I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, and David, my husband, was born in Manhattan and raised in the northeast—Long Island, Connecticut and Vermont, mostly.
So, as you would imagine, we came together 16 years ago with different food traditions. And we’ve had such delicious fun sharing these with each other.
I’ve introduced David to breakfast tacos, tamales, homemade corn tortillas, BBQ brisket and sausage, CFS (chicken fried steak, for those of you who are not from Texas), homemade roasted salsas and ranch-style beans. And he’s introduced me to Florida stone crabs, key lime pie, baked clams, real New York pizza, all different kinds of fabulous fish and popovers.
David still has fond memories of the “popover girl” at Patricia Murphy’s Candlelight Inn in Manhasset, New York. She would walk around the restaurant with a basket full of hot, fresh-from-the-oven popovers, “and you could eat as many as you wanted,” he says with childish delight. Patricia Murphy’s is long gone, so now I am the “popover girl!”
I have become quite a fanatic about popovers during the holidays. (These really should not be consumed on a regular basis, as they are not particularly healthy, but they are damn delicious!) It’s a mandatory element of our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
So, even if I’m invited to someone else’s home for the holidays, I carry my special popover pans and prepared batter with me…armed and ready to share something amazingly tasty and whimsical with everyone.
From our family to yours, we wish you a joyous holiday season, and maybe one that includes some popovers, too!
Buen provecho!
Popovers
Popovers are beyond special. They take some time to bake, but require few ingredients. All you need is patience for the magic to happen. And it will. And you will never want the holidays without popovers. The secret is to have several ovens, as they require 45 minutes of uninterrupted work, which means they can be made while the turkey is resting. Perfect.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter melted, plus ½ teaspoon for greasing each of the pans
- 1 ¼ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups milk at room temperature
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
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Place approximately ½ teaspoon butter in each popover holder. A pan comes with either 6 big or 12 smaller holders.
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Place the pan(s) in the oven for at least 5 minutes to preheat, or better yet, while you make the batter.
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Whisk the flour, salt, eggs, milk and 2 tablespoon melted butter together until smooth. The batter will be thin.
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You'll want the butter in the pans to be almost burned and bubbling when you fill it with the batter.
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Fill each of the popover pans just a little over 1/2 full and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the temperature to 300 degrees and bake another 20 minutes.
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DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN!!
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Serve immediately and slather with butter (and jelly, perhaps) and/or gravy and enjoy! They will deflate quickly, so eat them quickly!!
Recipe Notes
David's note: While we enjoyed popovers with butter and jelly this morning for breakfast (and Nacho and Guero LOVED them, too), I would recommend you take some cut up turkey or roast beef that you are having for holiday dinner and stuff it inside the popover with gravy...and eat it!
These look fabulous! They remind me of the yorkshire pudding my English Grandmother would make, only she would put "drippings" from the roast beef in the pan instead of butter. Certainly a once-a-year treat but there's nothing else like it in the world!