Recipe Round-Up: Using Smitten Kitchen's "Everyday Triumphant" Rye English Muffins as Sammie Inspiration

Several weeks ago, when I was buried under grading and feeling the despair of piling work that every teacher can relate to, I decided to go to my local bookstore to find my other favorite form of escape: a new book. While there, I came across Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen: Everyday Triumphant, and I grabbed it, took it home, and devoured it in one sitting. The first recipe in the book is for "Deli Rye English Muffins," and I ordered some rye flour online, as it's nearly impossible to find it in a grocery store where I live, and I prepared to make some.

While I'm not going to copy out the recipe (I highly suggest you pick up a copy, if you can), I will say that the recipe was so easy to work with. The rye flour, optional caraway seeds and the buttermilk were probably the only  "unusual" ingredients, although I had leftover buttermilk from making my favorite lemon chess pie recipe. 

I had tried, and failed, to make English muffins before, but this recipe definitely stuck, and it didn't require muffin rings to produce the shape, just a cast iron pan, or griddle, and some cornmeal to dust the pan. I took Perelman's advice and filled them with eggs (delicious) and for the leftovers, I made homemade peanut butter to make homemade pb& js (decadent) a few times and I used them as a base for indulgent tuna melts. Let's put it this way, there's no bad way to eat a homemade rye English muffin. Now, take my advice, and go bake!