Saturday, June 18, 2011

WELTBESTE POPOVERS - UND SO EINFACH!




Die Popovers sind inzwischen aktualisiert und umgezogen - auf mein deutsches Blog Brot & Meer:

RICHTIG AUFGEPUFFT - AMERIKANISCHE POPOVERS

WORLD'S BEST POPOVERS - AND SO EASY!


Hier geht's zur deutschen Version dieses Posts


















Let's call Yorkshire pudding
A fortunate blunder:
It's a sort of popover
That turned and popped under.


Ogden Nash twisted the facts a little bit - though American popovers are relatives of of the English Yorkshire pudding, they are, off course, the offspring, not the origin. Not only that, over time they turned from a savory side dish for lamb into a dessert.

I've tried several popover recipes, they were quite good, but I was never able to make popovers that really "popped over". Compared with the famous popovers at Jordan Pond Restaurant on Mount Desert Island (which, by the way, get a little smaller every year), mine never rose much over the rim of the pan - even the ones I baked from Jordan Pond's own recipe.

Fortunately there are the good people from "Cook's Illustrated", working tirelessly in America's Test Kitchen, trying to come up with THE best version for every imaginable recipe. I gave their popover recipe a shot - and they POPPED! And not only that, the recipe is really one for dummies, you practically can't screw up.

Tea and Popovers at Jordan Pond

WORLD'S BEST POPOVERS (6) (adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup/140 g all-purpose flour (or exchange 14 g/5 tsp with whole grain flour, see note below)
1 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vegetable oil

In a blender, mix eggs and milk until smooth. Add flour, butter, and salt, and continue to blend on high speed until batter is bubbly and smooth, about 1 minute. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Measure 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil into each cup of popover pan. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place pan in oven, and preheat oven to 450ºF.

After batter has rested, stir it and pour into measuring cup with spout. Working quickly, remove pan from oven and divide batter evenly among cups. Bake for 20 minutes without opening oven door.

Lower heat to 350 F and bake until golden brown all over, 15 - 18 minutes more. Gently flip popovers out unto rack and let cool slightly before serving (2 minutes).

Serve with butter and strawberry jam (or other jam).

You can exchange 10% of the white flour (14 g/5 tsp) with whole grain (I like Einkorn) without having to add more liquid or compromising their popping.

Popovers can be prepared in a 12-cup muffin pan (fill only the 10 outer cups), but they will not rise quite as high as in the special popover pan.

Popover batter can be made 1 day ahead and stored in refrigerator, wrapped tightly. Let come to room temperature and stir thoroughly before using.

Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park

Thursday, June 16, 2011

"Hazel" and "Little Nut" Are Growing - "Hasel" und "Nüsschen" wachsen

Hazel
Little Nut
In 2008 I stuck some fresh hazelnuts in the ground at different places in our yard. I also gave some to our friend Tamara for her gorgeous garden. In spring 2009 I checked for weeks the planting sites, but nothing showed, only some more weeds.

I don't bother too much about those, and when my husband complains about our untidy lawn, I say: "Green is green!" This motto was already an annoyance to my neighbors when I was living in Germany. My eco-friendly garden was a fertile breeding ground for dandelion and burning nettle seeds, and other horticultural threats that law abiding, Round-Up toting garden owners abhor.

Last year I looked at some puny rhubarbs planted many years ago along the fence before cedars and maples blocked the sun. I noticed a seedling with round, serrated leaves that seemed familiar. After almost two years a hazelnut had sprouted! Though I scanned every centimeter of our yard for more, it was the only one. But Tamara gave me another nut-ling, she got several of them.

My two little hazelnuts cheerfully grew more leaves, while I watched them like a hawk, knowing my Richard's merciless efficiency with the lawnmower. They survived last winter, buried by tons of snow, and outgrew their yogurt container collars (protection from certain people to who believe that nature should be "beaten into submission").

With some luck, and if some people - I name no names - keep their greedy weed whackers off them, "Hazel" and "Little Nut" will grow into nice, big bushes, providing us with an abundance of delicious nuts. Unless our fat squirrels eat them first!

2008 steckte ich ein paar frische Haselnüsse an verschiedenen Stellen entlang unseres Grundstücks in die Erde. Ich gab auch einige unserer Freundin Tamara für ihren wunderbaren Garten. Im Frühjahr 2009 sah ich wochenlang nach den Pflanzstellen, aber nichts liess sich blicken, ausser ein paar mehr Unkräutern.

Die kümmern mich nicht allzu sehr, und wenn mein Mann sich über unseren unordentlichen Rasen beschwert, sage ich: "Grün ist grün!" Dieses Motto war bereits ein Ärgernis für meine Nachbarn, als ich noch in Deutschland wohnte. Mein öko-freundlicher Garten war eine fruchtbare Brutstätte für Löwenzahn- und Brennesselsamen, sowie andere hortikulturelle Bedrohungen, die gesetzestreue, Unkrautvernichtungsmittel-schwingende Gartenbesitzer schrecken.
Letztes Jahr schaute ich nach ein paar mickrigen Rhabarbern, die vor vielen Jahren entlang dem Zaun gepflanzt worden waren - bevor Zedern und Ahörner das Sonnenlicht blockierten. Ich bemerkte einen Sprössling mit runden, gezähnten Blättern, die mir bekannt vorkamen. Nach beinahe zwei Jahren war eine Haselnuss gekeimt! Obwohl ich jeden Zentimeter des Grundstücks nach weiteren absuchte, blieb sie die Einzige. Aber Tamara gab mir einen zweiten Nuss-Sprössling, bei ihr waren mehrere gekommen.

Meine kleinen Haselnüsse liessen fröhlich weitere Blätter spriessen, während ich sie wie ein Habicht überwachte, in Gedanken an Richards erbarmungslose Gründlichkeit mit dem Rasenmäher. Begraben unter tonnenweisem Schnee überlebten sie den letzten Winter und wuchsen aus ihren Joghurtbecher-Kragen heraus (Schutz vor gewissen Leuten, die glauben, Natur solle "gewaltsam unterworfen" werden).
Mit ein bisschen Glück, und wenn einige Leute - ich will keine Namen nennen - ihre gierigen Rasentrimmer von ihnen lassen, werden "Hasel" und "Nüsschen" zu hübschen, grossen Büschen wachsen und uns mit massenhaft leckeren Nüssen versorgen. Wenn unsere dicken Eichhörnchen sie nicht vorher fressen!