Little Bitty Popover Bites

I don’t think people realize how invigorating writing this blog has been for me. It has been a humbling, maddening, and amazing experience. There have been flops as many as there had been successes. I’ve cooked and baked outside the box, and the same goes for my fitness and health. As January comes to a close, I stand before the month of February empowered and amazed what four weeks into the New Year has done for me. Amongst the mistakes and the experiments and the lessons, I am proud to say I participated in the first Gluten Free Ratio Rally of 2012.

For all of January the participants of the GFRR worked hard to come up with popover recipes, and all of us had our trials. I personally had three flops before a winner emerged. During this time I made different breakfast bakes, perfected cornbread, and dressed up quinoa. I also started rock climbing no less than three times a week (bouldering to be more precise), running twice a week, working two part-time jobs, and loving everything about my life.

Now, even though my cornbread boosted my confidence, it was the success of January’s GFRR that proved just how limitless I was, and just how limitless and delicious being gluten free can be with a little patience and perseverance.

So you may be wondering, “just what was this month’s GFRR, Morri?” Well, with an ingredient ratio of 1 flour : 2 liquid : 1 egg, can you guess what it is?

If you said “popovers,” you are absolutely correct.

I wish I had taken photos of the flops, because when I say flops, I mean flops. The first batch was cooked in duck fat, with a much too thick batter that essentially turned into savory donut holes in muffin tins. The second batch was made as a dairy free Dutch baby, but it was like a thick pancake without the rise. The third batch was made in my new mini muffin tin, with pureed banana, buttermilk, and coconut flour that ended up being your average muffins more than anything. But the fourth batch was just right, so right in fact gluten loving Burt-man ate practically the entire batch without a second thought of them being gluten free. And this was a man that feared most of my gluten free experimentations!

Needless to say I was quite pleased.

Popovers are light, hollow rolls made from an eggy batter similar to Yorkshire pudding, though instead it is cooked in a special kind of baking tin (or a muffin tin if you don’t have one) and cooked in butter as opposed to drippings. The oldest known reference to popovers is from a letter in 1850, and the first cookbook to mention this delectable treat was M. N. Henderson’s Practical Cooking (1876).

U.S. American poet Ogden Nash even wrote a light-hearted albeit inverted chronology of the popovers:

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

Mrs. R of honey from flinty rocks is our amazing host for this month’s GFRR. As a woman who is all about overcoming the shortcomings that happen in life, I say she chose the perfect challenge for the rest of us. At one point I was ready to throw my hands up and say “Nope. I’m done.” But on the last day of January, I figured I’d try at it again with three new tricks:

1. Using starch in the recipe (45 g out of 120 g)
2. Putting the leftover butter into the batter after greasing the pan (Thanks for the tip, Jonathan!)
3. Steam

The third, I believe, made all the difference in the world. On the shelf below the popovers I put a third of a teakettle of tap water (not hot) in a broiler pan but otherwise cooked as Ruhlman’s book Ratio instructed.

The rest, my dear readers, is history. I hope that you realize from each month’s GFRR is, whether you are gluten free, vegetarian (with or without the animal by-products), dairy free, nut free, or following a specific diet (SCD, ACD, Keto, Paleo, etc.), you should never deny yourself good food. Look at me; I made popovers. Grain-free mini muffin tin ones that followed the Meals With Morri motto “Delicious. Nutritious. Gluten free.” without compromise.

So then, what on Earth are you waiting for? Get cooking!

Little Bitty Popover Bites

240 ml Whole milk, room temperature
2 Large eggs, room temperature
19 g Quinoa flour
56 g Garbanzo bean flour
45 g Tapioca starch
1/2 – 3/4 tsp. Sea salt
30 g Butter, melted

Place a mini muffin tin (or small popover tin, if you have it) in the center shelf of the oven and preheat to 450ºF. 
In the shelf below, place a covered broiler pan filled with a third of a stovetop teakettle of water for steaming.
Except the butter, place the ingredients in a blender and pulse until just combined and let it sit on the counter to let the batter set.
Once the oven is preheated, take the muffin pan out of the oven and grease the tins with a silicone brush generously (do it at least twice).
Pour the leftover butter, between one and two teaspoons, in with the batter and pulse through the blender one more time until combined.
Fill each cup to the top with the batter and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375ºF, and continue baking until done, about 20 to 30 minutes (mine were done at 20).
Serve straight from the oven (pierce the tops to allow steam to escape) with preserves or honey, in soups or stews, or as is with a cup of tea.

 Makes 16 Little Bitties. :) Just saying "little bitty" makes me smile.

Here are the other participants for your viewing pleasure. And thanks again, Mrs. R, for hosting!

*Mrs. R | Honey From Flinty Rocks    Popovers - Gluten & Dairy Free
Brooke | B & the boy!    Chocolate & Sweet Potato Popovers
Charissa | Zest Bakery    Lemon Vanilla Popovers with Minnesota Raspberries
Claire | My Gluten free home    Chai Popovers
Erin Swing | The Sensitive Epicure    Popovers
Ginger Bardenhagen | Fresh Ginger    chive and black pepper; toasted onion and aleppo pepper
gretchen  |  kumquat    strawberry cream cheese popovers
Heather | Discovering the Extraordinary    Basic Popovers
Jenn | Jenn Cuisine    Chocolate Popovers
Jonathan  |  The Canary Files    Cinnamon & Star Anise Popovers
Mary Fran | FrannyCakes    Gluten-Free Honey Coconut Popovers
Morri  |  Meals With Morri    Little Bitty Popover Bites
Rachel  |  The Crispy Cook    Corny Popovers
TR | No One Likes Crumbley Cookies    Sweet Cherry Popovers