So simple to make, but such a wonderful treat. For some folks, popovers mean pot roast or a nice roast beast, but I made these as a delivery system for a close to 40 year old recipe card I came across for chipped beef in popovers.
Originally, the chipped beef was to be the subject of this post and the popovers a nice aside. As it turned out, the beef dish wasn’t terrible (I actually had seconds), but it had enough salt in it to keep a good-sized herd of cattle happy for quite a while – no doubt due to the dried beef. Next time I attempt this, I plan on treating the beef as I would a baccalà – maybe just not going for a twelve hour soak. I did replace the butter with olive oil and added fresh chopped onion, red, yellow, orange and green peppers. I also replaced the 1/2 cup shredded process American cheese with an equal amount of aged chipotle cheddar. Tasty, as I said, but even now I’m getting a hint of the saltiness. Still, if you’d like this recipe, email me and I’ll be happy to send it – along with recommended soaking times for the beef.
On to the popovers:
The recipe included on the card called for Wondra flour, which we don’t keep in the house, so I consulted ‘da Google’ for options and was not disappointed. I ended up taking a bit from a 1991 Gourmet Magazine recipe and a bit from Alton Brown at the Food Network.
INGREDIENTS – for six popovers
•1 cup all purpose flour
•1/2 tsp salt
•2 large eggs
•1 cup milk
•1 tbsp butter, melted and cooled, plus an additional tsp of butter for the pan
NOTE: both the eggs and the milk should be at room temperature – easy enough to accomplish while you’re waiting for the melted butter to cool and preheating the oven to 400º.
Whisk the flour and salt together in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the tsp of butter for the pan) and process for 30 seconds.
Butter a popover or large (6 pack) muffin pan and pour the batter about 1/2 full.
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 40 minutes. Hmmm. Our oven is a bit wonky – ours were well and truly done in a touch under 30, so check on ‘em. Remove popovers to a cooling rack and pierce the top with a knife to let the steam escape.
Serve warm. OR, you could take the leftovers, as I plan to today, slice them open and serve with some tuna salad.