Sometimes it just takes one special ingredient to give your favorite cook a much-needed boost. A next-level soy sauce, delicious berry preserves, a fancy olive oil – they deserve to try out the good stuff! Continue reading “2020 Home Cook’s Holiday Gift Guide: Dreamy Ingredients” » LEGGI TUTTO
The best popovers are tender and soft inside with a thin crispy outside. Make them plain, savory, or sweet, and serve them with custard, jam, or butter. Make a batch now and freeze some for later to serve at your holiday table, alongside a Sunday roast, or for a light breakfast
Photography Credit: Sally Vargas
Popovers, the feather-light rolls with soft, eggy almost hollow centers inside and crispy golden cloaks, are the American answer to Yorkshire pudding.
Both are made with a thin egg batter, but popovers were traditionally baked in special cast-iron pans with deep, straight cups that are hard to come by today, while Yorkshire pudding is made by pouring the batter into a roasting pan with the drippings of the roast.
YOU CAN MAKE POPOVERS WITHOUT A POPOVER PAN
A popover pan is deeper than a muffin tin and has straight sides, but you don’t need one to make popovers. You can make these just as easily in muffin tins. They won’t be as tall as those made in a special pan—in fact, their baked shapes are unpredictably lopsided (in a charming way).
Regardless of the shape, you will want to eat them right out of the oven, while they are still hot inside, just waiting to be slathered with butter.
TIPS FOR MAKING PERFECT POPOVERS
Making popover batter is EASY! If you’re not into using kitchen appliances, you can simply whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl. Personally, I find using a blender does the job quickly and efficiently, so that’s the route I took for this recipe. Either method will work just fine.
Thin for the win! The batter is thinner than you might expect for something baked in a muffin tin. If you’ve ever made crepes, it’s like that.
Skip the preheat: Many popover recipes require you to heat the pan in the oven before filling the cups with batter—I did not find this necessary. (I tested both ways with similar results.)
No peeking! Once the popovers are in the oven, resist the urge to open the oven door and peek in on their progress. The closed door encourages steam, which creates the famous popover puff. If you open the door you’ll lose the steam and the puff.
WAYS TO FLAVOR POPOVERS
You can leave popovers plain or dress them up with fresh herbs or cheeses for a savory version to serve with soup or roast chicken. If you’re craving something on the sweet side, you can add citrus zest, more sugar, or extracts.
To make savory popovers:
Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano
Chives
Gruyere
Cheddar
To make sweet popovers add an additional tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla along with any of the ingredients below:
Orange zest
Lemon zest
Brush baked popovers with melted butter and roll them in cinnamon and sugar.
Dust with powdered sugar.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH POPOVERS
Popovers are great to have with soup, salad, or alongside roast chicken, roast beef, or just about anything you would serve with rolls.
They’re also fantastic as a breakfast treat, sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar and served with butter and jam. Afternoon pick-me-up with coffee or tea, anybody?
In any case, serve these hot right out of the oven or reheat them at 350°F for 5 to 10 minutes.
How to Store and Reheat Popovers
You can make the batter ahead of time and bake the popovers the next day or prepare a batch start to finish and freeze them for later or keep a few on your counter. Check out the tips below to keep your popovers fresh.
To make ahead: You can make the batter and refrigerate it for up to one day before baking. Just let the batter come to room temperature and whisk it well or whirl it in the blender for a few seconds before pouring it into the muffin tins.
To store: Store baked and cooled popovers in a ziptop bag for up to a day. They are still edible after a day, but they don’t taste as fresh. Reheat them on a baking sheet at 350°F for five to 10 minutes.
To freeze: Store fully baked and cooled popovers in a ziptop bag. They will last for up to three months in the freezer.
NEED SOME CARBS IN YOUR LIFE? LOOK NO FURTHER
Popovers Recipe
Ingredients
Butter, to grease the muffin tins
3 large eggs
1 cup milk (skim, 2% or whole)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 425°F: Adjust an oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Generously grease the bottom, sides, and area between the cups of a standard muffin tin with butter.
2 Bring the ingredients to warm room temperature: Place the eggs in a bowl of hot water to cover for 10 minutes. In a microwave-safe cup, heat cold milk for 30 seconds, or until it feels warm to the touch. (Alternatively, warm the milk in a saucepan on top of the stove.)
3 Mix the batter: Break the eggs into the blender. Add the milk, salt, sugar, and flour and blend for 30 seconds or until smooth and frothy. Add the melted butter and blend to combine. Alternatively, you can whisk the ingredients together in a large bowl.
4 Bake the popovers: Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling each muffin cup slightly more than half-full. Bake on the lower shelf of the oven without opening the door for 20 minutes. It’s important not to peek into the oven during the baking process. You need the steam in the oven for the popovers to rise.
Turn the oven down to 350°F and bake for 8 minutes longer.
Now you can peek! Open the oven and check to see if the popovers are brown enough. If they aren’t, bake for another 5 minutes, or until they are puffed and deep golden brown.
5 Serve: Popovers are best served warm from the oven. Serve them with dinner as you would a roll or enjoy them for breakfast with butter and jam.
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1 Preheat the oven, prepare the baking dish: Preheat the oven to 375℉.
2 Slice the vegetables: Using a mandoline or a very sharp chef’s knife, cut the parsnips and carrots diagonally into slices about 1/8-inch thick. Halve the fennel, then cut into slices about 1/8-inch thick.
3 Sauté the aromatics and fennel: Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the butter is foamy, add the shallots, and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the fennel, and cook until just tender, 4 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in the garlic and thyme, and cook until aromatic, another 30 seconds.
4 Layer the vegetables: Grease a large (2 quart) gratin dish or a 9-x-13-inch glass baking dish with butter. Layer half of the parsnips in the gratin dish, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper.
Top with half of the carrots, and season with another pinch of salt and grind of black pepper. Scatter half of the fennel mixture on top of the carrots.
Repeat with the rest of the parsnips and carrots, finishing with the remaining fennel mixture. Set aside.
5 Begin the béchamel: You’ll need two sauce pans, one small and one medium.
In a small sauce pan set over medium-low heat, add the milk and cream.
In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, add the butter. When the butter foams, whisk the flour into the melted butter, and cook until nutty smelling and light golden in color, about 3 minutes.
6 Add the milk to the roux: Slowly whisk the warm milk and cream a little bit at a time into the butter and flour mixture (roux) until combined. The sauce should be smooth.
Bring the béchamel to a simmer, keeping an eye on the heat and stirring frequently to prevent scorching. It will really start to thicken as it simmers.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the sauce is thick and coats the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes.
7 Remove from heat and add the cheese: Remove the béchamel from the heat and whisk in the blue cheese a few crumbles at a time. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a pinch of cayenne, if you want a little heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if desired.
8 Add the béchamel to the vegetables: Pour the warm béchamel over the top of the vegetables in the gratin dish and let sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the sauce to soak into the vegetables.
Scatter the pecans over the top of the gratin. (The gratin can be made ahead up to this point, then refrigerated until ready to bake.)
9 Cover and bake: Snugly cover the gratin with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the gratin is golden brown and bubbly, and the vegetables are tender when pierced with a knife.
10 Serve: Let rest 20 minutes before serving. LEGGI TUTTO
This month, we welcome back Marta Rivera for more of her meal plans. Marta is a trained chef, mom of twins and Army wife, and a Simply Recipes recipe tester and developer!
Most people are looking for easy meals for the beginning of this week, especially here in the States where many are celebrating Thanksgiving.
Even if you’re not celebrating along with us, the simplicity of the throw-together meals in this week’s meal plan will not only make you breathe a sigh of relief, but they’ll also give you even more reasons to give thanks.
Sandwiches are a hit with my crew any time of the year, but they work best for me this week because everyone can chip in to make them while I’m working on the holiday prep.
Foil meals are a no-fuss option that avoid crowding in the kitchen come clean-up time and a hearty soup rounds to get the most of this year’s bird brings an easy end to this week’s meal plan. LEGGI TUTTO
If you’d like to support Kei & Molly Textiles and get a hold of some wonderful goods at the same time, they’re offering Simply Recipes readers a 10% discount on their Gardener’s Delight Bundle ($38), a special gift bundle they’ve assembled for the holiday season!
The bundle includes their popular Bees and Tree of Life flour sack dish towels, two Lavender Sprigs sponge cloths (which are super absorbent and naturally biodegradable), and four sweet vinyl stickers.
Enter code SIMPLYRECIPES10 at checkout. A fantastic gift for you, a beloved home cook, or the favorite gardener in your life!
Please note while we encourage you to peruse and purchase all their goods, the 10% discount only applies to the Gardener’s Delight Bundle. LEGGI TUTTO
Wishing you could travel this holiday? Looking for ways to celebrate BIG this year even though your gathering may in fact be small? We’ve got you covered with our favorite ways to transport the senses, explore new flavors and treat yourself this holiday season!
This post is written in partnership with The Spice Hunter.
Holiday gatherings will most likely be smaller this year, and our tried and true traditions may look different … yet no less memorable.
We’re thankful to toast with our close family (and FaceTime with those not so close), enjoy our favorite meals, and celebrate with familiar–and new–traditions alike.
So this season, let’s not just muddle through: let’s elevate the holidays at home. From trying new flavors and recipes to closing our eyes and momentarily escaping to exotic locales, join us as we cook, share, imbibe and toast to the good things ahead.
Make One Small Change
Doing it up for the big holiday meal need not mean big changes. In fact, making one small tweak can transform a so-so turkey or a good-enough pie into a real holiday MVP.
Here are a few of our favorite ways to take things up a notch:
Citrus: Brighten and lighten things up this year with fresh, fragrant citrus! Make a beautiful green salad with sliced oranges or grapefruit, add fresh orange zest to your pie crust or pastries, or give your Brussels sprouts a squeeze of lemon juice as they come out of the oven.
Turkey Brine: Break out the Spice Hunter’s Original Turkey Brine to guarantee a memorable bird. It’s a savory blend of fragrant fruit and rosemary, and is your ticket to a super tender, moist and flavorful turkey.
Brown Butter: Once you’ve tried brown butter, you may never go back. And if you loved pie, cornbread, and stuffing made with regular butter, you’re going to really love them with brown butter. The game plan? Simply brown your butter and swap it in for the melted butter called for in your pie filling, cornbread, mashed potato, and stuffing recipes!
Break Out of Your Comfort Zone
Pulling off the holiday meal can feel daunting enough at times, so most of us get in a groove and stick with what we know.
But if there were ever a year to shake things up, it’d be this year. Maybe you go the non-traditional route and serve Texas-style barbecue or Korean Bibimbap. Or maybe you decide to try a new spice in a favorite dish, like this Dalmatian Sage, which perks up turkey, veggies, stuffing and sides. It’s a bit more mild than many varieties of dried sage, so it won’t be off-putting for young or picky palettes. Win/win!
Opt for Fresh
One great tip to ensure your holidays will be as flavorful and delicious as they deserve to be is to do a quick audit of your spice drawer. Toss expired spices, and replace any that are running quite low or that you know have been taking up valuable real estate for awhile (remember, the longer they sit on the shelf the less fragrant and flavorful they’ll be!)
In addition to dried spices, fresh herbs make a huge difference when pulling off the holiday meal. Chop fresh rosemary for the bird, parsley for the stuffing, and fresh thyme for the green beans.
Let Your Senses Guide You
While we can’t travel this holiday like we could in year’s past, we can still transport ourselves to the fields of Madagascar or the roads of Saigon thanks to The Spice Hunter. Their vanilla extract is a must for all your seasonal baking–it’s super fragrant and makes the house smell like a dream.
Cinnamon is another holiday baking mainstay and Saigon cinnamon, in particular, wins our heart for its sweet and slightly spicy flavor. From morning cinnamon rolls to mincemeat pie, this special spice gives your favorite recipes a worldly, exotic spin with a simple shake of the bottle.
Treat Yourself … And Your Home
While we often think about others during this season of giving and sharing, carving out a moment just for ourselves is the gift many of us really want.
And to maximize that moment, put a little pot of Mulling Spices on the stove to simmer. Featuring cinnamon, orange rind, allspice and cloves nothing says holidays at home quite like this aromatic blend.
To cap off an evening of celebrating, Hot Buttered Rum always hits the spot (and can be easily made without the rum for those not imbibing). Featuring brown sugar and warm spices, it’s great on its own or added to your apple pie or morning french toast for a flavor boost.
Now … Really Treat Yourself
Lucky for us, The Spice Hunter is extending a great offer to further inspire our readers to pick up a few things for the holiday season. Enjoy 25% off and free shipping with orders over $25 by using code SIMPLYRECIPES25 at checkout (offer expires 12/31/20). LEGGI TUTTO
1 Make graham cracker pecan crust: Pulse pecans, flour, brown sugar, and graham cracker crumbs in a food processor. Add butter and egg yolk. Pulse until mixture is homogenous.
Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan and bake for 10 minutes at 375°F. Remove from oven and let cool.
2 Press the pumpkin purée. Take the pumpkin purée and place it on several layers of paper towels. Cover with several layers of paper towels and use your hands to gently squeeze out liquid from the purée.
Note that you will probably go through a lot of paper towels (can use tea towels too).
3 Measure the pumpkin puree: Two 15-ounce cans of puréed pumpkin should yield a little more than 2 cups of purée with the excess moisture removed. Measure out 2 cups of purée; you want exactly 2 cups.
4 Make the pumpkin base: Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, grated nutmeg, and allspice in a medium bowl. With a wooden spoon (no need for a mixer for this step), mix in the salt, 2 cups of pressed pumpkin purée, vanilla, and bourbon. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5 Make the cheesecake filling: In a large bowl (it helps to use a mixer for this step), beat the cream cheese and the brown sugar until fully creamed and smooth (no lumps). Gradually add the pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated.
Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
6 Line pan with 3 layers of thick foil: Place the springform pan with the crust in the middle of three layers of large sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil (to help prevent water-bath moisture from leaking into the pan). Fold the aluminum foil up the sides of the pan and trim. (You can also use a turkey roasting bag instead of the foil to keep the water out.)
6 Pour filling into pan: Place the aluminum wrapped pan in a large roasting pan (large enough so that there is room on all sides). Pour the pumpkin cream cheese mixture into the springform pan.
7 Add water to the roasting pan: Place the roasting pan containing the springform pan in a 325°F oven on the middle rack. Pour boiling water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the side of the springform pan.
8 Bake and cool: Bake the cheesecake for 1 1/2 hours at 325°F. Turn off the oven heat and prop the oven door open. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven, cooling for another hour.
Then remove from oven and let come to room temperature. Once it has cooled down, chill for several hours in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.
9 When ready to serve, gently remove the cake from the springform pan: To do this well, I recommend a tip by Dorie Greenspan in her book Baking: From My Home to Yours. To help ensure that the cake doesn’t stick to the springform side as you unlock it, first run a blunt knife around the cake and then warm the sides of the pan with a hair dryer. Then carefully unlock the springform and lift off the sides.
Serve cheesecake with caramel sauce, candied pecans, and whipped cream. LEGGI TUTTO
In every home baker’s pantry is a bag (or three!) of flour. From King Arthur to Gold Medal for all-purpose, from White Lily self-rising flour to Bob’s Red Mill for spelt and buckwheat, here are the flour brands we purchase again and again.
It’s always in our pantry. It’s in practically every baking recipe. It’s got a permanent spot on our grocery list. And, if we didn’t realize before how much we rely on it, the buying rush and ensuing shortage last spring due to the pandemic made it pretty clear that everyone wants to have it on hand.
Yes, I’m taking about flour.
Today we consider availability, consistency, and specialty for a list of flour brands we rely on and buy again and again!
Our Favorite All-Purpose Flours
We love King Arthur Baking Company, Bob’s Red Mill, and Gold Medal for all-purpose flour.
King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
$6.99 for three 3-pound bags from King Arthur Baking Company
Formerly known as King Arthur Flour, King Arthur Baking Company updated their new name and logo last summer to better represent the company’s commitment to all kinds of baking. (You’ll see some of the photos in this post still show the old “King Arthur Flour” name and logo, but be assured, the product is the same!)
While other flour brands mill to a protein range, King Arthur mills their flour to a strictly-controlled and consistent protein count of 11.7%. This means you can expect the flour to perform the same way every time you use it.
King Arthur’s all-purpose flour is made from 100% American-grown hard red wheat. It’s also unbleached, unbromated, and contains no artificial preservatives.
I often swap a little white whole wheat flour for all-purpose to get more nutrition. King Arthur calls for white whole wheat in my favorite waffle recipe, so I’ve kept it on hand ever since! – Rachel
Bob’s Red Mill 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
$4.69 for 5-pound bag from Bob’s Red Mill
Bob’s whole wheat flour is what we go to when we want that full-on, all-in whole wheat taste!
Stone ground on cool, quartz millstones, Bob’s whole wheat flour retains every part of the wheat kernel: the wheat germ, bran, and endosperm. It has a protein content in the 13-15% range, and gives a deep, nutty, whole grain flavor to breads and baked goods.
Our Favorite Alternative Flours
Bob’s Red Mill wins on all accounts when we’re looking for alternative flours. It’s the most readily-accesible brand, both in-store and online, and we can always trust the quality. Here are the alternative flours we cook with the most.
Bob’s Red Mill Stone Ground Spelt Flour
$4.29 for 22-ounce bag from Bob’s Red Mill
I like Bob’s Red Mill for any specialty flour. I use spelt flour in pancakes and quick breads for the nutty flavor, and Bob’s always delivers. – Summer
Bob’s Red Mill Organic Buckwheat Flour
$5.49 for 22-ounce bag from Bob’s Red Mill
Bob’s buckwheat flour is a staple in my house. I love our buckwheat pancakes and buckwheat waffles recipes, and this flour works wonderfully. -Cambria
Bob’s Red Mill Oat Flour
$3.69 for 20-ounce bag from Bob’s Red Mill
I like to sub in a little of Bob’s oat flour in pancakes and muffins, for a bit more whole grain flavor and nutrition. – Cambria
Our Favorite Specialty Baking Flours
Swans Down Enriched Cake Flour
$3.19 for 32-ounce box from Target
Swans Down cake flour is a low-protein pastry flour made from soft white winter wheat. Bleached, enriched, and repeatedly sifted to create a very soft, very delicate flour, it’s a classic choice when you’re aiming for supremely airy, light desserts, like this vanilla cake!
White Lily Self-Rising Flour
$9.99 for 5-pound bag from Amazon
A must for Southern-style biscuits! White Lily’s self-rising flour is milled from soft winter wheat and blended with leavening agents and salt. It has a super-fine texture and a 9% protein content.
If you want to make a true Southern biscuit, White Lily is the only flour you should use. The soft winter wheat is milled so fine, it almost feels like cornstarch. Its low protein content makes baked goods light and fluffy. If you’re making biscuit and they end up like hockey pucks, you might need to switch your flour to White Lily. – Summer LEGGI TUTTO
