Basic Popovers

I shared my basic popover recipe on my old, defunct blog about trying to become a good cook. Since I count cooking and baking as creating and "food crafting," I like to share my favorite recipes here too. I love making popovers on the weekend, and I don't do it as much as I should. A month or two will go by, and I'll think, "Hey. I haven't made popovers in a while!"

Popovers are easy to make, are impressive to those who don't make them, and they taste good! As an added plus, you can get really creative with what you put on them. Since they aren't a sweet bread, you can go sweet or savory with them. While I've had some delicious dinner popovers, flavored with herbs like rosemary, I prefer to use the basic recipe and make compound butters to go with them.

When I first wanted to try out making popovers at home, I was under the impression that I needed a popover pan or they wouldn't get that wonderful, tall, puffiness that is indicative of a popover. I'm glad to report that you can use a regular muffin pan to make them! They won't get as tall as they would in a popover pan, but they do have that telltale popover look to them, and they cook perfectly.

I've been making these for a little over six years now, and I've figured out a few things that make them even easier to whip up. Want to make your own? Here's how I like to do it:

The blender gives you bubbles!

Basic Popovers

4 eggs (should equal 1 cup)
2 cups milk
2 cups flour (not sifted)
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. The rack should be in the middle position. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with Pam or other nonstick cooking spray. Make sure you get all the way up the sides and on the top edge of each cup. If you don't get everything lubricated, your popovers might stick to the pan and they won't rise properly.

Once your oven is to temperature, put all ingredients in a blender. I like to layer everything so it blends more easily - wet on the bottom, dry in the middle, and wet on top. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the blender partway through blending; the flour tends to stick to the sides.

Fill the cups almost to the top.

When the batter is fully mixed, pour it evenly into the greased muffin cups, almost to the top. Do not let the batter sit around while you prep your muffin pan; you want to pour it out as soon as it's mixed and get it in the oven so you can take advantage of all those lovely bubbles you've made in the blender.


Bake at 450 degrees for exactly 30 minutes. If you peek while they are baking, they will fall.

When 30 minutes have passed, remove the pan to a cold burner or wire rack and pierce the top of each popover with a sharp knife to release the steam.

Let the popovers stand in the pan for a minute or two before serving.

Makes 12 popovers

 

Crusty outside with a soft inside

* When I first started making this recipe, we were renting an apartment. I found that the oven ran hot, so I had a hard time getting the popovers to cook all the way through and not get too dark. I lowered my oven temperature to 325 degrees and cooked my popovers for 30 minutes, and they were perfect. If your popovers don't cook all the way through and/or aren't the right color, you may need to adjust your cooking temperature. 


 Here are recipes for my two favorite things to slather all over my popovers. 

Cashew Butter

1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick, 1/4 pound)
2 Tbsp finely chopped salted or unsalted cashews (measure AFTER chopping)

Soften the butter and place it in a small mixing bowl.

Chop the cashews in a food processor or with a knife until they are as close to paste as you can get them. Measure 2 tablespoons of the chopped cashews and add them to the softened butter. Mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until you plan to use it. Keep refrigerated after use. When you remove this butter from the refrigerator, let it soften for a few minutes before using it so it will be able to spread.

Honey Butter

1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick, 1/4 pound)
1 Tbsp honey

Soften the butter and place it in a small mixing bowl.

Add the honey and mix it with the butter until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until you plan to use it. Keep refrigerated after use. When you remove this butter from the refrigerator, let it soften for a few minutes before using it so it will be able to spread.


If you try out any of these recipes, I'd love to hear about it!

Burrito Bowl & Chipotle-Style Corn Salsa Recipe

Steak Burrito Bowl - Full of yum!

A year ago, when my husband and I vowed to eat out less, I started trying to figure out how to make my own versions of some of the take out I was missing. Chipotle was at the top of the list for recipes I needed to figure out. Last July, I shared my recipe for Chipotle-Style Cilantro-Lime Rice, and I've used it as a side or the base for a burrito bowl many, many times since then.

I don't know what cut of steak Chipotle uses or how they marinate their meat, but I already had a favorite way to grill up some delicious tri tip, so I didn't bother trying to figure it out. You can find my favorite recipe here: Grilled Tri Tip with Tequila-Lime Marinade.

The last piece to the puzzle was the salsa. I like the fresh tomato (pico de gallo) and the corn salsa on my bowl. The pico de gallo is easy to throw together, but I had to play with the corn salsa recipe a few times before I felt like it was a winner!

I've been making my own burrito bowls for a little over a year now, and it has saved me a lot of gas (and extra hidden calories). No more trips to Chipotle when I have a hankering for some deliciousness in a bowl!

Now you have everything you need to make your very own Chipotle-style steak burrito bowl at home too. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Chipotle-Style Corn Salsa

2 cobs sweet corn (yellow or white)
2 medium jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped (measure before chopping)
juice of two limes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (optional, but I like it)

Mix everything together in a bowl. The salsa tastes better if you give it a little time for the flavors to develop.

Blue Cheese and Walnut Spread

After a long hiatus, my book club finally starting meeting again. We hardly talk about the books we've read, but we have lots of awesome conversations, laughs, and wine. The hostess provides the drinks, and the guests bring an appetizer to share. I always have a hard time figuring out what to bring. I keep telling myself that I'll find some new appetizer recipes to try out so I'll stop making the same five things I always make, but it never happens.

Last night, I made one of my tried and true recipes, Blue Cheese and Walnut Spread with sliced apples. The spread may not look like much, but it's packed with flavor and is always a crowd-pleaser. Best of all, it easy to throw together.

Blue Cheese and Walnut Spread

Blue Cheese and Walnut Spread

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature (low-fat or regular works)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped small
4-5 oz crumbled blue cheese (the stinkier, the better)
coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper
crackers, crostini, or apples for serving

In a medium bowl, stir the cream cheese with a wooden spoon or stiff spatula until it's softened. Add the walnuts and mix. Season with salt and pepper and mix again.

Gently fold in the blue cheese crumbles. They should be mixed well, but try not to break them up too much.

Serve with crackers, crostini, or sliced apples (my favorite way).

This spread works best at room temperature but should be stored in the refrigerator. If you have refrigerated it, let it sit out on the counter for a bit before serving so it can soften up.

Apple slices in a water and lemon juice bath

* A tip for keeping your sliced apples from turning brown:

Fill a bowl about 3/4 of the way with cold water. Add about a tablespoon of lemon juice (fresh or bottled both work). As you slice your apples, add them to the bowl with the water/lemon juice mixture. Let them soak for a few minutes before draining the water. The acid in the lemon juice helps slow the browning of the apples.

A Fun Way to Drink a Bottle of Wine - Sangria Recipe

I suppose it's a lot of fun to just pour wine into a glass, sip, and enjoy. You can even get glasses that can hold an entire bottle of wine. But, there are other, more fun, ways to drink your wine.

So, how can you make wine more fun? Make Sangria!

Sangria is light, smooth, and refreshing. You could easily drink a bottle (or more) of wine in the blink of an eye. What? You've never made it before? You should! Here's how:

Sangria

2 bottles of red wine (inexpensive, but not really cheap) - 1.5L total
1/2 cup brandy
2 Tbsp sugar
About 2 cups sliced/chopped fruit (I used 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 apple)
A bit of fresh fruit (I used strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries)

Yummy Sangria!

Slice your fruit. I cut my orange and lemon into rounds but diced the apple (so it will fall into my glass when I pour and I can eat it!).

Put the cut fruit into a pitcher. Add the sugar and brandy and give it a mix. Refrigerate the pitcher for 6-8 hours to give the fruit time to macerate.

When the long wait is over, pour in all of the wine. Your Sangria is ready to drink.

Before pouring, prepare your glasses. Add a little fresh fruit and some ice. Pour away!


★ You can use any fruit you want for this drink, but it's important to have the citrus in the first step.
★ This is a great year-round drink and an easy party drink.
★ You can change it up each time you make it, using whatever fruit you have on hand or what is in season.

Green Iguana Margaritas

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm rocking a green shirt, but I won't be downing any green beer today. I like beer. Sometimes. Well, I mostly like sour beers (YUM!).

My husband and I have been on a margarita kick lately, so we decided that making green margaritas would be Irish enough for us! We took our basic Cadillac Margarita recipe and "greenified" it. Both the Cadillac and the Green Iguana Margarita are strong but smooth drinks. The Green Iguana has just a hint of melon flavor, which is perfect for me. I hate when cocktails are too sweet. Yuck!

Green Iguana Margaritas

Cadillac Margarita

3 oz 100% agave tequila
2 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
1 - 1.5 oz Cointreau

Green Iguana Margarita

3 oz 100% agave tequila
2 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz Midori

Fill a glass with ice (cute cactus-stemmed glasses are optional). Add all ingredients to the glass, and give it a quick stir. Sip and enjoy!

Grilled Tri Tip with Tequila-Lime Marinade

This is seriously the best tri tip marinade ever. I think I might be a little addicted to it.

Grilled Tri Tip with Tequila-Lime Marinade

I wish I had grilled it a little less.  :(

 2 2-lb. tri tips, trimmed

For the marinade:

1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup tequila
7 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Whisk the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Easy, right?

Optional meat preparation (optional because some will tell you to leave the fat on the tips and that it is sacrilege to pierce meat before cooking): Trim the tri tips - remove as much fat as you can. Using thin, sharp knife, pierce the meat all over.

Place the meat in a resealable plastic bag, and add the marinade. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible, and seal it all up.

Let the meat marinate for at least 2 hours, but overnight is even better. Keep the meat refrigerated, and turn the bag occasionally. Make sure to take the meat out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you are ready to grill. You never want to grill cold meat. The outside will cook and the inside will be raw!

Prepare your BBQ and set the heat to medium-high. Remove the tri-tips from the marinade and grill it to your desired doneness (about 10 minutes per side for medium).

Transfer the meat to a plate or cutting board. Tent the meat with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. After the 10-minute rest, cut the tri tips diagonally, across the grain. Yum!  :)

Grilled Tri Tip With Foil Tent

Grilled Tri Tip After 10-minutes Rest

* You can freeze this! Prepare your meat and cover it in the marinade in a resealable freezer bag. Having one of these in the freezer, ready to go, has saved my butt numerous times. You never know when you'll have last-minute dinner guests or you just don't have time to go to the grocery store.

Insalata Caprese - The Best Salad Ever!

My all-time favorite salad is the caprese. Maybe it's because I'm Italian. Maybe it's because it is so simple to make. No matter what the reason, this salad is unbelievably delicious.

Traditionally, caprese salads are made using thick slices of tomato, sliced rounds of fresh mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled over the top.

Insalata Caprese - from Wikipedia

The way I make my caprese is a little different. It all started when my husband (then fiance) was in law school and I was the only one working (at a craptastic job). I never let myself buy fresh mozzarella, but I really wanted to make a caprese salad. I had some cherry tomatoes, some fresh basil, and . . . string cheese! Yup. String cheese. I sliced those cheese sticks into rounds, cut the tomatoes in half, and chopped up the basil. I topped it all with a few drizzles of olive oil and balsamic and gave everything a quick toss. I was a happy camper. The texture of the cheese wasn't right, but the flavor was good. I'd like to say that this was a one time deal, but I have to confess that I think I made it this way until we got real jobs and I let myself buy the right ingredients.

I have been buying real, fresh mozzarella to make my caprese salads for a few years now, but I still use cherry tomatoes and make it like a tossed salad.

Insalata Caprese

10 oz cherry or grape tomatoes
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (measure after chopping)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Cut the tomatoes in half (lengthwise for grape tomatoes).

If you are using bocconcini (small fresh mozzarella balls), you can leave them whole or cut them in half or quarters. If you are using larger balls of fresh mozzarella, cut the ball down into pieces that are close to the same size as your tomatoes after slicing.

Tear, slice, or chop the basil.

Combine the chopped tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil in a bowl. Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything well.

You can eat the caprese right away, but it tastes better if you let it sit for a bit and let the flavors marry.

A Quick Tip For Chopping Basil

1: Remove the basil leaves from the stalks.

2: Stack the leaves, largest on the bottom. Work your way up to the smallest leaves. This step does not have to be neat and tidy. Just make sure you have the largest leaf on the bottom.

3: Roll the leaves up. Make sure the smaller leaves are covered as much as possible.

4: Start at one end of the basil roll. Make thin slices down the length of the roll.

5: You now have a bunch of basil ribbons, or a "chiffonade." Basil ribbons are beautiful, so you can stop here if you like.

6: To finish the chop, slice across the rolls of basil.

Chipotle-Style Cilantro-Lime Rice

More food! I know! I think I might be a little addicted to it.  :p

Anyway, yesterday I wrote about one of my "go to" sauces. Today, I'm letting you in on a little side dish secret. I love Chipotle. I could eat it every day. Every Day. BUT, it's really not all that great for you. About a year ago, I happened upon a woman that tries to make lighter versions of dishes, including some Chiptole recipes (Skinny Taste). I found her recipe for Chipotle's Cilantro-Lime Rice through Pinterest. After making her version, I decided that I could cut more salt and oil out of the recipe to make it even better for you, without sacrificing taste. Here's my version:

Chipotle's Cilantro-Lime Rice

3 - 3.5 cups cooked extra long grain  rice or basmati rice (about 1 cup pre-cooked)
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
3/4 tsp salt

In a medium bowl, combine the chopped cilantro, lime juice, oil, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the rice, and toss until completely mixed.

Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken with Chimichurri

Every now and then I find a recipe that is a real hit with my husband. Chimichurri is one of those recipes.

Grilled Chicken with Chimichurri

 Chimichurri is a sauce that originated in Argentina, but it's also used extensively in many other countries. It is super simple to make and is packed with flavor. It's usually used to top grilled meat (any kind), but I've also heard of people using it to sauce other foods, like potatoes. One of my favorite ways to use it is as marinade for chicken.

There are a million different recipes for chimichurri, but this is the one I like to use:

Chimichurri Sauce

Makes enough to marinate 6-8 chicken breasts, with a little extra to use to top the chicken after grilling.

2 cups flat leaf Italian parsley - about one bunch - stems okay
4 large garlic cloves (if you use pre-minced garlic like I do, it's about 4 tsp total)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

You can spend lots of time chopping everything up and then mix it all together, but I prefer to toss it all in my food processor and let it whirl. I trim the very bottom off the parsley stalks and toss them in whole, stems and all. Don't be scared to do this. It saves so much time!

The mixture should be chunky.

If you are using your chimichurri as a marinade, make sure you put some aside first so you can use it to top the cooked meat.

The chimichurri can be made up to 5 days in advance and should be refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before serving.

A Perk of Summer

I really, really dislike feeling hot, BUT hot days do have their perks. Today's hot day perk was a nice, refreshing afternoon cocktail. After being pregnant for what felt like a lifetime and then nursing for a year after Mr. Baby's arrival, an afternoon cocktail was a distant memory. I know it's silly, but it was really nice to finally be able to have a drink in the middle of the afternoon if I wanted to!

Today's cocktail was a Skyy Vodka invention called a Cherry Patriot. It's strong, but still easy to drink.

Cherry Patriot

1 1/2 oz Cherry Vodka (Skyy Infusions)
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
3/4 oz Rye Whiskey
2 oz Club Soda

Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

Garnish with a cherry (or two). Because they're pretty . . . and yummy after they soak up a bunch of booze.  :)