onto the cookie sheet and press out into an even layer. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled(ish) again.

8. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Whisk the remaining oil with a little water in a bowl. Dip your fingers in the oil mixture and press them into the dough, making dimples all over.

9. Sprinkle with the sea salt (I used less than recommended). Press the tomato halves into the dimples, drizzle with the remaining (some of the remaining) oil mixture, and sprinkle with rosemary sprigs.

10. Lower the oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a plate or wire rack to cool slightly. Always Serve warm. 

This is absolutely, no questions asked, positively, the Best. Bread. Ever. I highly recommend that you make some. Everyday. And enjoy it. Wow.

Baked Potato

In Britain, baked potatoes are called "jacket potatoes." But regardless of what they're called, they are the only food we know for sure was served at Harry's first Halloween feast:

"Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face" (Sorcerer's Stone 172).

Baked potatoes are a great staple food, and are both super easy to make and super versatile in methods of serving. We'll just go with the basics.

You Will Need:

However many Idaho/Baking Potatoes you'd like to make

Topping of choice

an oven

a fork

1. Wash your potatoes thoroughly (some people do eat the skins/jackets... like me!)

2. Poke each potato several times all over with a fork.

3. Place in an oven at 350 degrees and bake until soft (stab with a fork; when the potato slides off the end easily, they're done!).

4. Remove from the oven and slice down the middle. Smoosh the ends to smash up the potato innards a bit and top with your favorite garnish.

You probably know already that baked potatoes are delicious with a variety of toppings-- butter, sour cream, salsa, cheese, etc.-- so use whatever you fancy and enjoy!

Baking Pumpkin

Fall is in the air, and that means everybody is running down to their local coffee house to enjoy a delicious pumpkin-flavored beverage. Here at In the Kitchen with Harry Potter, we are perfectly in season for our next delicious delicacy:

"On Halloween morning they awoke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors" (Sorcerer's Stone 170).

Ms. Rowling does not say what sort of pumpkin deliciousness the House Elves create for the Halloween feast. This means I get to decide! Hooray! Since I'm still feeling rather sugared up from from all the desserts to appear here recently, I will be making Pumpkin Spice Muffins and Spicy Pumpkin Soup! But first, we have to bake a pumpkin!

For Baking a Pumpkin, You Will Need:

a sugar pumpkin (also called a winter squash)

a large baking dish

1. Cut the top off the pumpkin like you do when beginning to make a jack-o-lantern.

2. Scoop out the yucky insides (the seeds of a sugar pumpkin aren't usually worth keeping to roast; they're too small) and discard the pulpy gross stuff.

3. Cut the pumpkin into chunks (at least into quarters), and scrape off any slimy strings you may have missed.

4. Lay the pumpkin pieces in the baking dish, flesh side down, and cover with about 2-3" of water.

5. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until soft (I cooked mine for 90 minutes or so I think).

6. Remove from the oven and use tongs to place he pumpkin chunks on a plate to cool.

7. When cool enough, peel the skins off/scoop the flesh off the skins, and discard the skins.

Now you're ready to make something!

First up, is the pumpkin soup, for which I had excellent help from one of my faithful readers and a Harry Potter nut life myself (and also my best friend!).

For Spicy Pumpkin Soup, You Will Need:

Chopped chives, for garnish
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
nutmeg to taste
1 onion, finely chopped
6.75 cups pumpkin (pureed in a food processor)
1 dried red chili (I didn't have one, so I used a bit of cayenne pepper)
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup skim milk
2.5 cups vegetable stock
a bit of oil

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook with the cumin and coriander until the onion is softened.
2. Add the pumpkin and cook a few minutes. Add the stock.
3. Add the nutmeg and chili, and stir well.
4. Stir in the milk and transfer the mixture to a food processor and blend until smooth.

5. Return the soup to the pan and heat again until hot through. Adjust seasonings and thickness as necessary.
6. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chives!

yes, this picture is upside down.

This pumpkin soup is really delicious and filling, but also super healthy! Hooray!

Our next delicious recipe comes from a cookbook I got from Barnes and Noble for about a dollar. I think it was called Comfort Food for the Cold.... something like that. I gave it away to a friend who lives in the cold. But not until I copied this excellent recipe for Pumpkin Muffins!

For Pumpkin Spice Muffins, You Will Need:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned (or pureed fresh) pumpkin
1/2 cup orange juice
2 eggs
1 tsp finely chopped orange zest
1/2 cup golden raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Add paper muffin liners.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and salt, and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy using an electric mixer (it doesn't really get "creamy," so much as well-combined).

4. Reduce the speed to low and blend in the pumpkin, orange juice, eggs, and zest. Beat until well blended.

5. Add the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined. Do not over-mix.

6. Add raisins and mix until just combined.

7. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean.

8. Let the muffins cool 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.

These muffins are so autumnal and delicious!! So enjoy the smell of baking pumpkin pervading the halls, curl up with a muffin, and enjoy!

Steak and Kidney Pie

Another typical British delicacy today: Steak and Kidney Pie. And our favorite British wizards are eating this British favorite when Harry tells Ron that he will be playing the favorite sport in the Wizarding World:

"Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it" (Sorcerer's Stone 152).

You may well ask how on earth I will make a vegetarian Steak and Kidney Pie. Well, I'm told that kidney has a similar texture to portobello mushrooms (this fact might alter my perception of portobellos...). So I will be modifying the recipe from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by using vegan steak and portobello mushrooms!

For the Crust, You Will Need:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (oops, I used 2.5... but my crust was still a bit sticky...)
1 tsp salt
9 Tbs chilled vegetable shortening
8 Tbs (1 stick) cold butter, cut into chunks
1/2 to 3/4 cup ice water

For the Filling, You Will Need:
1 pound your favorite vegetarian steak (I'm using Gardein's Beefless Tips) chopped into 1/4" pieces
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable broth
3 Tbs tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pound portobello mushrooms, finely diced (I only used 6oz, 'cause that's all I had)

1. To make the crust, place the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the shortening and butter chunks over the flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. Sprinkle in 1/2 cup ice water and fold with a spatula until the dough holds together. If the dough is too dry (doubtful!), add more water 1 Tbs at a time.

3. Divide the dough in half and form into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

4. To make the filling, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown.

5. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, just a few moments.
6. Stir in the "steak" (it should be a bit thawed and cut into appropriately sized pieces).

7. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and mix well. Slowly stir in the broth and tomato paste. It will be very thick.

8. Add the salt, pepper, and mushrooms. Stir. Cook for 10 minutes, covered. If you like, uncover and cook another 5 minutes to thicken the mixture even more (I didn't really). Remove from the heat and allow to cool as much as possible while preparing the pie pan. (It is recommended that you spread the mixture out on a rimmed baking sheet to cool it faster. I didn't do this because I really hate doing dishes, so anything that avoids dirtying more dishes is always my choice!)

9. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out one of the disks of dough on a well-floured surface into a 12" circle. Fold the dough in quarters, then unfold it inside a 9" pie pan.
10. Scrape the pie filling into the prepared pie pan and smooth it to the edges.

11. Roll out the second ball of dough into a 12" circle, fold it in quarters and unfold it over top of the filling. Trim any overhang and crimp the edges together with a fork. My pie looks pretty... rustic. Rather like a steak and kidney pie made by Hagrid might look... but I'm okay with that.

12. If you like, brush the top of the pie crust with an egg beaten with a bit of water (I didn't, but this will make the top of your pie all golden and shiny). Use a knife to cut at least 4 vents in the top crust. Bake for 25 minutes.
13. The official recipe says at this point to reduce the heat to 350 and continue baking for another 30 minutes... but there's no real meat in our pie... so this seems unnecessary to me. And I'm hungry. So I say, reduce the heat and continue baking until you like the color of the crust.

14. Be sure to wait at least 20 minutes before cutting the pie so the filling has time to firm up a bit more.

Holy moly! This pie is delicious! Infinitely more delicious than I thought it would be! So serve yourself up a slice, perhaps paired with some lovely mashed potatoes, and enjoy!

Rock Cakes

One of the most memorable foods to appear in the Harry Potter series is Rock Cakes. Though they are only mentioned six times throughout the seven books, everyone remembers them because of our love of Hagrid (combined of course with Ms. Rowling's fabulous descriptions of their tooth-cracking consistency). Rock cakes first appear during Harry and Ron's very first visit to Hagrid's:

"...Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate... The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons" (Sorcerer's Stone 140).

I've made rock cakes numerous times since owning The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. The recipe is super easy and super delicious! And like Ms. Bucholz says, if you want your rock cakes to be more like Hagrid's, just over-bake them and save them for about a week before eating them!

You Will Need:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick cold butter, cut into chunks

1 large egg

1/3 cup whole milk

1 cup raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease and flour a large cookie sheet.

2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. With your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles wet sand. You could also do this in a food processor if you'd like.

3. Beat the egg together with the milk and pour it into the flour mixture. Fold it together using a spatula, forming a stiff dough.

4. Fold in the raisins.

5. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, 2" apart.

6. Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are golden. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking.

These are so yummy! Enjoy them with a spot of tea, with jam, with marmalade, with clotted cream, plain, whatever you'd like!