It actually hurt me a little bit to bake a pan of popovers for the photo. I don't miss many things since giving up gluten - mostly good beer, honestly - but oh, popovers! Truly the world's most perfect butter delivery vehicle, soft and eggy, steamy and crusty, marvelously ragged with melted-butter-pooling crevices. In college, I would make myself a batch of twelve, eat eight hot out of the pan - with soft butter - then save four to fry the next morning - in melted butter.
I long for those days.
Make a gluten-free batch, you say? I've tried. They're fine but not holy, not like real popovers, so I'm trying to make my peace with remembering how they taste. I was home alone with the batch pictured, so I just smelled them, watched them cool, put them away, and fried them in butter for my son the next morning to eat with maple syrup.
Ouch.
If you're not as maniacal about butter as I am, keep in mind that popovers are phenomenal with roast beef, particularly beefy pan drippings. If you make a lovely roast for the holidays, use a bit of fat from the pan to grease the muffin tin and call them Yorkshire puddings.
Recipe for Popovers at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.
Happy 2012!
