How to make English Muffins

Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast is eggs benedict which is probably our treat of the year as we have to buy smoked salmon.  For the perfect eggs benny it has to be precariously balanced on a homemade toasted English Muffin which we make on Christmas eve.  Here's how to  make an English muffin.

Ingredients for 2 muffins

115g of ordinary flour
90ml lukewarm milk
1tsp of melted butter
1/3 of a sachet of dried yeast
1tsp salt
a splash of sugar

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a mixer using the dough hooks until smooth, cover and leave in the bowl till it has doubled in size.  Ensuring you have a floured board and plenty of flour to hand, extract the dough from the bowl.  At this stage it will resemble a tragically failed medical experiment but don't despair, add flour till it becomes workable on the board then attempt in a sort of heroic way to get the rest off your hands remembering to drop a particularly sticky bit down the back of K's shirt just to cheer her up.  Roll out the dough to about 1cm thick. 

Using your trusty burger press or a suitably sized glass, cut the dough into a muffin sized circle.  Repeat with the rest of the dough and then, when K isn't looking, chuck the tiny lump of remaining dough at the wall to see if it sticks.  Leave the muffins on the board until they have risen to double size.  Time for K to enjoy a glass of wine while Jarvo cleans the wall.

Lightly oil a griddle pan, metal with ridges on it, don't drown it.  Heat it the hob on a medium heat till it burns your finger if you are stupid enough to see if its hot enough, dust the muffins with semolina then plonk them in. It should take about seven minutes a side, don't turn too early as they will be soft and you will leave thumb prints on them, use a fish slice.  When brown on the top and bottom with fancy lines on them, remove from heat and place on a rack to cool.  You are then ready to slice them in half and toast them. Incidentally we always have a cook out on Xmas eve so Jarvo cooks them in the fireplace which explains his lack of hair and fingerprints.