popovers

Bread is probably my favorite part of any meal (besides dessert obviously), and yet it is often the one part of any meal that gets the most neglected in my kitchen.  There was my baguette baking adventure not too long ago (which, I am ashamed to admit has not yet been repeated, despite their freezability), and the brioche a few months ago (although I don’t think of brioche as a bread that particularly goes with dinner).  But most of the time I have a bag of Sister Schubert rolls in the freezer, and I pop 2 rolls into oven for our bread to go with dinner.  Not that this is wrong…I absolutely adore Sister Schubert’s rolls.  It’s just that I am constantly telling myself that I’m going to make my own rolls for dinner, and yet somehow it is apparently not high enough in the priority list.

But popovers are different.  Popovers require no yeast and therefore no rise time.  Their ingredients are simple, things that I always have in my kitchen.  They take hardly any time to put together.  It is not a dough, but rather a batter that you blend together and pour into a hot pan and stick into the oven until they have all but exploded from their little muffin tins.  The first time I made these, I thought they were quite magical in that they are crepe-like batter that rises unbelievably and becomes hollow and soft inside.

To be honest, most of the time I would probably rather have a yeasty roll. These popovers were a bit unexpected…something about their flavor reminds me of waffles.  But really, these are yummy and buttery and perfect for those times when you realize you ate the last two Sister Schubert rolls yesterday.  So I think they deserve a place at the table.

Popovers
adapted from Melissa D’Arabian

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 35 minutes

Makes about 8 popovers

2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoons butter, melted (for buttering pan)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place muffin pan into the oven to heat (one of the keys to popovers is having hot muffin tins).
2. Heat the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it.
3. In a medium sized bowl and using a whisk, or in a blender, blend eggs until they are light yellow.  Add the milk, flour, salt, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter, blending until smooth.
4. Remove the muffin pan from the oven, and coat the muffin cups with 1 tablespoon melted butter (or use non-stick cooking spray).  Pour popover batter into the muffin cups, filling each one halfway.
5. Bake for about 35 minutes (and don’t open the oven to peek!), until they are golden brown and fully cooked inside (they will probably be golden brown before they are fully cooked inside, so don’t be afraid to cook them for the full time).