Popovers
Two of the most imposing presentations at the table are popovers and Yorkshire pudding. Amazingly, both require only eggs, milk, flour, a bit of salt, and, yes, some fat. After all, as Fats Waller, the famous jazz pianist, was quoted to say, “Fat’s where it’s at!”
My first encounter with popovers came many years ago at the Jordan Pond restaurant in Acadia National Park. We had hiked around Jordan Pond admiring the reflected beauty of the scenery, while avoiding tripping over the exposed tree roots and slippery puddles on the path, and we were hungry.
It seemed the favorite menu item was “Soup and Popover,” and never having had popovers before, I succumbed. It was love at first bite! These tall puffed rolls were exquisitely moist and, with a bit of butter, truly addictive.
Since then, I have learned to make them in my own kitchen, and we enjoy them not only as elegant accompaniment to soup, but they also make a delicious breakfast dish with butter and jam and a side of fresh fruit. The only drawback is that the professional-quality black steel pan holds only six cups, limiting the number of popovers to be baked at a time, since the result with two pans at the same time has been less than satisfactory.
Amazing popovers
Set the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Heavily grease the popover cups with vegetable shorting. Quickly beat 3 large eggs with 1 ¼ cups milk, ¼ tsp. salt, and 1 tbsp. melted butter in a medium bowl. Beat in 1 ¼ cups flour until smooth and distribute the batter among the 6 cups. Bake the popovers for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for an additional 17 minutes. Remove from oven, let stand a couple of minutes, and release the popovers by rimming each cup with a thin table knife. Serve immediately.
Gluten-free popovers
Our younger son was always very fond of popovers, so when he developed serious gluten intolerance later in life, I took it as a challenge to come up with gluten-free popovers for him. It took several months of intermittent experimentation and my husband would humorously refer to that time as our “hockey puck” breakfast days. It seemed the commercial gluten flour mixes at the time were all too heavy to do the job. Finally, I made my own mix and by cheating just a tiny bit by adding ¼ tsp. of baking powder to the batter, I had success!
Gluten-free baking mix: 2 cups brown rice flour, 2/3 cups potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour, thoroughly blended. For the popovers: heavily grease the popover cups with vegetable shorting. Quickly beat 3 large eggs with 1 ¼ cups milk, ¼ tsp. salt, and 1 tbsp. melted butter in a medium bowl. Beat in 1 ¼ cups of above gluten-free mix and ¼ tsp. baking powder until smooth and distribute the batter among the six cups. Bake as in the above recipe and you will have only slightly denser popovers, but amazingly good nevertheless.
Yorkshire pudding in a ring
As the holiday season is upon us, we are more likely to indulge in making a roast for a festive dinner. Thrifty cooks in northern England learned to utilize the drippings of roast beef as early as 1737 by making a “dripping pudding” in the roasting pan. It shortly became known as Yorkshire pudding and is often served with rib roast, as the roast provides an abundance of drippings.
The beautiful puffed-up pudding from the roasting pan can be cut in squares and served alongside the beef. Another attractive way to bake and serve the pudding is in a ring mold that can go directly to the table for serving.
While the beef is resting on the sideboard before serving, select an attractive 1 ½-2 quart ring baking mold, pour in ¼ cup of the beef drippings, and swirl to coat the sides. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Beat together 2 large eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 cup sifted flour. Pour the smooth batter in the mold and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue baking 15-20 minutes until the pudding is puffed and browned. Serve hot.
In one dish, or cup-sized, this simple egg-milk-flour blend is guaranteed to please, whether at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Bon appetit!
(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro. She is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less Than $5.00 a Day: The Smart-Frugal Food Plan.” For more information, go to winicov-harrington.com.)
