Sunday, January 26, 2014

Veggie-Enhanced Popovers

Ok, so I'm probably the least interested in food of any of the frequent readers and contributors here.  My criteria, which work pretty well for me, are that a meal has to contain at least one vegetable, have almost no sugar, and be edible to a four year old.  Also it has to be quick and easy enough to conceive, execute, consume, and clean up from in one hour max while also hanging out said four year old. Lately I've been capitalizing on the popularity of both muffins and Yorkshire pudding to bang out some veggie popovers that meet all these criteria and then some.  Here's how: Take half a large yellow onion (one small also OK), two large carrots, and a quarter of a 6 inch cabbage.  Chop in the food processor until evenly small.  Mushrooms are also good here.  I'd also do Kale but haven't tried that yet, would not do spinach because it's too wet.  Take three sausages, we usually have either mild Italian or brats, either is fine.   Slice the sausage into rounds and sautee until  thoroughly cooked.  Toss in veggies and sautee to doneness.  You herbs-and-spices folks can probably come up with something clever here; I usually just end up shaking on a little salt to make sure the veggies cook.  While veggies are in the pan, mix a standard Yorkshire pudding recipe (6 eggs, beaten, then add 2 C flour, 2T salt, 2C milk and beat until bubbly.  Seriously, it's that easy).  I actually thought it might be interesting to try this with self-rising flour the other day, but chickened out at the last minute.  But I digress.  Back to the recipe.  Mix the veggies and sausage into the batter.  Watch out for temp, you don't want to hit eggs with a quick shock of hot oil.  I usually find that by the time I have the batter together the veggies have cooled enough.  Spray two muffin tins with cooking spray, then nearly fill with the batter.  Pop in 400F oven, monitor for doneness, plan for 15-20 min cooking time.  When they come out the are kind of like mini toad-in-the-hole, but with LOTS of nearly hidden and non-extractable veggies (fellow parents will understand the importance of non-extractability !).  We often eat these as a meal unto themselves, but they would of course present better with a salad on the plate.  Samara and Pat love them, and we usually have them left over for a little while.  It's great to have a bunch in the fridge for a quick snack.  Samara found out that they're also pretty good with a little butter when hot, but hey, let's face it, what isn't?  Cheers, and enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. I like this idea! We eat yorkshire pudding at least once a week - 2-3 times if you count apple breakfast, which is Suzie's first phrase of the day at least half the time. I usually make mine with arugula, the guys like it better with sausages, but I prefer just veggie or plain. I use a different proportion of eggs to milk and four - 4 eggs, 2 c flour, 2 c milk, and I usually cook in a large skillet, which takes longer. I'll have to try the cut up onions and carrots and the muffin tin to save some time!

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