Popover Heaven

Popovers are one of those wonderful dishes that actually don't take much work and you can tweak them in many ways. They are also SIMPLE and don't take much effort to make, not to mention very, very yummy.

Unfortunately in a traditional sense popovers are like souffles -- people avoid them because they can be tempermental -- not really!

Popovers are to have fun with and they go with almost anything, but they are especially good with soups, bisques, and the like. Here is the simple recipe I made with lobster bisque the other day for dinner with my wife.

Popovers makes -- 4 nice-sized popovers(Can be doubled, tripled, etc.)

2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt (halve it if preferred)
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
popover pan generously greased with butter (muffin tin will also work)
1/2 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese (optional)
See below for variations

Beat eggs lightly and mix in with flour, salt, and milk until smooth, do not whip, lots of air bubbles are not good. Stir in melted butter. let rest for 10 min to 30 min. or so.

James Beard debunks one traditional myth regarding popovers in his book "American Cookery." You don't have to preheat the tin or oven to very hot temperature. These guys work just as well starting in a cold oven and heating it to 425-450 degrees.

Once rested blend in gently the cheddar cheese. Pour into popover cups until 3/4 to almost full (if you want more 'pop' above the pan, fill them more).

Pop (sorry about that) them into a cold oven and set to 425-450. Bake 25-35 min. (watch carefully with light on). They are done when golden brown to brown and 'popped'. Some people like them more done than others; I go for a medium -- they hold up well enough after removing, but aren't dry and dark brown.

If you greased well they should slide out of the pan easily. Stick a sharp knife in the side near top to release some of the steam -- this helps them hold their shape better as you serve them.

Note: popovers, like souffles do fall a bit. One partial solution to this besides the above, is to make 'mini-popovers'. I have done this in a variety of pans -- mini-cake pans, mini-muffin pans, etc. Very cute and yummy, too. I had one guest at one of my dinners eat five of these.

Serve immediately -- hot with butter. Very yummy.

Variations: You can pop (ouch) any number of ingredients into the batter or into the center of the batter after it is poured into the cups. I have used a wide variety of cheeses and herbs. Placing a small chunk of brie, or blue cheese, feta, or??? in the center of each cup and letting it sink down before placing in oven yields a nice tasty surprise when eaten.

You can also sweeten this recipe up by adding sugar to recipe and add a chocolate surprise like a truffle or chunk in the center like the cheese before baking -- or cinnamon popovers are great, too. Have fun with these!!!

Enjoy.

Joe Koob