Wednesday, September 19, 2007

BLT's Popovers with gruyere

Chef Laurent Torondel has built a NYC empire. A BLT empire to be exact. The first of his empire, BLT Steak, was such a hit that he decided expanded. And expand he did. Now there is BLT , Prime, Market, Burger and Fish!

When concepts expand they can deflate. They may get that 'chainy' feel that lures tourists instead of locals. Your street cred can go down. Other chefs and food critics may start calling you a 'sell out'. Well, none of this has happened to our buddy Laurent. He's still a bad ass and a bad ass with a pretty respected restaurant empire that's always hoppin' every night of the week and always delivers great dishes.

By the way, did anyone else happen to catch his goat cheese battle on Iron Chef against other reigning NYC chef and bad ass Mario Batalli? Yeah, I wanted to jump in my TV screen to judge that competition. It was torture to watch but in a good way.

At BLT Steak, you get a popover instead of a bread basket. They are delicious but watch out because they will fill you up and the following courses are just as good if not better. I've made these a bunch of times and every time they impress and every time they're a hit. It's a win-win. They're a breeze to make and your guests will always ask for them next time.

Popovers with Gryuere
Adapted by StarChefs.com
Yield: 6 Servings
This recipe should make 12 popovers – 2 per person. They can be topped with caramelized onion and diced bacon, if desired. (I recommend!)

Ingredients:
4 cups milk
8 eggs
4 cups flour
1 ½ heaping Tablespoons salt
2 ¼ cups grated Gruyère cheese
Special equipment:Popover pan


Method:
Place popover pan in the oven. Heat oven and pan to 350°F.
Gently warm the milk in a pan over low heat and set aside. Whisk eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside.
Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this dry mixture to the egg mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.

Once combined, remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with non-stick vegetable spray. While the batter is still slightly warm or room temperature (but not cool), fill each popover cup ¾ full.

Top each popover with about 2½ Tablespoons of grated cheese. Bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes, rotating popover pan a half-turn after 15 minutes of baking. Remove pan from oven and serve popovers immediately.

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1 comment:

Missy said...

hey, what's a popover pan?