Poplar Bluff Historical Society Recipes

BLACK PEPPER POPOVERS FILLED WITH VERMONT CHEDDAR AND HERB SCRAMBLED EGGS AND MAPLE-MUSTARD GLAZED CANADIAN BACON

Steps:

• For the canadian bacon: Whisk the maple syrup and mustard in a small bowl. Set aside. Heat the canola oil in a large cast-iron pan over high heat. Add the Canadian bacon and cook until browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Flip and brush generously with the maple syrup mixture. Cook for another 2 minutes, and then transfer to a platter.
• For the cheddar and herb scramble: Heat the canola oil over high heat in another cast-iron skillet. Add the cherry tomatoes cut-side down and cook until seared, 1 to 2 minutes. Season them with salt and pepper, and transfer to a plate.
• Whisk together the eggs, Cheddar, chives, parsley and tarragon in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in a large nonstick pan over medium-low heat until it begins to sizzle. Add the egg mixture and slowly cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until soft curds form. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• For the popovers: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Generously brush a 6-slot aluminum popover pan with softened butter. Place the pan in the oven to heat 5 minutes before you are ready to add the batter.
• Whisk together the melted butter, flour, milk, salt, pepper and eggs until smooth. The batter should be thin. Fill the popover pans less than halfway full and bake for exactly 30 minutes. Do not open the oven door while popovers are baking. Make the popovers last because they need to be eaten almost immediately once removed from the oven.
• For assembly: Open the popovers and fill each half with a slice of the bacon. Top each with the eggs, and a cherry tomato half. Serve the remaining tomatoes on the side.

POPOVERS

Steps:

• If eggs and milk are cold, before combining, submerge whole eggs in warm water 10 minutes and heat milk until just warm. Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a nonstick popover pan on rack in lowest position.
• After you have combined eggs and milk in a large bowl, whisk together until very frothy. This should only take about 1 minute. Have the flour and salt measured out and ready to go.
• Add flour and salt to egg mixture. We tested out a blender and an electric stand mixer when making the batter, but concluded that whisking by hand produces the most tender, airy popovers.
• Whisk flour and salt into egg mixture just until batter is the consistency of heavy cream with some small lumps remaining. See those air bubbles? They are what will cause the popovers to rise.
• Remove popover pan from oven and coat with cooking spray. If you prefer a standard muffin tin, only coat (and fill) the outer cups; they get better circulation in the oven. (Also, reduce baking time by 5 minutes.)
• Fill popover cups about three-quarters full with batter. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue to bake until golden brown and dry to the touch, about 20 minutes more.
• Popovers lose their crunch if they linger in the pan, so turn them out on a wire rack immediately and poke a small opening in the side of each with a paring knife to let the steam escape. Serve right away.

BASIC POPOVERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together milk, flour, and salt. Whisk in eggs. (Mixture will be lumpy.)
• Heat two 6-cup popover pans in oven for 5 minutes, then quickly brush cups generously with butter. Fill each cup a little more than halfway with batter. Bake for 20 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Turn out popovers, and serve warm.