The first time I ate popovers (like Yorkshire pudding, but made in muffin tins) was shortly after I met my in-laws and they invited me over for a traditional English dinner, complete with roast beef and all the trimmings. It was then that I discovered that my husband’s family (although a tad quieter than my rambunctious family) had a huge quirk when it came to eating popovers.
You see, the Robins’ stuffed their popovers with brown sugar and ate them with their meat.
This was as traditional to the Robins’ family as lasagna lunch on Sunday was customary for my family. (Note, my family ate sweet things for dessert and not with the entrée.)
My mum-in-law had explained that when she was a young girl she would save her popover and eat it after dinner, filling it with jam or brown sugar. (She had an extremely sweet tooth—which made sense, she was an incredibly sweet woman—quirky, but adorable nonetheless.) She then decided to have this sweet creation with her roast beef dinner, and the brown sugar custom began. She passed that on to her children and grandchildren.
My husband not only inherited his parents intelligence, kindness and wonderful sense of humor, he also inherited their sweet tooth and has maintained the tradition of having to have brown sugar with roast beef and popover dinner.
Our son participates in this gastronomical peculiarity. I abstain.
Welcome to another edition of Tasty Tuesday.
This week I am dedicating the Tasty Tuesday blog post to my Mum-in-Law, who I’m sure is smiling down on us from Heaven (or maybe wagging her finger a little at me for making a minor change to yet another recipe of hers. “Don’t worry, Mum R, I think you’d even love the changes. Love you.”
POPOVER RECIPE
My mum-in-law had taught me how to make proper popovers. I decided to experiment with her recipe and added fresh basil and jalapeño’s; however, this did not go over well with my family. They want it the way Mum (Granny R.) made them, brown sugar and all.
Some things are sacred and one does not tinker with popovers. However, I have tweaked Mum R’s recipe to make it less artery hardening, as the original recipe uses lard and I didn’t feel it was necessary. I also add egg whites to help them rise higher. The family was okay with these slight changes.
These are quick and easy to make. You’ll want to make them even if you’re not having roast beef. They’re delicious with steak, even pork or chicken dinner.
I’m also going to include a gluten-free recipe.
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup egg whites
1 cup milk
½ cup olive oil (not the extra-virgin, the regular olive oil. (If you don’t have olive oil, then any other light vegetable oil will do)
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
Non-stick Spray
Directions:
This recipe makes 12 popovers.
In a blender (or food processor) add: milk, eggs, egg whites and oil and blend it all together on the highest level on either appliances, until liquids are frothy.
Add in the flour and salt, and blend until everything is well blended together. Use a spatula to ensure the flour is mixed in well with the liquid. The more bubbles you see, the better.
Let this sit on your counter for about 30 minutes and heat up your oven to 425 F.
When the oven is hot, put the muffin tins in the oven for about 3 minutes to warm them up.
Remove muffin tins from oven and spray them well with the non-stick spray.
Turn your blender (or food processor on again) to give the mixture one final blend and to create more air bubbles.
Pour the batter into each muffin tin, distributing equally.
Bake for 25 minutes.
IMPORTANT: Do not open the oven door. Oven door must remain closed while baking until they are done.
Gluten-Free Recipe:
All the same ingredients as above, except instead of wheat flour use:
1/2 cup Chick Pea Flour
1/2 cup Potato (or Rice Flour)
For more Tasty Tuesday creations, drop by my fellow authors blogs and pick up a recipe:
Selena Robins, Author 
Let’s chat