The lovely Pamela's people came through with a recipe!
Which I then proceeded to wreck.
See, the recipe looked remarkably simple, and it was followed by a bunch of tips. I was too eager to try the recipe to bother reading the tips. First Bad Idea. However, the recipe only makes six popovers, so I didn't waste much either in ingredients or time or effort, and they tasted right.
Pamela's recipe calls for the gluten-free bread/flour mix. As it happens, I only had the gluten-free baking/pancake mix. I thought I would try it anyway. Second Bad Idea. Had I read the tips the nice people at Pamela's had thoughtfully provided, I would have seen THE FIRST TIP IN BOLD PRINT, which says "Always use Pamela's Bread/Flour Mix to make the popovers. Pamela's Pancake/Baking Mix will not work." Oops.
The batter turned out right - just like mom's. There the similarity ended. No pretty, fluffy, popping popovers. More like doughy, muffiny things that were trying to pass for popovers. And they stuck to my non-stick pan. Like I said, they tasted fine. But popovers aren't just about taste, they are about presentation. It's part of the experience to marvel at how a puddle of batter can literally rise to heights unimagined.
Another thing I inherited from my mom was experimentation, which translated means "oh bother the instructions/guidelines, let's deviate a little and see what happens." Most of the time, this works for me (see previous post on how I often wander from the instructions for a knitting pattern). However, there are occasions, such as the above, when it really is better to read ALL the directions and follow them. For example, at Christmas, Mom and I attempted a gluten-free version of my grandmother's nut roll recipe, which turned out fine. Sort of. Except for it being a royal bitch to try to roll up and awfully crumbly when cut and eaten after baking. We used the baking/pancake mix for that as well. Hmm.
Maybe it would have worked better with the bread/flour mix.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
on popovers (or "people are nice")
My mother, who is part Irish/British, makes the best popovers. I refuse to hear any arguments to the contrary. She got the recipe from a British friend while both families were stationed in Japan (my dad was in the Air Force).
This British friend didn't have the recipe written down. She'd simply seen others in her family make it and had memorized the ingredients and steps and what the batter should look like. Ingredient amounts were fudged since what mattered is that the batter was the right consistency. This makes for a fussy recipe. Popovers are aptly named because properly made, they expand a great deal while baking and look as though they've popped out of the the muffin tin or popover tray or ramekin. Lots of people have lots of ideas for how to make the "perfect" popover - they should be tall and puffy and a little crisp and crackly on the outside and slightly doughy and steaming on the inside. If you scroll past the tips in this link, you'll see pictures of what I'm talking about.
My mother has tweaked her friend's recipe over the years. She swears they come out better in a new muffin tin rather than a seasoned one. She never bothered with the special pan or ramekins or using every other space in the muffin tin. And she just knows when the batter is perfect. Overall, I think it's her British/Irish roots that gave her The Knack for making perfect popovers.
Two of the ingredients in popovers are milk and flour. I developed a milk allergy when I was a teenager. Mom successfully tweaked the recipe yet again to make them with soy milk. In my early 20s, I developed a gluten allergy. Gluten is a protein in wheat, rye, and barley that makes dough sticky and elastic and the resulting product chewy when eaten. Just as some people have digestive systems that can't process lactose in milk products, others can't process gluten in baked goods or in other products that use it as a thickener, like gravy.
I've conducted many culinary experiments with gluten-free flour, and the one thing I cannot get right is popovers. No matter what I do with different amounts of eggs, butter, soy milk, salt, and baking soda, I just can't get the blasted things to rise properly. Recently, it occurred to me to e-mail the people who make the gluten-free flour that I use to see if they had any ideas. The same day I sent my query to them, I got this nice e-mail back:
Good morning Cate!
Well, first let me thank you for your interest in our products! Unfortunately, Pamela doesn’t have a recipe formulated for a popover; however, I spoke with her about what she would recommend, and she’s going to experiment in her “kitchen” with some different recipes and see which one works best. She’s toiling away even as we speak, so as soon as she has a finite recipe to give me, I’ll send it on over to you.
Again, thank you Cate, and I hope you have a great day!
Warmest regards,
Megan Warlick
Customer Service--Pamela's Products
Talk about customer service!
I am totally plugging Pamela's because not only are they nice people, but they make great stuff (and no, I'm not getting money or anything from them in exchange for the praise). I use their baking mix to make muffins or scones with blueberries or raspberries on Sunday mornings (until recently, that is - I've had to cut down on the carbs and up the protein and vegetables and fruit so I can fit into a bridesmaid's dress for Gwen's wedding this weekend; I will be back to the Sunday morning ritual soon though). The shortbread is my favorite of the cookies, I love dunking the biscotti in my tea, and don't even get me started about the brownie mixes!
I can't wait to hear if Pamela figures it out.
This British friend didn't have the recipe written down. She'd simply seen others in her family make it and had memorized the ingredients and steps and what the batter should look like. Ingredient amounts were fudged since what mattered is that the batter was the right consistency. This makes for a fussy recipe. Popovers are aptly named because properly made, they expand a great deal while baking and look as though they've popped out of the the muffin tin or popover tray or ramekin. Lots of people have lots of ideas for how to make the "perfect" popover - they should be tall and puffy and a little crisp and crackly on the outside and slightly doughy and steaming on the inside. If you scroll past the tips in this link, you'll see pictures of what I'm talking about.
My mother has tweaked her friend's recipe over the years. She swears they come out better in a new muffin tin rather than a seasoned one. She never bothered with the special pan or ramekins or using every other space in the muffin tin. And she just knows when the batter is perfect. Overall, I think it's her British/Irish roots that gave her The Knack for making perfect popovers.
Two of the ingredients in popovers are milk and flour. I developed a milk allergy when I was a teenager. Mom successfully tweaked the recipe yet again to make them with soy milk. In my early 20s, I developed a gluten allergy. Gluten is a protein in wheat, rye, and barley that makes dough sticky and elastic and the resulting product chewy when eaten. Just as some people have digestive systems that can't process lactose in milk products, others can't process gluten in baked goods or in other products that use it as a thickener, like gravy.
I've conducted many culinary experiments with gluten-free flour, and the one thing I cannot get right is popovers. No matter what I do with different amounts of eggs, butter, soy milk, salt, and baking soda, I just can't get the blasted things to rise properly. Recently, it occurred to me to e-mail the people who make the gluten-free flour that I use to see if they had any ideas. The same day I sent my query to them, I got this nice e-mail back:
Good morning Cate!
Well, first let me thank you for your interest in our products! Unfortunately, Pamela doesn’t have a recipe formulated for a popover; however, I spoke with her about what she would recommend, and she’s going to experiment in her “kitchen” with some different recipes and see which one works best. She’s toiling away even as we speak, so as soon as she has a finite recipe to give me, I’ll send it on over to you.
Again, thank you Cate, and I hope you have a great day!
Warmest regards,
Megan Warlick
Customer Service--Pamela's Products
Talk about customer service!
I am totally plugging Pamela's because not only are they nice people, but they make great stuff (and no, I'm not getting money or anything from them in exchange for the praise). I use their baking mix to make muffins or scones with blueberries or raspberries on Sunday mornings (until recently, that is - I've had to cut down on the carbs and up the protein and vegetables and fruit so I can fit into a bridesmaid's dress for Gwen's wedding this weekend; I will be back to the Sunday morning ritual soon though). The shortbread is my favorite of the cookies, I love dunking the biscotti in my tea, and don't even get me started about the brownie mixes!
I can't wait to hear if Pamela figures it out.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
women's day
It's Women's History Month, as well as International Women's Day today, and even though it's only March 7th, I've already come across a lot of neat stuff that is women-related:
The National Women's History Project declares 2009 as the year "women take the lead to save the planet." Rachel Carson is the model for the theme (Silent Spring is a great book). She was a local girl - she got her master's degree in zoology from Johns Hopkins University, and she wrote for the Baltimore Sun during the Depression. She died in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Fifteen women are receiving research grants to pursue doctoral or post-doc research. And that's quite a team of supporters - UNESCO and L'Oreal.
Ada Lovelace Day is coming up on March 24 to draw attention to women in technology. She was Lord Byron's daughter and one of the world's first computer programmers. Not bad for the mid-1800s. She figures largely in Lord Byron's Novel by John Crowley.
BBC4 has a program about that touchy word "spinster." Ann Widdecombe (a well-known British MP and single woman) narrates. I think I need to read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie again. Loved the Maggie Smith film version.
They have another program about the image of women in the media and a good article to go along with. There's even an upcoming program on the ever-changing definition of feminism. I've changed my definition several times, but that's another blog post entirely.
And speaking of feminism, I do my best to keep up with the latest issues of Bust magazine. Especially because the editor is Debbie Stoller, she of Stitch 'n Bitch fame.
And speaking of Stitch 'n Bitch, I've found a yummy palette of yarn designed by Kristin Nicholas. She named it after her daughter, Julia. I can't stop staring at the colors on that first pillow. And don't even get me started on the colors in this scarf - imagine wearing that in the dull gray of winter; instant cheery-upper. I think I lust after these colors because I'm so disappointed in colors of the yarn that I'm using for my current project (and the yarn has a funny chemically smell), but that's also for another blog post. Anyway, Kristin Nicholas is known for her color expertise, so I hope to try her yarn soon. (Here's a collage of some of her swatches using Julia yarn.) I've mentioned before that I really enjoy her blog - she lives on a sheep farm in Massachusetts with her husband and daughter, she has a sunflower field, she takes great pictures, and she has an enviable creative life - at least I envy it.
Tell all the women you know to sign up for the Army of Women research project. They're trying to recruit at least one million women. You get e-mail updates about upcoming breast cancer treatment and prevention trials and if you qualify, they make it easy to get more information and volunteer for the trials. The latest one is the Sisters trial (women who have sisters with breast cancer). Dr. Susan Love is the main brains behind this.
And perhaps it's mere coincidence, but I received samples of Always new Infinity pads in the mail yesterday, unasked for. I actually laughed when I saw them in my mailbox. Their tagline is always good for a giggle: "Have a happy period." As if.
Oh, and 3 Mo' Divas is on PBS. Fun gospel/jazz/opera/blues to listen to, and the ladies are a hoot!
The National Women's History Project declares 2009 as the year "women take the lead to save the planet." Rachel Carson is the model for the theme (Silent Spring is a great book). She was a local girl - she got her master's degree in zoology from Johns Hopkins University, and she wrote for the Baltimore Sun during the Depression. She died in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Fifteen women are receiving research grants to pursue doctoral or post-doc research. And that's quite a team of supporters - UNESCO and L'Oreal.
Ada Lovelace Day is coming up on March 24 to draw attention to women in technology. She was Lord Byron's daughter and one of the world's first computer programmers. Not bad for the mid-1800s. She figures largely in Lord Byron's Novel by John Crowley.
BBC4 has a program about that touchy word "spinster." Ann Widdecombe (a well-known British MP and single woman) narrates. I think I need to read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie again. Loved the Maggie Smith film version.
They have another program about the image of women in the media and a good article to go along with. There's even an upcoming program on the ever-changing definition of feminism. I've changed my definition several times, but that's another blog post entirely.
And speaking of feminism, I do my best to keep up with the latest issues of Bust magazine. Especially because the editor is Debbie Stoller, she of Stitch 'n Bitch fame.
And speaking of Stitch 'n Bitch, I've found a yummy palette of yarn designed by Kristin Nicholas. She named it after her daughter, Julia. I can't stop staring at the colors on that first pillow. And don't even get me started on the colors in this scarf - imagine wearing that in the dull gray of winter; instant cheery-upper. I think I lust after these colors because I'm so disappointed in colors of the yarn that I'm using for my current project (and the yarn has a funny chemically smell), but that's also for another blog post. Anyway, Kristin Nicholas is known for her color expertise, so I hope to try her yarn soon. (Here's a collage of some of her swatches using Julia yarn.) I've mentioned before that I really enjoy her blog - she lives on a sheep farm in Massachusetts with her husband and daughter, she has a sunflower field, she takes great pictures, and she has an enviable creative life - at least I envy it.
Tell all the women you know to sign up for the Army of Women research project. They're trying to recruit at least one million women. You get e-mail updates about upcoming breast cancer treatment and prevention trials and if you qualify, they make it easy to get more information and volunteer for the trials. The latest one is the Sisters trial (women who have sisters with breast cancer). Dr. Susan Love is the main brains behind this.
And perhaps it's mere coincidence, but I received samples of Always new Infinity pads in the mail yesterday, unasked for. I actually laughed when I saw them in my mailbox. Their tagline is always good for a giggle: "Have a happy period." As if.
Oh, and 3 Mo' Divas is on PBS. Fun gospel/jazz/opera/blues to listen to, and the ladies are a hoot!
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