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muffin “almost there”

Here is a quote from yesterday’s post:

“So back to the drawing board. I hope to have it down by tomorrow and post the recipe and my success.”

craftsman and wolves sign

What I hoped to have down was the recipe for “The Rebel Within” from Craftsman & Wolves, a restaurant in San Francisco.  “The Rebel Within” is a buttery, cheesy, sausage flecked muffin with a soft-cooked egg in the center. The egg yolk in the muffin should be soft and runny with the oozing yolk dripping like liquid gold onto the plate.

oozing

The muffin is named after a Hank Williams III song. Williams is the grandson of the legendary Hank Williams and the son of Hank Williams, Jr.

So, the big question is… did I get it right? Was I successful? Was the liquid gold running onto my plate?  No. No. and No!

I really wanted to name this post “Muffin Extraordinaire” but it’s honestly only “Muffin Almost There.”

blueprint

I developed the recipe by using the blueprint of the muffin that I found on the restaurant’s website. It’s a tongue-in-cheek blueprint with a hint of what ingredients to use, but it has no real portions. At least it gave me a starting point.

First, I tried soft poaching the eggs for 3 minutes in simmering water and then shocking the cooked eggs in ice water, as with THIS method. But once the muffins were baked, the yolks were firm, not even close to runny.

The second go-round, I tried only poaching three of the eggs for one minute and shocking them in the ice water. I cracked the remaining three eggs directly into the bottom layer of batter in the muffin tin.

I imagined that the 1-minute poached eggs would work and that the raw eggs would run all over the place and make a mess.

Once the muffins were baked, I anxiously cut into one of each type of muffin. The result? Exactly the same as the first time around. The yolks were cooked firm. The raw eggs did not run and make a mess, as I anticipated, they were firm right in the center of the muffin, just as the poached eggs were.

Even though the yolks didn’t turn out as I had hoped, I am going to share the recipe I developed while trying to get it right, because even without runny yolks, the muffin is AMAZING! Wonderfully scrumptious. Somehow the muffin is dense, yet still fluffy and fabulously flavorful.

Instead of naming my version “The Rebel Within” I shall name mine “The Easter Egg Within.”

firm yolk

“The Easter Egg Within” – Sausage & Egg Breakfast Muffin

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon of each; baking powder, salt, freshly ground black pepper
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1 green onion, minced
1/3 cup cooked and crumbled breakfast sausage

6 medium eggs
1/4 cup grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese

Place oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 6-cup muffin tin.

wet sausage

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl.

sausage and flour

In separate medium bowl whisk cottage cheese, yogurt melted butter, egg, green onion, and sausage together.

Gently fold the wet mixture into dry until just combined, as with all muffins, do not overmix. The batter will be very thick.

batter in the bottom

Fill muffin tin just enough to cover the bottom with the batter. Press down on the batter to make a little well in the center.

3 raw 3 poached

Then carefully crack a medium egg into the center. (Do not bother with the 1-minute poaching, as pictured. Put all 6 eggs in raw.)

batter on top

Gently cover with the remaining batter, filling to the top of the muffin cups.

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, taking out after the first 15 minutes and sprinkling the tops of the muffins with the Asiago cheese.

cheese topping

Rotate pan, return to oven, and continue baking for the remaining 10 to 15 minutes, or until the batter is cooked through and the top is golden brown.

cool on rack

Place on a rack to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes and then remove and serve hot.

yummy muffin

Makes 6


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9 comments

1 Marissa { 01.31.13 at 10:17 AM }

It still sounds delicious! Maybe you’ll just have to come back soon so we can go there and ask them how they do it.

2 Linda Hopkins { 01.31.13 at 11:50 AM }

That sounds like the perfect solution! xoxo

3 diane { 07.24.13 at 10:44 PM }

Wondering if the secret is freezing the soft boiled eggs before the assembly. I went through 10 eggs trying to get this recipe=looked so good I ended up making a poached egg to go with the muffin.. If you figure it out please let me know.

4 Linda Hopkins { 07.24.13 at 10:56 PM }

Hi Diane. Although you can freeze raw egg whites with success, whole eggs and cooked eggs don’t freeze well. I did try soft poaching the eggs and then putting them in really cold ice water, but that didn’t work either. If I ever do figure it out, I will most certainly post about it. Glad you gave it a whirl!

5 Carolyn { 07.27.13 at 8:14 AM }

Spent 4th of July in SF and had these wonderful muffins twice. Wish we could figure the recipe out. Certainly sounds like they have a super secret method. We had already wondered if freezing the soft boiled egg would work; but, apparently not. The texture of the muffin seemed more like a popover to me than a regular baked muffin. Have you tried making them with popover batter in individual ramekins set in water?

6 Linda Hopkins { 07.27.13 at 4:57 PM }

Carolyn, Popover batter! Now there’s an idea. I’m gonna have to give that a try and get back to you on it. Thanks!

7 diane { 07.28.13 at 7:09 AM }

I have watched this show tape numerous times looking for a hint, the only one that jumps out that we aren’t doing is rolling the soft boiled egg in flour before putting it in the muffin. This is part of the prep work-don’t know why it just is. Going to wait until eggs are on sale again to try this. Hard to do when they are 1.77 a doz.

8 LC { 05.13.14 at 8:57 AM }

I just saw this egg in muffin in the latest issue of Food Arts. My husband wants them! So, googled and found your webpage. I’ve made Scotch Eggs before, and this is very similar. With Scotch eggs, you soft boil for 3 minutes and shock in ice bath. If you can’t cool overnight, then at least wait a few hours. Peel eggs and then wrap in ground pork mixture, roll in breadcrumbs and deep fry until golden brown (about 6-7 min) serve immediately.

So, maybe you need to soft boil these eggs in shell so core is very cold, roll in flour, then put in batter (maybe less than what you’ve been using)? Keep us posted!

9 Linda Hopkins { 05.13.14 at 4:14 PM }

Hi LC, This was an earlier post, I’ve since found the solution… check it out here: https://lespetitesgourmettes.com/recipes/the-rebel-within-knockoff/

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