There is a restaurant in Hawaii, that serves these gigantic warm popovers with lilikoi butter, but for the life of me I can't remember its name. Is it the Waioli Tea Room in Manoa? Does anyone know? Did I dream this place up? Before trying the popovers at that unnamed restaurant in Hawaii--my only other popover reference came from my mother in law. I remember her telling me about how she would make popovers (in a special popover tin) all the time when her boys were young. They were young and money was tight-- so popovers became one of their staple foods. I assumed that they were difficult and complicated-you know, requiring a special pan and all.
I was wrong. There are no special ingredients needed. No special pans either---just a regular old muffin tin will do just fine.
Not only are these super easy to make, they are egg-y and cheese-y and since we are trying to have giant salads at least once a week---these are a perfect way to add a little heft to a light meal.
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Sharp Cheddar Popovers
Adapted from Whole Foods Recipes
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil (The Whole Foods recipe called for canola oil but olive was all I had)
2 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons flour
¾ cup grated Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar
Step-by-Step:
1) Preheat oven to 425°F.
2) Grease 8 cups of a 12-muffin tin with oil. Be sure to coat the bottoms and sides thoroughly. Place the tin in the oven to get very hot while you make the batter.
3) Whisk together eggs, milk, butter, salt and cayenne, whisking for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in flour. Switch to a spoon and stir in ½ cup of the Cheddar. That's it for the mixing!
4) Spoon the mixture into the hot muffin tin, filling each cup a little more than half full.
5) Sprinkle the tops with the remaining ¼ cup Cheddar.
6) Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue to bake until the popovers are puffed up and deeply browned, about 15 more minutes. Try not to open the oven door too much--they may deflate.
7) Using a knife, unstick the popovers from the edges of the muffin cups. Serve hot!
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Gail says
Wow, thanks for posting! Popovers are a favorite at our house and Extra Sharp Cheddar in them makes them extra cheesy special!
rina says
They sound good 🙂