Saturday, April 12, 2014

BFD: Morning Glory Muffins

March 23, 2014

Menu
Morning Glory Muffins
Scrambled Eggs
Fried Bacon
Mimosa


Recipes
Morning Glory Muffins from Cook's Country
Perfect Scrambled Eggs for Two from Cook's Illustrated

We already had plenty of leftovers when this Sunday came around. That plus a scheduled trip that would take us out of town for several days this week meant a meal without any leftovers was in order. I originally had learned about Morning Glory Muffins on the Cook's Country TV show a few years ago and I had been wanting to try them ever since. The original recipe was developed at the Morning Glory Cafe in Nantucket, Massachusetts, which closed many years ago.


These are healthy muffins. "Healthy muffins" doesn't sound appealing. It makes me think of bran muffins which for some reason just don't appeal to me. These contain coconut, apple, pineapple, carrots, golden raisins, and walnuts. However, even though they carry a healthy label, they are quite good. They are sweet yet not too sweet for breakfast. They have a nice soft texture and rich flavors provided from the variety of sweet and savory ingredients. They kept well and were still good several days later warmed in the microwave and served with butter.


I don't normally use a recipe to make scrambled eggs, I just beat some eggs with a fork, maybe add some milk, salt, and pepper, then cook them in a hot skillet. The resulting eggs are OK, usually with large curds of cooked egg that is reasonably tender. But some reading suggested there may be a better way. One challenge you face having something that might be better is that it has to overcome your natural resistance to something that is different than the familiar. I used a Cook's Illustrated recipe that mixed the eggs with half and half and then cooked them using two burners, one set to medium (4 on our stove) and the other to low (2). This is tricky stuff and it didn't really work out. Diane thought the eggs were underdone and I had to agree.  We also were put off by how creamy they were, we are not used to creamy scrambled eggs. While scrambled eggs seems to be a simple dish, I have more work to do to learn how to do it well. Maybe I'll try Gordon Ramsey's recipe or try the Cook's Illustrated recipe again but with higher heat, 5-3 instead of 4-2. However I doubt I'll go the Modernist Cuisine route any time soon; it cooks the eggs sous vide and then dispenses them with a whipping siphon.