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English Muffins

It's so much fun to roast food over a fire, it hardly matters if it's s'mores or English muffins. During the Christmas holidays Harry and Ron sit in front of the fireplace in the cozy Gryffindor common room roasting everything from marsh-mallows to muffins (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 12).

Oh, do you know the muffin man? In Victorian times you could count on finding him at teatime ringing his bell and selling English muffins, which didn't look like the blueberry or chocolate chip muffins we're used to having as a breakfast treat. The hard-working Welsh invented this food over a thousand years ago, but it didn't become a fad with the leisurely upper classes until the 1800s. The “prupuh” way to eat this yeasted bread is to break it open with the tines of a fork to reveal the rough texture inside. Then toast it and slather it with butter and jam.

½ cup whole milk

½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tea spoon salt

Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted. Set it aside to cool. Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and let it stand until the yeast dissolves and the mixture puffs up.

Measure the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and yeast mixtures and stir to combine. Knead the dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turning to coat the dough on all sides. Cover it with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place until the dough doubles in bulk, about 1½ to 2 hours.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough ½-inch thick. Stamp out circles with a 3-inch cookie cutter or the rim of a glass. Lightly spray a large skillet with cooking spray. Cook the muffins over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes on each side, or until light brown on each side.

Serve immediately while hot or break them open after they cool and toast them.

Makes about 1½ dozen muffins

Pumpkin Delights

On Harry's first Halloween at Hogwarts, he awakes to the “smell of baking pumpkin,” which could mean anything. Therefore, included are two recipes, one for pumpkin pie and the other for pumpkin bread. Either one is a delicious way to spend your Halloween (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 10).

The place: Plymouth, Massachusetts; the time period: Thanksgiving 1621; the scene: a feast of roast turkey with cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie enjoyed by white settlers and Native Americans alike. If that's how you've been imagining the first Thanksgiving, sorry to ruin your pretty picture. The earliest pumpkin “pies” the settlers would have eaten would have been pumpkin cooked with other ingredients in the hollowed-out shell. Pumpkin pie appears much later in America, although, surprisingly, French and English cookbooks from the 1600s contain recipes for this beloved pie.

Pumpkin Pie

Pie Crust

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into small pieces

4–6 tablespoons ice water

Filling

2 cups canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

For the crust, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the flour mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal without any white powdery bits remaining, about 15 pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons water over the mixture and toss with a rubber spatula until the dough sticks together. Add more water 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is dry (better too wet than too dry). Form the dough