Popovers & Cranberry Butter
Most of the time I forget we live on an island but sometimes it hits me like a ton of bricks. Yesterday, Dylan and I were talking about all the kids in his class. I mentioned one little boy and he said “Oh no, he’s not in my class anymore because he moved to (long pause) AMERICA!” America being off-island. Should I worry about this perception or appreciate its humor?
Maybe it’s the holidays creeping up on us but I’m also dying to go to Trader Joe’s (mainly for dried blueberries because our baby is obsessed) and Target (mainly for nothing I really need). Alas, those places are an ocean away but guess what, we have a cranberry bog! Recently, I took the boys to Cranberry Acres to harvest organic island grown cranberries. I wish I had my good camera but a bog + 2 boys + harvesting + expensive camera = disaster.
When we got home Dylan suggested making cranberry butter after having some at school (a friend brought in berries from Cranberry Day and their Island Grown Schools teacher made the butter.) We gave it a shot and he approved. And to me, any good butter deserves a warm popover.
POPOVERS:
makes 6
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F for 20 minutes. Evenly divide the butter between a six cup popover pan or six 1/2 cup ramekins, dropping a small piece into each cup.
2. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the eggs then whisk in the milk.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt until well blended. Gently whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture until small lumps are left, and set aside.
4. Place the popover tin on baking sheet and into the oven for 4 minutes. At 3 minutes, give the batter a light whisk. Remove the hot tin from the oven and immediately divide the batter among the prepared cups (I like to first pour the batter into a large liquid measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring).
5. Bake for 25 minutes without opening the oven door. The popovers will be puffy, with crisp brown crusts and hollow, moist interiors. Serve immediately with cranberry butter.
CRANBERRY BUTTER:
makes 2 cups
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon orange or lemon zest
1. Simply whiz everything together in a food processor, pausing to scrape down the sides, until the cranberries are fully incorporated. Transfer to a bowl and enjoy.
Extra cranberry butter is great on toast, spread under the skin of poultry before roasting, atop roasted root vegetables, sauteed green beans, or boiled potatoes, and spread onto muffins.