Crumpets

Poolish: whisk the warm milk, water, sugar and yeast; add the flour and salt and whisk until combined.

Scrape down the bowl, cover with plastic film, and let rise at room temperature for an hour and a half; warmer rises faster.

Whisk warm water with baking soda, pour into the bubbling poolish and mix until homogenized. Cover and rise 30 minutes more.

Grease the muffin rings with cooking spray. Heat a large nonstick pan and grease it lightly with oil (not spray, which leaves brown stains).

Set the rings in the pan and fill each about half full with batter. Cook on low heat; after a couple of minutes, bang the pan to open up the bubbles.

After 4 minutes more, slip off the rings; cook about 8 minutes in total on the first side, until the tops are riddled with small holes.

Turn and cook 3 minutes more to finish the insides and brown the tops gently; optionally add butter at the end for a golden brown finish.