643501 Mon Aug 10 10:54:03 -0700 2009 13 31 Home Cooking 0 4933390 I had dinner at BLT Steak in Los Angeles this weekend, and everything was very good, but by far the best part of the meal (I thought) were the absolutely amazing, monster popovers served at the beginning of the meal in lieu of bread. For those who haven't had the pleasure, these things are splendid, about the size of a football, and laced with Gruyere cheese. Really spectacular. (Picture, which, while good, still doesn't really do them justice, here: http://foodwhores.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/a-cheap-date/ ) Anyway, I've tried to make popovers once or twice, and never had much success. I was hoping the hounds on this board might help me improve my game. Do you have a great recipe for popovers? Are there tricks to making them well? Do I need a special popover pan or other tools to get fantastic results? Any and all suggestions will be gratefully explored. TIA guys. Mon Aug 10 10:54:04 -0700 2009 10134 David Kahn 1 4933460 Some tips for popovers that I've adhered to in the past with good results: - Use high protein flour, e.g. bread flour (not all purpose) - Once you have the batter incorporated and mixed, let it sit at room temperature for 70 to 90 minutes - Add a bit of baking powder to your batter Mon Aug 10 11:08:43 -0700 2009 4933390 11583 ipsedixit 1 4933491 According to Cooks' Illustrated, though it seems counter-intuitive, popovers puff to the same size regardless of pan. Not sure I buy that, but I have successfully used muffin tins, ramekins, and coffee cups. Some recipes want them going into a cold oven, others into a preheated pan in a very hot oven, so obviously there are lots of roads to the same destination. LT was on Martha making these once, and I wrote it down: BLT Gruyere Popovers: Preheat muffin tin or popover pan at 350. Sift 4c flour with 1 tbsp+2tsp coarse salt. Heat 4c milk until it bubbles slightly at the edges. Whisk 8 eggs in an electric mixer, slowly add the milk and then the flour. Remove hot pan from oven and spray with Pam. Fill the cups to the top and mound with 10 oz. grated Gruyere. Bake 15 min, rotate pan, and bake another 35 min. Makes 12. These can be cooled on a rack and kept at room temp up to 2 hrs, then reheated briefly at 450. Mon Aug 10 11:16:50 -0700 2009 4933390 159317 greygarious 2 4933565 Grey's recipe sounds great......I always work with a pre-heated muffin pan in a hot oven. A well seasoned pan is a must, and even then spray it down well. Convection works great as well. Definetly rotate the pan. Always fill the cups up all the way. Make sure your batter is completely smooth and room temp before cooking. Forget cooling....eat immediately while their interior still has the correct texture. Mon Aug 10 11:36:19 -0700 2009 4933491 264281 GreaseFire 2 4933573 that's so funny - when i saw the title of the post, my initial response was going to be "use the recipe from BLT" :) Mon Aug 10 11:38:19 -0700 2009 4933491 103920 goodhealthgourmet 1 4935291 I too thought of that Martha episode as soon as I read the original post. I don't make popovers but make pretty good yorkshire puddings which are the same thing minus the butter. My discoveries include: lots of eggs (like Greygarious's recipe) make for a better poof. I've read if you don't have popover pans to use muffin pans but leave every other one empty so the heat can really circulate. Don't open the oven once you put them in! NO PEEKING! My mother swore by screeching hot muffin pans (the fat preheated w the pan), for yorkshires which works great . . . but I can't imagine how this would work with butter for popovers. Mon Aug 10 20:47:39 -0700 2009 4933390 1093156 cinnamon girl 1 4935380 David Kahn: the BLT popover converted me too! I went out, bought a pan and everything! His recipe is great! Oddly though, I have had better luck with fresh batter on an actual pop-over pan, that has been thoroughly pre-heated, and sprayed, and buttered. Enjoy! Mon Aug 10 21:43:36 -0700 2009 4933390 91765 AnneBird 1 5093772 Hello all you wonderful popover fans! My name is Jessica and I am the pastry chef here at BLT Steak.... Since there is clearly a bit of confusion on how to get your homemade popovers to rock like ours here at the restaurant, I figured I'd pass along a few tips. First: the actual ingredients listed on the the little recipe card that we give out with our popovers is correct Second: all you need to do is make slight adjustments on the prep part 4 cups milk, heat to very hot, but NOT boiling 8 eggs, cold 4 cups, all-purpose flour (we recommend Medallion brand, as that is what we use) 1 1/2 heaping Tbsp kosher salt 2 1/4 cups gruyere cheese, finely grated (or swiss emmentaler) 1 -- pre heat your oven to 350 degrees, with the popover pan in it. you want the pan nice and hot! 2 -- heat milk on stove top until very hot, but NOT boiling 3 -- measure and combine all purpose flour and salt. set aside 4 -- in a stand mixer (or electric hand mixer), whip eggs until frothy (at least 3-4 minutes) on medium-high speed 5 -- reduce speed and slowly add about 2/3 of your hot milk to your eggs 6 -- a large scoop at a time, add all of your flour and salt 7 -- add remaining milk, and mix until smooth 8 -- strain through a wire mesh strain, cover, and set aside. you can bake them about 15-20 minutes later, BUT i personally highly recommend allowing the batter to rest for about 45-60 mins 9 -- remove hot pans from oven, spray liberally with non-stick pan spray, and pour batter all the way to the top, almost overflowing. sprinkle the top liberally with the grated cheese 10 -- bake in oven for 25 minutes, rotate, and bake another 25 minutes (depending upon your oven, you may need another 5 minutes). remove from pans immediately and ENJOY!!! wishing you all happy popover adventures and i can't wait to see you all in the restaurant soon! chef jessica Sat Oct 10 14:06:47 -0700 2009 4933390 1115329 chefjess 2 5162270 Thank you Jessica! Very kind of you to share. (And, seriously, I love this board!) Fri Nov 06 16:18:13 -0800 2009 5093772 10134 David Kahn 3 5162705 No kidding! I just inherited a popover pan from a favorite uncle. Clearly I can't make these often [so much milk and butter] but for a special occasion, oh yea. I am there. Thank you so much chef jessica. Fri Nov 06 21:33:01 -0800 2009 5162270 59258 smtucker 2 5162958 How many popovers does that recipe make? Sat Nov 07 05:59:07 -0800 2009 5093772 49600 CindyJ 2 5212474 Jessica, Thank you. I'm from the east coast, but this does sound like a killer recipe! 2 questions: (1) I've always thought/read that you should not fill to the top for popovers. By filling to the top and then topping with cheese, doesn;t that impact the rising? ans (2) What kind of popover pan do you use or recommend? I've been using the Chicago Metallic nonstick, and disaster this year -- silver coating on the popovers!!! Thanks. Sat Nov 28 08:17:12 -0800 2009 5093772 1127949 DTodrin 3 5214043 I had a similar problem with the first Chicago Metallic pan I bought at Williams-Sonoma -- the non-stick coating started coming off. I thought it was because I put the pan in the dishwasher. I never saw any of the coating on any popovers. I brought it back to the store and they gave me a new one, which I've been using for a couple of years now with no problems. I hand-wash it, though. Sun Nov 29 07:23:04 -0800 2009 5212474 49600 CindyJ 1 5162761 Try the Cook's Country Popovers recipe. The recipe is easy and really works well. Fri Nov 06 22:38:15 -0800 2009 4933390 126101 Antilope