Tag Archive for: southern food

Skillet Cornbread and Marvelous Meatloaf

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My sweet son Walker finally got home from New York this week, and I have, of course, been spoiling him rotten from missing him so much.  I asked him what he would like for dinner the other night, and he replied meatloaf.  This was a little surprising since I haven’t made meatloaf for him in well over a year, but as Corby and I love meatloaf too- that sounded perfect.  It is such an easy recipe, and the best part is that it includes a lot of cheese which is great!  I also decided to try skillet cornbread to go with it- people served a lot of cornbread at the parties we went to on New Year’s day, and I forget how much I like it.  Here is the recipe for skillet cornbread and meatloaf- so tasty!!

Skillet Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups stone ground cornmeal (I used yellow)

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp melted butter

1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In large bowl, mix cornmeal, baking powder, flour, salt, 2 tablespoons of the butter, and 1 cup of buttermilk.  This should be a pourable consistency- if it is too thick for your liking, you can add more buttermilk.  Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a large cast iron skillet, but don’t let the butter burn.  Pour the batter into the very hot skillet and cook for about 3o seconds to 1 minute until it bubbles abound the edges of the batter.  Immediately take skillet from burner and put into preheated over to bake until golden brown- about 20 to 25 minutes.  When done- remove cornbread from skillet with the bottom side up onto a serving dish and enjoy!

Marvelous Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (you can have more depending on how many people you are feeding- up to 1 1/2 lbs I keep the same amount of the ingredients below)

1 cup bread crumbs (I used the Italian Seasoning breadcrumbs just to add flavor)

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp oregano

1 cup ketchup (I usually use 2/3 cup ketchup and then the rest I use steak sauce)

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.  In a large mixing bowl, add the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper, oregano, and ketchup.  Mix together- I use my hands- until you form a large ball of the meat mixture.  Put a sheet of tin foil on a baking sheet and roll out the meat mixture until you get a flat rectangle, not too thin, but not too thick either.  Sprinkle most of the grated cheese on top of the rectangle, and then roll up the meat- kind of like a jelly roll with the cheese in the middle.  Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.  At around 40 minutes, I sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the loaf.

It was all so delicious, Walker asked for it again tonight!

A Happy New Year with Hoppin John

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It is a tradition in the South to eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year’s Day to bring you luck for the coming year- the peas are supposed to represent coins and the collards are the color of money, so the dish- called Hoppin’ John- will bring you wealth and luck in the New Year.  I have to be honest, while all of that sounds great, and I would love some luck and fortune in 2012, I really can’t stand collard greens and I am not too fond of black-eyed peas either.  With that being said, here is the recipe for Hoppin’ John that I will be making today. Collards are usually served on the side, but I am not sure I can bring myself to make them- we will have to see.

Hoppin’ John

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups of black-eyed peas
  • 4 cups of water
  • 1 lb ham hocks
  • 1 onion chopped (I like using a white onion the best, but any onion will work fine)
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (because every dish should have some cheese in it- it is just better)

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients except for the rice and cheese into a pot and cover with water and bring to a boil.  Then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for an hour and a half.  Then remove the ham hock and cut the meat into pieces.  Return the pieces to the pot and add the rice.  Cover the pot and cook until the rice is ready- about 20 to 25 minutes.  Serve with the cheese sprinkled on top.

Here is what it is supposed to look like although I doubt mine will be this pretty.

I am including a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com for collard greens.  Again, I really dislike them, but if I were to make them- this looked pretty yummy.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 3 bunches collard greens – rinsed, stemmed and thinly sliced
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Directions:

Place potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Before the potatoes are finished, add the collards to the pot.

Place bacon in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain, and saute the onion in bacon grease until tender. Drain onions of grease, and add to the greens. Crumble in the bacon, and stir in the wine vinegar. Simmer over low heat until greens are tender, about 1 hour.

I hope these bring you luck and fortune, and I am looking forward to all of the fun baking and cooking in 2012.  Happy New Year!!

Ham and Cheese Crepes and a hike to Babel Tower

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I can’t believe that Christmas has come and gone already.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  Corby and I went up to the mountains in North Carolina since it is Walker’s year to spend Christmas with his dad 🙁  While we missed Walker tremendously, we had such a relaxing great time just the two of us.  For your sake, I am going to break this up into two posts because I would just ramble and ramble and the post would be too long for anyone to read, and of course you don’t want to miss anything.  So, the first night we got up to Linville, we made ham and cheese (yum) crepes.  A friend had made these for us when we were in NYC a few weeks ago, and they were amazing- we had to try them ourselves.  Our technique needs some working on, but they sure tasted good and were surprisingly easy.

Ham and Cheese Crepes

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted

ham

grated mozzarella cheese

 

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, and then add the salt and butter and mix until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled  frying pan over medium high heat. Ladel the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Add in as much ham and grated cheese as you like. Loosen with a spatula and flip half of the crepe on top and then flip to cook the other side. Serve hot.  This is where our technique left something to be desired as it is a little tricky.  Make sure the frying pan is HOT.

These really were so easy and so good, and I think they come off as pretty impressive.

The next day, we went on a great hike down into the Linville Gorge to a swimming hole called Babel Tower- we didn’t swim.  But it was so beautiful, and in the summer, it is a great place to go.  There are several different places to jump off- very low places for me, and there is about a 20-foot jump which scares me to death, but is super fun for Walker.  Here are some pictures.    Tomorrow, I will post recipes about our Christmas day feast of Rommegrot and Canadian bacon strata and our hike up the profile of Grandfather Mountain- too fun!

You know what goes well with sailing (or anything)… tater tots

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Saturday was a pretty great day. It started off with pepper jack cheese scrambled eggs and maple bacon and ended with macaroni and cheese fritters with green tomato jam, and in the middle was a fantastic day sailing with great friends and snacking on tater tots.  I reconnected with a friend from college who is down in Charleston on his sailboat for a couple of weeks (not a bad life he leads), and he invited a group of us to go sailing with him on Saturday.  Now, to be honest, I hate sailing- well I should say, I hated sailing.  My dislike for the sport involves three very spread apart and very long stories that I won’t go into, but my last sailing venture ended up with us swimming to shore in a horrific storm and having the Coast Guard called to come save us- it really was not that much fun.  But, nevertheless, I went sailing with my old college friend and a group of my best friends from Charleston.  I think that it helped tremendously that the boat was significantly larger than the little sunfish I almost died in, and that there was very little wind to speak of.  It also helped that we stopped at the Marina Variety Store (www.varietystorerestaurant.com) to pick up some sandwiches and, the best, some tater tots.  Tater tots are so underrated and so under served.  They really should be a staple like French fries.  I think that tater tots go well with pretty much everything- sailing definitely included.  So, the sail was fantastic, and we got to see Santa who was also out in his boat with Mrs. Claus and a couple of elves, throwing candy and caroling to all the boats in the harbor- random but awesome.  Here are some pictures from the sail.

Charleston is so pretty! So of course, as soon as I got home, I googled tater tot recipes.  This one from www.food.com looked pretty good, and I will definitely try it, but Ore-Ida makes it so darn easy!  The last thing I will add is that we went to Big Gun Burger Shop (www.bigguncharleston.com) on Saturday night after a few Christmas parties that were heavy on the alcohol and light on the food.  This place is so great!!  Not only do they serve late, but they also have a Twinkie Milkshake which is really amazing.  I opted for the Mac and Cheese Fritters instead of a burger (which I have had and they are so good), and they were the perfect late-night snack (other than tater tots of course, but they didn’t have those on the menu which goes back to my whole thing of them being under-served!!)

Tater Tots

Ingredients:

8 medium potatoes, cooked, peeled, and hot
1 tablespoon flour
1 dash pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely minced onions (optional)
canola oil or vegetable oil

Directions:

Finely shred or use a ricer while potatoes are still hot.

Stir in flour, salt, pepper and onion (if using).

Heat 1/4-in oil in heavy pan.

Form into small balls and drop in oil; fry until slightly golden.

 

 

Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake

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I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  I am still so full, but it was all worth it.  I remade a lot of recipes that I have put on this blog this past week for family members that I have not seen in a while.  We started off on Wednesday night, having my parents, all of my siblings and nieces over for dinner.  Corby served up his now-famous BBQ with coleslaw and a potato and bacon hash that was out of this world.  I made a salad and used the Pimento Cheese pop-overs instead of croutons.  Since we were having BBQ, my brother and his wife brought Bourbon Banana Pudding- I don’t have the recipe yet, but apparently it is from Joy of Cooking, and it was so so so good.

The next day,  I made the Prosciutto Cheese Straws for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner snack- fantastic and a huge hit with my brother and father, and for Thanksgiving Day dessert, I made the Chocolate Bread Pudding that was the Le Creuset recipe contest winner, and it was just as good as I remembered it!  We also got an Apple Crisp from The Co-Op on Sullivan’s Island (www.thecoopsullivans.com).  The Co-Op is a great little grocery/deli that serves up great sandwiches and amazing homemade desserts- definitely check it out!

So despite the fact that it is 80 in Charleston today, I am now gearing up for Christmas- how is that possible!!!  We are headed to NYC this weekend for a visit, and I am so excited to get some cold weather to get into the Christmas spirit.  We are also going to my sister’s annual gingerbread house building party on Sunday, before we head home, which we have not been to in a long time and should be so fun!  To also help get into the Christmas mode, here is a recipe I love from Christmas with Southern Living from back in 2005- Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake- enjoy!

Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 3 cups sifted cake flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup eggnog
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons brandy (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • Powdered sugar
  • 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon whipping cream

Preparation

  • Generously grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan; set aside.
  • Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer about 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until the yellow disappears.
  • Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with 1 cup eggnog, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla and, if desired, brandy.
  • Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Stir cinnamon and the next 3 ingredients into the remaining batter. Spoon spice batter over plain batter. Swirl batters together, using a knife.
  • Bake at 350° for 50 to 55 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.
  • Place cake on a cake plate; dust with powdered sugar.
  • Combine 1 cup powdered sugar and whipping cream, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the cake

 

My Bakery Wish List

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Since I started writing this blog, I have been making a wish list of bakeries I want to visit.  Red Truck Bakery (www.redtruckbakery.com) in Old Town Warrenton, VA is definitely at the top of the list.  First off, I really love that they turned an old Esso Station into a bakery.  Second, I really love the truck- an old 1954 red  Ford farm truck- while I would not have the first clue how to drive it and would surely kill the transmission, clutch and any thing else in the engine, is really my dream truck.  Third, and most importantly, I am obsessed with their menu- I look at it every day and wish that I could be there right when the bakery opens and smells so amazing.  Today’s soup for example is potato with apple wood smoked bacon- heaven.  If you live in the neighborhood or have the chance to be near the area, please check it out for me as it doesn’t seem that I will make it there any time in the near future.  Fortunately- they ship nationwide (http://www.redtruckbakery.com/store)!! Here is some of the press from my favorite magazine- Garden & Gun:

“Leave it to a baker in moonshine country to create a dessert that rivals the Kentucky bourbon ball. The Double Chocolate Moonshine Cake from Red Truck Bakery in Virginia is made with legal hooch and enough rich chocolate to give you a food buzz. ”
  ~ Garden & Gun Magazine

Cheese and Prosciutto Straws and a Steeplechase

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After surviving the Saturday night sleepover of 11 eight-year-old boys, we got to have some grown-up fun by way of the Charleston Cup.  The Charleston Cup is a steeplechase race that started twenty-five years ago. However, this is only the eighteenth running of the race as they took an eight-year hiatus.  It was a spectacular day, and what better way to fight off complete exhaustion than to go spend the day drinking and eating at a horse race!  I had not been to the Charleston Cup since I was about ten, when we sat on the top of the car and bet pennies on all the races- so fun!  As this was Walker’s first experience with horse racing, and because I wanted him to be entertained by something other than me, I gathered up all the change in the house so he would be able to bet as much as he wanted.  Little did I know that kids don’t bet with pennies anymore- it was $5 a race- big stakes- he didn’t win, but I let him keep all the change.

I was also blown away by the tailgates at this event.  I was not informed until I had made a complete fool of myself gawking at everyone’s taxidermy and ice sculptures that there was a “best tailgate” competition going on.  These were the people next to us- if that fox had been a taxidermied jackalope, they would have won! My thoughts on jackalopes requires a whole different post that may or may not happen at some point in the future.  Anyway, back to the tailgates.  Clearly, not only is a tailgate not complete without cheese straws, but I think you would be hard pressed to find- at least in my family- any event where there is drinking, cheese straws are pretty much guaranteed to be involved as well.  With Thanksgiving coming up, and the whole family descending, I found this recipe for Cheese and Prosciutto Straws, that while I didn’t have time to make for the Charleston Cup tailgate (not to worry- they had other cheese straws there)- I will make them for pre-Thanksgiving cocktail hour, and I am really excited about them.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1½ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese
  • ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
  • ¼ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream, divided
  • ¼ cup finely chopped prosciutto
  • 2 tablespoons flaky sea salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.

2. Preheat the oven to 400°. In the bowl of a standing mixer, blend together the butter, cheddar, ½ teaspoon of the cayenne pepper and the paprika.  Gradually add the flour mixture and 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream. Fold in the prosciutto and mix until a dough barely forms.  Divide the dough into two balls the same size, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flaky sea salt with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of the cayenne pepper.

4. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle, about 1/16 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, knife or pastry wheel, cut the dough into ¾-inch-wide-by-6-inch-long strips. Transfer the strips to baking sheets and use a pastry brush to brush the strips with the remaining tablespoon of the heavy cream. Sprinkle each strip with the seasoned salt and gently twist each strip. Place in the oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 12 to 15 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough until all of it has been used. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Sean Brock’s Backyard Pulled Pork

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There are so many reason why Sean Brock won the James Beard Award in 2010- McCrady’s and Husk are amazing restaurants, but we tried his backyard pulled pork recipe this weekend for a football watch party we were throwing, and I now think Sean Brock is a god.  I am maybe slightly biased because Corby worked very hard on this, but it really was the best pulled pork EVER! (and here is a picture of the party which was so much fun!)

Pulled Pork

Here is what you need:

  • 1 cup Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • One 12- to 14-pound bone-in pork shoulder, with skin (we used pork butt- either works fine)
  • About 50 hardwood charcoal briquettes
  • 8 cups small hardwood smoking chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained

Here is what you do:

  • Preheat the oven to 275°. In a medium bowl, whisk the mustard with the brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika and onion powder. Set the pork shoulder, fat side up, in doubled 14-by-18-inch disposable aluminum roasting pans. Brush the pork with the mustard mixture. Roast, uncovered, for 12 hours, until the meat is very tender and is pulling away from the shoulder bone.
  • Tilt the pan and pour the roasting juices into a medium bowl; you should have about 1 1/4 cups. Refrigerate the juices for 30 minutes. Skim off the fat before using.
  • Meanwhile, light 10 of the charcoal briquettes. When the coals are hot, cover them with the remaining 40 briquettes. When all the coals are hot, arrange 6 cups of the soaked wood chips around the coals. Set the roasting pan on the grill grate over the coals and wood chips. Cover the grill, partially open the air vents and smoke the pork shoulder for 30 minutes.
  • Carefully remove the pork and the grill grate and stir the coals a few times. Scatter the remaining 2 cups of soaked wood chips over the coals. Replace the grill grate and return the pork to the grill. Cover and smoke for 30 minutes longer.
  • Transfer the pork to a work surface and let rest for 30 minutes. Pull the meat off of the bones; discard the bones, gristle, skin and fat. Using tongs and a fork, or your fingers, finely shred the meat and transfer it to a large bowl.

Growing up in South Carolina, I am completely biased towards the mustard based sauce, but any sauce would work on this magnificent dish.  Here is the sauce we used:

Mustard Sauce:
  • 1 1/2 cups prepared yellow mustard
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar vinegar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to blend the flavors

Nashville: Avett Brothers, Arkansas vs. Vandy, and ohhh the food

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We got into Nashville this past Friday afternoon just in time for dinner before the Avett Brothers concert at Bridgestone Arena.  I have only been to Nashville once in the past and that was to look at Vanderbilt for college, so it doesn’t really count.  Fortunately for me, thanks to Corby’s fantastic ability to find amazing restaurants, and readers suggestions, we were all set!  As there were so many restaurants and so many yummy treats to eat, I will just provide a highlight as opposed to bogging you down with details of every morsel of food I put in my mouth.  First stop was City House (www.cityhousenashville.com). Corby had read an article in Garden and Gun about the 50 best dishes in the South, and the House Made Belly Ham Pizza was on the list (www.gardenandgun.com/article/southern-foods-meats).

The restaurant had such a great feel, the waiter was so helpful and friendly, and the pizza was really and truly special.  Also, if you do go there, and you should, there is an appetizer called Frico- cheese over potatoes baked in the wood oven that is a must.  Completely full and satisfied, we went to see the amazing Avett Brothers. I love them.  The next morning, we were supposed to go for a run before the Arkansas vs. Vanderbilt football game, but it was cold, so we opted for the Frothy Monkey http://www.frothymonkeynashville.com instead.  We saw a lot of runners on the way to this great coffee house, and they looked really cold, so I think skipping the run and getting an awesome hot chocolate and buttery croissant was a very good call.  Onto the game- I generally LOVE stadium food, but I knew we were not only checking out two spots after the game, but then we were headed to dinner with some friends, so I limited myself to one hot dog.  Arkansas won- yay!  Now more food.

After the game- thanks to a reader, Jessica, we went to SATCO- the San Antonio Taco Company (www.thesatco.com).  It was very near the Vanderbilt campus, and if any of you watch or care about college football and happened to catch the game this past Saturday- it was more than a little tense.  Tacos, queso and beer put all right with the world again.  We then made a quick stop at McDougal’s (www.mcdougalschicken.com) for some chicken fingers, and of the ranch, bbq, and house-made special sauce- special sauce wins- so good!  Dinner was at Taco Mamacita which is always a fav with their super fresh ingredients and amazing margaritas.  It was a very full day of eating.  To top off such a fun weekend, we went again to a suggestion from Jessia to brunch at The Loveless Cafe (www.lovelesscafe.com).  While there was a bit of a wait at this very popular place, the reason for the wait became very obvious when we were seated and the biscuits were brought out.  Oh so good.  We ordered the biscuit sampler as a side which came with a pulled pork BBQ biscuit, a steak biscuit, a chicken biscuit and country ham biscuit.  If Corby had not ordered the Pit Cooked Pork BBQ and two egg breakfast, we would have come to blows over that BBQ biscuit- the BBQ was that good.  Fortunately, this was Corby’s breakfast, and there was plenty of BBQ to go around.  It was such a fun trip, and Nashville is a great town but I will be eating salads for a week to combat the obnoxious numbers of calories I consumed 🙂

Pimento Cheese Popovers

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Corby has been making German pancakes on the weekend for breakfast, and since those don’t really have anything to do with Southern Baking, I have not blogged about them despite how amazing they are.  He adds vanilla, cinnamon, powdered sugar, syrup- they are pretty special.  But, the thing I like best about the German pancakes other than the sugar and butter and delicious taste, is how it puffs up in the oven.  My son Walker gets the biggest kick out of that- to see how big and puffy the German pancake will get.  So  I decided to experiment with popovers and cheese, which I love.  I got a popover pan and a recipe off the Internet and added my own twist of putting pimento cheese in them- I used Callie’s Pimento Cheese which is the BEST- they are so good, and so easy!

Pimento Cheese Popovers

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon of salt
6- 1/2 tablespoon balls of pimento cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and I have found it best if you put the popover pan in the oven while it is preheating.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs slightly, then beat in the flour, milk and salt until smooth, but be sure not to over beat it.  What I have done, is when the oven is at 450, pour the egg mixture into a mixing cup or something with a pour spout.

Open the oven, and pull out the rack with the pan on it, spray some cooking oil (I have used Pam) or pour a little oil in each popover cup.

Then fill the cups up about half way- put a pimento cheese ball in each and then pour a little more of the mixture over top so that the cheese is covered.

Then cook for 20 minutes at 450 then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cook for another 20 minutes.

I actually just left mine at 450 for about 25-30 minutes and they were perfect, and they got much bigger than the German pancake, so Walker was immensely happy!