Celebrate Mother’s Day with these light, airy snacks.
By Donna Zitter Bordelon
Is your Mom a “pop over” kind of lady? If so, have a brunch ready for her on Mother’s Day. Serve her popovers. These popovers are buttery, airy, light, delicious, easy to make and a treat to eat. Top them with butter, jam, jelly, marmalade or fresh fruit butters.
Or, try them savory with the addition of your mom’s favorite spices or grated cheese. With their airy centers, popovers lend themselves to a filling. A perfect brunch for your mom might include popovers filled with Chicken a la Queen.
Popover pans can be prohibitively high-priced. But I found two six-cup pans at a local thrift shop for next to nothing, and they work great. Cookie, a friend and fellow art club member, has made many popovers, and she shared her favorite recipe with us.
Here is Cookie’s basic popover recipe. She said, “Popover pans work best, but muffin tins can also work.” It’s best to have your eggs and milk at room temperature. Popovers can be put back into the oven for a few minutes, if they need it. Also, if not eating them right away, prick popovers with the tip of a knife or toothpick to release steam. If you turn off your oven and prick the popovers, but leave them in the oven, they can stay warm a little longer until ready to serve. Who wants a soggy popover — right?
COOKIE’S POPOVERS
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
3 eggs
(If you forgot to take the eggs out of the refrigerator, just put them in warm water for 10 minutes, which quickly brings them to room temperature.)
3 Tbsp. oil or melted butter
1 tsp. salt
A pinch of baking powder
Preheat oven to 375/400 degrees.
Grease pans with butter or canola oil.
Mix all of the above with an electric mixer.
Fill pans ¾ full.
Bake 45–55 minutes.
Makes 6 popovers.
For Mother’s Day, this recipe will be renamed Chicken a la Queen. Here is the Chicken a la Queen recipe for Mom’s “pop over” brunch. Remove the top of the popovers or split them in half and fill with the following brunch special.
CHICKEN a la QUEEN
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
¼–½ lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced, cooked and drained (Wash, slice and lightly salt mushrooms).
Microwave 1½ minutes.)
1/4 cup green olives with pimiento, chopped
In a medium saucepan, slowly melt the butter.
Over medium-low heat, using a wire whisk, blend in the flour and salt, whisking and cooking for a minute or two.
Add the chicken broth and milk all at once and cook, whisking and stirring constantly until the sauce is thick and bubbling.
Add the parsley, peas, chicken, cooked/drained mushrooms and green olives, and stir together.
Lower heat slightly and cook and stir until thoroughly heated.
Serve in/over popovers.
Popovers are an easy breakfast treat. If you are a chocoholic, try the above popover recipe but add ¼ cup cocoa powder and reduce the flour by ¼ cup, adding 3 Tbsp. sugar, and ½ tsp. vanilla to the batter.
Here is a honey-butter recipe — so good with popovers.
HONEY BUTTER
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1/8 tsp. vanilla
Dash of cinnamon, optional
In a bowl, mix together well the butter, honey and vanilla, and cinnamon, if using.
Store covered in the refrigerator.
Popovers can turn into a savory treat, if dried herbs are added to the batter. Grated Parmesan cheese added to the batter, with a little sprinkled on top, is also good.
Eat well, live long, enjoy!
(Questions or tips can be sent to Donna Zitter Bordelon at WhatscookinNEPhilly@gmail.com or in care of the Times, 2 Executive Campus, Suite 400, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002)
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