Popovers

I became obsessed with popovers before I even tried them. I was a weirdo advocate based solely upon words; reading about them made me drool.  Fluffy, airy, and hollow? How can something so light and empty be so rich and heartwarming? Butter, eggs, flour, salt, milk. The simplicity of it is genius. They are really little puffs of buttery joy. 

Last week, I popped these in the oven while I prepared a “quick and easy” recipe I found for hanger steak with wild mushrooms and red wine sauce. The steak was cooked perfectly thanks to Rob, but was very underwhelming, thanks to moi. 

 

 

The aromatics of the garlic and rosemary were there, but the tastes of them were not.  Sometimes, you just have to give the flavors time: time to develop and blend.  In trying to get dinner on the table before 8pm, I completely lost my tasting instincts. I won’t share the recipe. I will wait until I can post one that I am proud of. But while you can strike the steak down as another Lo failure (although I wouldn’t call it as disastrous as, let’s say, bon bons), I wasn’t totally defeated.

 

Thanks to Alton Brown, I was able to snap out of my pity party and be happy with my popovers! They were a bit on the smaller side, but, while they weren’t perfect, one bite made me pause and sigh with happiness. Not under-salted, not too salted, simple- but not plain. When I couldn’t stand the steak anymore, I ate two more. Accompanied by a big glass of merlot and Glee, it would be hard not to just relax and be happy. I was so excited for the earthly flavors from the sauce, but unfortunately that too was boring. 

Proof of popover 

Recipe for Basic Popover

Adapted from Alton Brown

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus 1 teaspoon for the pan
• 4 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt *
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature **

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease a 6-cup popover pan with the 1 teaspoon of butter.

Combine the 1 tablespoon of butter, the flour, salt, eggs and milk in a food processor or blender and process for 30 seconds.

Divide the batter evenly among the cups of the popover pan, filling each one-third to one-half full. 

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes, taking care not to open the oven door. Remove the popovers to a cooling rack and pierce each one in the top with a knife to allow steam to escape. 

Serve warm. 

* Based on user reviews- I reduced salt to 1 tbsp

** I only had skim milk handy. Yes- I know whole milk would make a world a difference, but I am on a budget!