Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Taste Test

I like a lot of different types of muffins, but lemon poppy seed is among my favorites.  I can get a really good lemon poppy seed muffin at Smokey Row Coffee House on Cottage Grove in Des Moines, which is pretty close to my office, but for awhile now I've been thinking about making some of my own.  The problem was, I had a couple different recipes that looked quite good, but I didn't know which one to try.  Finally it occurred to me to try both, and see whether they were equally good, or whether one was a lot better than the others.

The first recipe I tested was one for Lemon Poppy Seed Buttermilk Muffins from My Gourmet Connection.  I've had mixed results with My Gourmet Connection recipes.  The site features a really diverse bunch of recipes, but I've found the occasional dud, and more often than not I've found myself using the recipes there as a point of reference for my own creations, rather than making them as written at the site.   That said, I'd recently made a different muffin recipe printed there, and that one had turned out great, so I wanted to give their lemon poppy seed recipe a try.  I figured the buttermilk would provide some extra tang that would go with the lemon juice and zest.  

The second recipe I tested was the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins recipe form Annie's Eats.  I've not made very many of the recipes featured there, but the ones I've made have turned out well, and there are several recipes from that site on my "need to make this one of these days" list. 

I made one batch of twelve muffins from each recipe, following the recipes as written.  The only way in which I deviated from the published recipes was that I did not use paper liners to line the muffin pan as suggested in the recipe from Annie's Eats.  Juli and I then tried both muffins to see if one was better than the other.

It wasn't even close.

The first muffins I made, the ones using the recipe from My Gourmet Connection, were not very good at all.  They turned out dry and dense and weren't very flavorful.   The lemon flavor was quite muted, even with the use of lemon extract.  Indeed, the most notable aspect of the flavor of these muffins was that they left an unpleasant, slightly bitter aftertaste. 

After trying one bite, Juli said "I've made ones from a mix that are better than this."   For my part, I'd have to say these were among the worst examples of a lemon poppy seed muffin I've ever tried.

In contrast, the muffins I made using the recipe from Annie's Eats were just plain delicious.   They were light and moist and flavorful and full of lemony goodness.  Even better, they were topped by a glaze made of powdered sugar and lemon juice.  These were better than the other batch of muffins in every single way.  The picture below shows clearly how much more these muffins puffed up in the tin than did the other ones, even though both were made with approximately equal amounts of batter.

I'll definitely be making these ones again, and the only change I foresee making from the recipe as published on the blog is that I'll probably add a couple drops of yellow food coloring to the batter, in order to give the muffins a bit more color.

Making these two batches of muffins reminded me of how much I rely on a couple different tools.  Specifically, the Microplane Rasp Grater and our old Oster juicer.   I use the rasp grater all the time, for all sorts of things, but it most frequently comes into play when I need some citrus zest.  Those who have followed our blog for awhile will probably recall that I use citrus zest a lot, and this tool makes zesting a quick and easy task.  There's a reason why the various Microplane rasp graters are considered the best in class by America's Test Kitchen and pretty much everyone else.

As to the Oster juicer... well, it's old.  Really, really old.  But it still works like a charm.  This also sees heavy use in our kitchen, because fresh-from-the-fruit lemon, lime and orange juice beats the bottled stuff hands-down.  I hope it doesn't break down any time soon, because I doubt anyone makes a similar device that is half as sturdy and reliable as this thing.

What Is It?

When Juli moved into our home, which had previously been her grandparents' home, she found an odd device.   It's a piece of thick wire - about the same thickness as that used to make old-fashioned clothes hangers - twisted to form sort of a coil cup, with one end wrapped around and attached to the coil to form a handle.  It's all one piece, save for a copper band in the middle of the handle.  The copper band is etched with the words STEELBAND #6 PITTSBURGH.   The entire thing is about a foot long.

We're pretty sure it is a kitchen utensil of some sort, but we aren't sure what it is for.   Is it an egg separator?  An odd sort of whisk?  Something else entirely?   Perhaps not a kitchen tool at all?

If any of our readers know what this is, we'd be interested.

Culinary Confession!

I have to confess.  Until very recently  I have never had a decent set of knives.  I didn't realize how much it had impacted the way I cook things until Jeffrey asked me to take the fat off of 4 chicken breasts and then cut them into bite-sized pieces.  I realize this isn't a big deal for most cooks, but I had made myself a rule never ever EVER to cut up raw chicken.  I felt that there was too much of a chance that I'd injure myself when the knife slipped on the raw chicken, and considering that I make a living using my hands as both a musician and a clerical office worker, I didn't want to risk it.

My knife phobia probably started when I tried to open a stubborn package of bacon with one of the surgically-sharp knives at my parents' home, and sliced my thumb open.  Looking back, I was probably applying the amount of force I would have used with my own dull knives.

Anyway, this knife has Changed. My. Life.  Seriously!  This is the Wusthof Classic Ikon Boning Knife.  It cut through the raw chicken on my cutting board like butter.  Never again will I pre-cook the chicken, and then cut it up!  Culinary enlightenment has been reached!

Moral of the story:  You are only as good as your tools, so make the investment! This one thing, having a good knife, was impacting my enjoyment of cooking and causing my recipes to take much longer to get on the table as I tried to work around my own poor equipment. 

Grandma's Ladle

Jeffrey was able to locate Grandma's ladle!  He'd brought it to serve Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai) at a work potluck, and then later the ladle disappeared.  I was a bit sad about that, but today the lost was found!  It turned out that someone at Jeffrey's office had helpfully washed it-  and then buried it away in a drawer under a bunch of other stuff.



Sorry about the shadows!



I have such fond memories of Grandma's cooking, and this ladle in particular. Grandma sometimes used it to serve up chicken and noodles (among other things), which was a family favorite. 


Actually, pretty much any kind of noodle was a specialty of hers, but the chicken noodles were the absolute best.  My mom, sister and I all tried making them while Grandma was still alive, with non-spectacular results- it's a family joke that Mom's first attempt was more like boiled rubber bands than noodles.


Here is the recipe:

Grandma's Noodles

2                     eggs

1 tablespoon   water

1 1/2 cups       flour plus 1 teaspoon salt

2 quarts          broth

drop or two    yellow food coloring

Beat eggs and water and stir in flour and salt and roll out on a floured board.    Knead in more flour as needed to get a rollable dough. 

Put flour on board and roll out thin.  Then fold or roll up and cut thin.  Noodles can be dried or frozen at this point if you don't want to cook them right away.

Heat broth in a Dutch oven.  Have broth boiling hot and add a drop or two of yellow food coloring.  Stir well, then drop the noodles in, stirring constantly.  Turn heat to low.  Put  a lid on the pot for the first 15 minutes of cooking.  Cook for about an hour total. 

When Grandma had to go to hospice care, she told mom one of her secrets- she never exactly measured the water, just filled one of the broken egg-shells.  I'm not sure that's the difference between Noodle Nirvana and Boiled Rubber Bands, but I thought I'd pass along the info just in case.

Anyway, have you taken a look at what passes for a ladle these days?  Pathetic!  I don't trust meltable plastic with boiling hot liquids, and this one has an off-kilter angle to the bowl of the ladle that I don't care for.

Here's the sad spoon we were using until the Plastic Ladle was brought home:  it has a very shallow bowl, and again, an awkward angle.

Ah, the glory of the old-fashioned ladle!

In case you're interested, I've identified this as the Ekco Forge Stainless Steel Ladle.  I'm guessing it was made in the 50's or 60's.  Do you have a favorite kitchen tool?  Leave us a comment below!