SAVORY POPOVERS (Yorkshire pudding, for six)
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“In Yorkshire, pudding was always served at the beginning of the meal – with gravy – to take the edge off the appetite and enable the cook to serve smaller helpings of expensive meat…. Northerners often accuse Southerners of not being able to make a good Yorkshire pudding. This may simply be a difference in taste. Northerners like their puddings very crisp, while Southerners prefer a slightly softer pudding. Two essentials when making it: you must let the batter stand before using and the fat in the pan must be smoking hot.” The Complete Traditional Recipe Book, National Trust for Historic Preservation
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk, at room temperature
melted unsalted butter for brushing the popover pan (or drippings reserved from a rib roast, if available)
- Into a bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring, and stir the batter until it is smooth. Let the mixture stand for 30 minutes.
- In a preheated, 450* oven, heat a 6-cup popover pan or six 2/3 cup custard cups for 5 minutes, or until hot. Brush the cups with melted butter and fill them half-full with the batter.
- Bake the popovers in the middle of the 450* oven for 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 375* and bake the popovers 15 minutes more, or until they are brown and crisp. Remove from popover pan immediately and turn onto a wire rack. Poke a small slit in the side of each to let the steam escape. (Popovers lose their crunch if they linger in the pan.) Serve immediately.
adapted from Gourmet Magazine, January, 1991
VARIATIONS:
o Combine ¼ cup fresh thyme leaves and ¾ cup grated Gruyere. Sprinkle over batter-filled popover cups.
o Whisk ¼ cup minced chives into batter before filling cups.
o Scatter 6 tablespoons crumbled cooked bacon over batter-filled popover cups, then sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.
from Martha Stewart.com