Popovers!

Now that the wedding is over and I am starting to have a little bit more time on my hands, I decided to make this blog a little bit more official by establishing my own domain: fitgirlfare.com! This is very exciting and means there are many many more recipes and posts to come. This will be the last post on the current blog so please, check out the new site and continue to read my posts there. And now on to the important stuff... Popovers!

I like to think that Popovers were one of the first foods that I totally mastered. They say it’s hard to make popovers turn out in a new oven and its generally luck of the draw, but I’ve found that my recipe is pretty fool proof. Plus, who cares if they don’t pop right or look a little funky, they always taste delicious! Popovers probably aren’t a food you thought you would ever see on a healthy living blog, however, I’ve made some modifications to at least make them a little bit less unhealthy and having one or two isn’t going to get me off track – it’s all about balance and moderation, right?

The trick with popovers is patience. I am not the most patient person in the world especially when it comes to food, but the batter needs to rest after you mix it up. If you don’t let it rest, I find that they don’t rise quite as well and they become eggy on the inside instead of light and airy. Some recipes tell you to get everything at room temperature and then mix it up, but I have always mixed everything together and let it sit on my counter to rest while it comes to room temperature.

I have also become quite adventurous with my popovers. Black Pepper and Gruyere are a great addition and, if you’re really splurging, bacon, chive, and cheddar is an awesome combination. For breakfast you can add a little bit of cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar and you have makeshift donuts! If you are adding cheese or any non-spice ingredient make sure to add it on top after you pour the batter into the cups. If you add it directly to the batter the popovers don’t work as well.

Popovers
Total time 1.5 hours
Makes 4-6 popovers depending on the size of your pan

2 large eggs
1 cup Skim Milk (this is my “healthier” substitution, most recipes call for whole or 2%)
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbs butter melted and cooled

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and then stir in the rest of the ingredients leaving some lumps. You don’t want the batter to be completely smooth – according to Alton Brown, the lumps help to create more lift! Let the batter sit for at least a half an hour. I don’t think it can sit out for too long, but keep in mind there are eggs and milk in there.

Once the batter has rested, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Put your popover pan in the oven while it is preheating so that it can get hot. If you don’t have a popover pan you can use a muffin tin or you can use small glass cups (like Pyrex). Let the pan heat up in the oven for at least 5 minutes after the oven has pre-heated. While it’s getting hot, cut enough pieces of butter to go in each cup that will get filled with batter. The pieces should be about ¼ of a tbs. Remove the hot pan and put the butter in each cup. Then fill with the batter. You should fill the cups about ½ to ¾ of the way. Any fuller and you will make a mess of your oven. Plus, they don’t seem to get any bigger if you fill them more, just more eggy on the inside.

Bake the popovers for 40 minutes without opening the oven. If you open the oven during this time they will fall. The popovers should be golden and puffy when you take them out of the oven. Immediately, pierce each popover with a sharp knife to let out the steam. This will help to keep them crunchy on the outside and should prevent them from falling. Serve right away!

Tilapia Tacos with Guacamole

I’m back! Sorry for the prolonged absence – our wedding was a blast and I can’t believe it’s over! Afterwards, we spent a few days in West Virginia at a beautiful cabin with picture perfect views. I thought we would hike and go to restaurants and explore, but we slept, a lot. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until we got to the cabin on Sunday after the wedding. I am so glad that we didn’t try to take an extravagant honeymoon right away – and now we will have a chance to pretend to be newlyweds again this fall when we do take our honeymoon! We have had quite a bit going on with house projects and puppy class and I haven’t had all that much time for cooking fun things, but in honor of Cinco de Mayo yesterday, I thought I would post this fish taco recipe that I whipped up last week. First, some puppy pictures because he is just too cute.

 

 

Even though the wedding is over and I’m not on wedding diet mode anymore, I have still been keeping up with my healthy living attitude. Fish has become a regular protein for us and, surprisingly, we are both loving it.

I had planned on making a cabbage slaw to go on top but I didn’t have time to go to the store to get the ingredients. In my opinion it wound up better with just the homemade guacamole – sometimes less is more!

Tilapia Tacos
Total Time 20 minutes
Makes about 8 tacos

For the Fish:
4 4oz Tilapia Filets
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 ½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
8 corn tortillas

Mix all of the spices together and coat the tilapia filets. Heat about 1 tsp of oil over medium heat. Add the fish and cook 3-4 minutes a side depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove the fish and set it aside. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel and put another teaspoon of oil and heat over medium heat. Fry the tortillas (I had to do 2 at a time because of the size of my pan) for about a minute each side. You don’t want them to get brown, just warmed up and a little crispy.

For the guacamole:
2 avocados
1 small jalapeño
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbs cilantro
½ tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste (I added about ½ tsp pepper and almost a teaspoon of salt)

Remove the seeds and mince the jalapeno and put it into a bowl with the lime juice, cilantro, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. I find that if you let the jalapeno sit in the lime juice it’s not quite as pungently spicy. I let mine sit for about 10 minutes while I was cooking the fish. Then add the avocado and mash it all together. I like my guacamole pretty chunky so I used a fork and just mashed it lightly. If you like yours creamier, you can always put it in a blender or use an emersion blender.

To assemble:
Take one tortilla and break apart half of one tilapia filet into chunks (it should just fall apart pretty easily). Set the fish in the middle of the tortilla and top with about a tablespoon (or more!) of guacamole. Serve with brown rice and black beans (black bean recipe to come!). Enjoy!