Popovers

I had a colossal fail in the kitchen a few nights ago. Martin loves popovers so I decided to up my game a little and make Smitten Kitchens corn, buttermilk and chive popovers. Doesn't that sound divine? Sure, hubby might've turned up his nose at the exoticness of buttermilk (gasp!) and corn! (even bigger gasp!) in a popover but who would've cared if I'd been able to successfully execute the recipe??? I'm quite sure I could've stepped in and eaten the whole batch, if necessary.

Everything seemed to be going well. In checking Deb's pictures along the way, my version seemed to be right on par for a perfect popover but what came out of the oven turned out to be more like a dense (but flavorful!) muffin that stubbornly stuck to the pan and completely bypassed the lovely popped up airiness of what it was supposed to aspire to. What the heck? I am NOT a neophyte to popovers - there was a time when I'd make them two or three nights a week, just because they seemed to make Martin happy. A roll or a biscuit was one thing but popovers? Something about seeing one on his plate seemed to make my hubby surmise that I'd been slaving over a hot stove all day, just to serve him up the perfect accompaniment to whatever meal we were having.

Sure, I should go back and figure out where I went wrong but, for last night, I opted for assured success with Ina Garten's basic popover recipe. And, even though I've created plenty of good popovers in the past, it felt like a little tiny miracle peeking though the oven window and seeing those little doughy buns gloriously rise to lofty heights. And then, miracle upon miracle, they slid right out of the pan and onto Martin's waiting plate. From utter ignominy to glorious popover perfection, all in a day's time.

Ina Garten's Basic Popovers


Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus softened butter for greasing pans
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Generously grease aluminum popover pans or Pyrex custard cups with softened butter. You'll need enough pans to make 12 popovers. Place the pans in the oven for exactly 2 minutes to preheat. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, salt, eggs, milk, and melted butter until smooth. The batter will be thin. Fill the popover pans less than half full and bake for exactly 30 minutes. Do not peek.
(NOTE: I did peek through the oven window and decided they looked done enough at 25 minutes. They were perfect.)