Maple Bacon Popovers

Why don't I make popovers more often? They are easy, delicious, and impressive. It may be because the cabinet in the kitchen that holds most of the less commonly used equipment is ridiculously non-ergonomic. Getting the popover pans out is an enormous pain in the ass.

If you haven't tried popovers, you need to, soon. They are descended from the Yorkshire pudding. They are a thin batter, cooked in a very hot oven, and are dependent on the mechanical leavening of steam. They develop a crisp, chewy exterior, and a soft, fluffy interior. They must be eaten as soon as possible after coming out of the oven.  A cold popover is not pleasant, and don't even try re-heating in a microwave *shudder*.

All the recipes say you can use a muffin tin. I never have, and I'm dubious that the results would be optimal. They would certainly be smaller than ones from a proper popover pan. That would also result in a higher crust to fluffy interior ratio, the cube square law being what it is.

The proper popover pan has a kind of trumpet shaped cup, which is much longer than it is wide.

We are still frantically busy getting ready for Potrero War. Since the spouse is pretty much the anti-morning person, I find doing a special breakfast helps encourage her to get on with the days business.

So today I decided to make popovers. I went with maple bacon, because, well, bacon. The recipe I use as a base is from the famous Jordon Pond House in Maine. The order they do things seemed a little wonky to me, so I changed things around to be more in line with the methods I learned in my pastry class.

To accompany the popovers, I made some Bingo Blueberry tea from the Cobblestone Cottage Tea Shoppe in Alpine California. I thought it continued the New England vibe well. It was very good, just needed a little sugar to balance it out. It went well with the popovers.

Maple Bacon Popovers

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup bacon bits
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder

Pre-heat oven to 425 F.

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs until fluffy and light yellow. Add maple syrup, beat on high until well incorporated. Add flour mixture in three stages, alternating with half the milk. After each addition, beat on high until well incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl after each addition of flour.

Once all the milk and flour mixture are incorporated, beat on high for two minutes.

Strain batter. Stir in bacon bits, distribute batter evenly among the six cups of the popover pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 350F, and bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Happy Eating!

Buttermilk crepes with Sour Cherry - Cream Cheese Filling

Today, and this whole weekend, will be crazy busy while the spouse and I are preparing for Potrero War. Besides all the usual stuff, we are helping cater the wedding of a couple of friends. We also need to help provide snacks for a special event.

To help the spouse get going, I made breakfast. Thinking about what was available, I went with filled crepes.

I cheated for the crepes. I had some Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix. I put about one cup in a bowl, and slowly whisked in milk until I had a nice thin batter.

For the filling, I mixed together cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and sour cherry preserves. I whipped them together until smooth.

To finish the crepes, I made a mixed citrus syrup. I used lemon, strawberry orange, and key lime juice, sugar, and lemon and strawberry orange zest. I simmered it a bit, then strained the syrup and put it in an ice bath to cool quickly. I lightly drizzled the plated crepes with the syrup.

I think these came out well. I love sour cherry anything, and the citrus syrup really helped brighten the flavors.

As a side note, about a tablespoon of the syrup in a tall glass of iced tea is very refreshing.

Recipes

Sour Cherry - Cream Cheese Filling

8 oz. by wt. cream cheese
2/3 cup sour cherry preserves
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Place all ingredients in a bowl. Mix thoroughly, until smooth and light.

Mixed Citrus Syrup

juice of one lemon
juice of two strawberry oranges
juice of  3 key limes
zest of one lemon
zest of two strawberry oranges
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Place all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Turn down to a slow simmer. Let cook until lightly thickened. Strain into a metal bowl, place bowl in an ice bath until syrup is cool.

Happy Eating!

Turkey and Stuffing Omelets

I love omelets. They are one of those blank slates one can do almost anything with. I first heard of the concept of a stuffing omelet from an appearance of Sam the Cooking Guy on the Dave, Shelley, and Chainsaw Show. I thought the idea was so intriguing, I had to try it. I love stuffing. It is my number one comfort food.

The omelet is both simple, and slightly tricky to do well. Getting the pan temperature just right is critical. Too hot, and it will burn on the bottom before the top cooks and the cheese melts.  Too cool, and it doesn't brown properly.

Turkey and Stuffing Omelet

2 eggs
1 tsp. milk
1/2 cup diced turkey
1/2 cup leftover stuffing
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. water

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add egg mixture, swirl to get an even coating. Layer cheese, turkey, and stuffing on one half of the omelet. Put water in along edge of pan, and cover. Once top is cooked, cheese is melted, and filling hot, fold omelet and move to a plate.

Ancho Chile Polenta and Black Bean Hash with Poached Egg

A great way to use up leftovers is a hash. Generally it uses potatoes, but other starches will work. I still had a fair amount of the ancho chili polenta from the other day, and also some of the black beans. I diced the polenta in about 1/2 inch cubes, and fried it in olive oil until brown. I added some minced green onion and garlic, and the leftover beans, which had onion and cumin.

I've been trying to get the hang of poaching eggs. I've been incrementally getting better, but then I found this method, which I found worked quite well. I used a large (14") straight-sided skillet. I put in about 1 1/2" of water, a teaspoon of coarse sea salt, and 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar. Bring the water to a good boil, then remove from heat. I previously broke the eggs into ramekins. It is generally advised that it takes the freshest eggs to get them to poach right. When the water reduces to a simmer, gently pour the eggs in. I could comfortably get three eggs in the pan, I think with practice I can easily get in four. Cover the pan. I let it sit for 7 minutes, and my yolks were mostly solid. Next time, I will try 5 minutes. Shape-wise, these were the best poached eggs I've made. I will definitely be working this method again.

Ancho Chili Polenta and Black Bean Hash

2 cups Ancho Chili Polenta, cubed
1 cup cooked black beans
1 large green onion, minced
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. olive oil

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Fry polenta cubes until golden brown. Add garlic and onion, cook until tender. Stir in beans, cook until heated through.

Serve with a poached egg on top.

Happy Eating!

Grilled Chicken Strata

Some friends stayed over at our place Friday, and as we had a busy day planned Saturday, I wanted to make a hearty breakfast, but still keep it simple. Strata is a great way to do this. Strata is a savory bread pudding, and, like quiche (which is another post), it is infinitely flexible. This version used grilled chicken, but it is great with bacon, ham, sausage, ground meat, or even just vegetables. I usually use onion, garlic, and peppers. It's one of the reasons to keep old bread.

Grilled Chicken Strata

 

1 cup diced grilled chicken

2 1/2 dried bread cubes

3 cherry peppers, diced

1/2 large white onion, diced

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1 tbsp. prepared spicy brown mustard

1 tsp. kosher salt

 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

 

In a well greased 8 inch glass or ceramic baking dish, scatter bread cubes. Distribute chicken, onion, and peppers over bread cubes.

 

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mustard, and salt. Gently pour over bread cubes. Spread cheese over the top. Bake until custard is set, and cheese is melted, about 40 minutes.

 

Happy Eating!

Hash and poached eggs

For breakfast I decided to make hash and eggs. Our CSA had provided us with quite a few peppers We had a lot of potatoes from Golden Share, with which we also participate.

I'm still working on poaching. I'll get it down, eventually. I was using too narrow a pan.  I'll try a larger pan next time.

For the hash, I diced three small red skinned potatoes, one half a small yellow onion, one small red bell pepper, one small green bell pepper, and one each of a cherry pepper, a banana pepper, and a Serrano chili. In a medium-hot pan, I started frying the potatoes. Once partially cooked, I added the peppers and onion.  Cooked everything for a bit then added about a tablespoon of minced garlic, one quarter teaspoon each of cumin and chili powder, and kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until potatoes are tender.

Plate the hash, then gently place the poached eggs on top.

Happy eating!

Ancho Chilli - Date Popovers with Honey - Ginger Cream Cheese

So, this morning's experiment was ancho chilli-date popovers.  I wanted to bake something, helps my wife get up early to work on things on a Saturday. 

I made softened cream cheese with candied ginger and honey to spread on them.

I will post my recipes, with notes afterward on my thoughts about them.

 

Recipes

Popovers

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1Tblsp melted margarine
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 cup white wine
3 dried ancho chillies

Pre-heat oven to 450.

Remove the stems and seeds from the chillies.  Place chillies in wine to re-hydrate.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour and salt.  Whisk in milk, margarine, and eggs until smooth.

Place dates and rehydrated chillies in a food processor.  Process until chillies are finely chopped.
Stir chilli and date mixture into batter.

Grease a popover pan.  Place in oven to pre-heat.  Remove as soon as hot. 

Ladle batter into hot pan, place in oven.  Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then turn heat down to 350, and bake another 15 minutes.  Do not open oven during baking process.

When golden and puffy, remove from oven.  Run a knife around each cup, remove popovers from pan.

Ginger - Honey Cream Cheese

4 oz. softened cream cheese
2 Tblsp. honey
2 Tblsp. candied ginger, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. kosher salt.

Mix all ingredients together.

Notes

Flavors were really good.  Ancho chillies have a natural fruitiness, which matched well with the dates.  The chardonnay I used to re-hydrate the chillies added a little acidity, to cut the sweet just a bit.  The heat was there, but really mild, a nice background note.

The ginger - honey cream cheese really complimented the popovers.

On a down note, they did not puff up right.  There were two issues.  One, I missed the instruction to lower the temperature and continue baking.  Two, there was too much stuff in each popover, weighing them down.  I think I will cut the amount of date - chilli mix in half next time.

So, mostly successful, and worth tweaking and trying again.

Happy eating!