Rosemary & Parmesan Popovers

Originally, this post was going to be all about the soup, which is why it`s the focus most of my photos, but then it turned out that it wasn’t quite as delicious as I had planned.  It was good — I love celery root — but there was definitely something missing, and I haven`t been able to figure out what.

But if you cast your eyes over to the bottom-right, beside the bowl you`ll see some yummy little popovers.  Let’s talk about those instead, ’cause they were definitely the star of this lunch.

Quick to mix and bake, popovers make a homier choice than crackers alongside a big bowl of homemade soup brimming with springtime veggies.

My original recipe source for these popovers was The Joy of Cooking, a classic that has been on my kitchen shelf since the first Christmas after I moved out of the house.  It rarely makes it down from its perch on the shelf anymore, but it shows signs of heavy use sometime in its past:  pages are stuck together, others are covered in greasy fingerprints, and the red ribbon bookmark that came glued in the book’s spine has long since detached and flown the coop.

Most of the cookbooks I’ve owned are no longer with me.  My Joy is one of the exceptions.  Even though the recipes are out of date and, at times, utterly ridiculous (a recipe for tomato soup that calls for canned tomato soup — how is that a recipe?), it still comes in handy.  And, in the event of an apocalypse, I will have a recipe for porcupine meatballs, and an illustrated guide to skinning a squirrel.

Can you say you’re that prepared?

As for the Joy’s popover recipe, I found it to be a bit eggy tasting.  I’ve actually never had popovers, but I recognize them as cousins of the Yorkshire Puddings that my Mom made for pretty much every Sunday dinner — except, like I said, eggier.

You may have guessed I’m not overly fond of egginess — so I cut the eggs in the recipe down from 2 to 1, and I replaced the discarded ovum with a little bit of baking powder to help provide some lift.  It worked beautifully.

I used a mini-muffin pan, but a standard size one will also work.  All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Rosemary Parmesan Popovers
Yield:  6 large or 12 small popovers

• Milk – 1 Cup
• Melted Butter – 1 Tble
• All-Purpose Flour – 1 Cup
• Salt – ¼ tsp`
• Baking Powder – ¼ tsp
• Egg, beaten – 1
• Fresh Rosemary, minced – 1 Tble
• Parmesan Cheese, grated – ¼ Cup

Preheat the oven to 450°F.  Grease a muffin pan with butter.

Beat together the milk, butter, flour and salt until just smooth.  Beat in the egg until just incorporated.  Mix together the rosemary and parmesan in a small bowl.

Spoon just enough batter into each muffin cup to just cover the bottom.  Sprinkle each cup with 1-2 tsp parmesan cheese.  Spoon the remaining batter over the cheese, dividing it equally amongst the cups.  Do not fill the cups past 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 minutes then, without opening the oven, reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 10-20 minutes longer, depending on the size of the popovers, until the tops are golden and firm.