Popovers (Gluten-free)

Up until our first trip to Maine I had never had the pleasure of savoring the warm bite of a popover. There was no lack of baked goods in my universe but somehow eating a popover was not in my treasure chest of tasty treats. On our second trip to Maine, with knowledge of the savory treats stored securely in my memory, digging into more popovers was a priority. Yes, there were lots of sights on my list to explore but the top spots on the list belonged to my favorite restaurants. I was on a mission to get back to The Jordan Pond House Restaurant and devour their popovers.

Each meal comes with one popover. One is not enough. It is now standard practice for me to immediately advise the server upon ordering to bring me my second popover ASAP. I know I will want it. There is no reason to wait.

Basket of popovers at The Jordan Pond House Restaurant

As you can see in the picture above, the popovers at their restaurant are huge. I did not manage to take a picture of what they look like cut in half but I can tell you that they are light and fluffy and full of space to slather it with butter and jam.

When we returned from our trip I immediately began testing out a gluten-free version of The Jordan Pond House’s popover recipe. With several tweaks here and there and maybe a few more to go I think I’ve come pretty close to replicating my favorite pastry. My version is not nearly as large, light or fluffy but I’m sure that will come with a few more tweaks. For now, I’ll stay satiated with this recipe.

Photo by John Cruice

Since this is my last post about our trip to Maine I wanted to share with you two more stunning photographs we captured on our trip. The only thing on our itinerary for our drive there was a stop overnight in Boston. We had the whole day traveling there wide open. About 15 minutes outside of New Canaan, Connecticut we realized we were minutes away from The Philip Johnson Glass House. We decided to take a chance and stop by. To say that we were lucky would be an understatement.

We arrived at the visitor center less than an hour before the next tour was scheduled to begin. We casually inquired about taking a tour. Two people had just backed out of the next tour. There were spots available. Normally the wait-list can run up to one month. Within minutes we were on the shuttle on the way to the house.

The tour included a tour of the glass house, the painting gallery and sculpture gallery pictured below. We toured the sculpture gallery at the exact time the sun peered through the roof. Isn’t the picture below stunning?

Our detour to the home was an intriguing way to start out our vacation. I’ll leave details about all of the White Russian drinks I consumed on our night in Boston and subsequent vicious hangover for another post:)

Photo by John Cruice

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Popovers (Gluten-Free) (Adapted from Jordan Pond House)

These popovers are not yet as light and airy as I would like them to be. They are a work in progress.

Ingredients:

16 ounces milk

8 ounces eggs (4 large)

8 ounces gluten-free flour blend*

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Beat 4 eggs until lemon colored. (Beating creates a foam that is important to airy concoctions like this one. Beat eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for about 3-5 minutes. The volume of the beaten eggs will increase, the texture will go from liquid to thick and foamy and the color will be a light yellow.)

Slowly add 8 ounces of milk to eggs and beat until mixed. Slowly add dry ingredients and beat until well mixed. Add remaining milk. Beat until batter is smooth and the thickness of heavy cream.

Pour batter into well greased popover pan, filling cups 3/4 full. Bake on middle shelf of preheated oven at 425 degrees for the first 15 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake 20 minutes longer.

Popovers are best served right from the oven. Serve with butter and jam.

Servings: 6 popovers.

*I make my own gluten-free flour blend. The basic recipe is 11 ounces brown rice flour, 3.75 ounces potato starch and 1.40 ounces tapioca flour. Combine the ingredients together and then measure out 8 ounces from the combined ingredients. Making my own blend has made a significant difference in my recipes.

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‘Berry Dessert Cups

Six pounds of blackberries and twenty pounds of peaches recently invaded my humble abode. After figuring out a fun way to use the peaches, I moved onto the blackberries. I turned to Twitter once again for ideas. Twitter is by far my favorite resource.

Aaron Levy @bigalittlea suggested I make soup. Unaware of the concept of reducing fruit to a “soup” I eagerly asked for more information. He explained that I could combine the blackberries with some wine, sugar and a few other ingredients to make a reduction I could use as a dessert and pointed me to a recipe.

Never at a loss for a reason to eat cake I decided to pick up some dessert cups to pair with the soup. I adorned the dessert cups with a dollop of whipped cream. You can make this recipe with any berries you have on hand. I cannot wait to try this with cranberries for a simple holiday dessert.

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‘Berry Dessert Cups (adapted from Food.com)

Ingredients:

1 cup merlot

1 cup water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 cups blackberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

2 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

1.) Place blackberries, water, wine, lemon juice and sugar in large pot.

2.) Bring to a boil, then turn down the burner to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

3.) Turn the burner off and allow mixture to cool.

4.) Once the mixture is cooled, place it in a food processor and mix well.

5.) Strain processed liquid through a strainer, mashing the pulp through with the back of a spoon.

6.) Return the strained liquid to the pot and add in 2 tablespoons of cold water.

7.) Cook until desired thickness.

8.) Return the mixture to the food processor and add whipping cream and orange zest.

9.) Chill overnight.

10.) Serve in dessert cups, as a topping on pound cake or by itself in a small ramekin. Serve cold with a dollop of whipped cream.

Servings: 6-8

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Watermelon, Cucumber and Feta Salad

Watermelon is a wicked temptress. Well, not really. I thought that would be a cool way to start out this post. What is there to say about watermelon? It’s large, luscious and incredible. It’s over 90% water which means it can get a little messy.

Don’t skip too many steps in this recipe. Soaking the onion will help temper its pungent taste. You don’t want one flavor to dominate all the other ingredients. All the flavors work to compliment each other. Drying the watermelon and cucumber will help reduce the amount of liquid that will collect at the bottom of the salad bowl.

I brought this to a brunch recently where we had lots of light seasonal dishes. I prepared all the ingredients ahead of time and assembled it there. It is great as a side or as a meal.

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Watermelon, Cucumber and Feta Salad (Adapted from Food Network)

Ingredients:

4 cups seedless watermelon, diced

1 cucumber, seeded and sliced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 fresh lemon juice

1/4 balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup chopped cashews

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Soak 1/2 thinly sliced red onion in water.

Pat dry 4 cups seedless diced watermelon and 1 seeded and sliced cucumber.

Drain the onion, squeeze dry. Toss watermelon, cucumber and onion in a large bowl.

Top salad with chopped cashews and crumbled feta.

Whisk 1/4 olive oil, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice and 1/4 balsamic vinegar together and serve on the side with the salad.

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