April 2022

 April was a bit of a challenge.  Either at the end of March or beginning of April I had a plan.  Wrote a list out of what I was going to bake each week, with an okay to rearrange the weeks if needed but questioning my making/cooking skills.  Did I mention I did some organizing?  That has to count for something right, although the kitchen cabinet may still need a toss through and find recipes for the canned veggies we do have.  

I was looking for some fresh ideas that were also spring related (baking wise), April showers bring May flowers and all, but would a blueberry cheesecake be too heavy?  Also a lot less transportable then muffins and donuts.  Two people and a whole cheesecake might be a lot of regrets.  

I then got an email from If You Give A Blonde A Kitchen, and lemons, lemons, lemons.  Be on the look out those will be coming!  Let me just say makes me miss the lemon tree at my parents, and definitely want one if./when I buy a house. Will it thrive in this Arizona heat?   Back on track... besides lemon recipes it also had one for Popovers!  Which I think was on my list of twelve.  Its been a while since I've had popovers, and I've never made them so why not give them a try.  Maybe wait for the end of summer for a cheesecake, or at least until I have a springform pan. 

So these popovers.  Five ingredients only, relatively quick and easy.  Well, kind of.  If you can't tell they look a little burnt.   Did you know there was such a thing as a popover pan?  I'm pretty sure all of these years my mom has used a muffin tin, and that was my plan, but maybe in the past 10-15 years someone made a popover pan.    

Back to the burn, that may more have to do with the butter she says to put in the pan and in the oven while it heats up.  Firstly if you read the recipe it calls for 4 tablespoons of butter, says to put one in the mixture, then (unless I read wrong) it says to put one teaspoon of butter in each cup, but where do we use the last tablespoon, if 3 tsp is equal to 1Tbsp and the popover tin has six holes?  Am I doing that math right?  Please someone tell me.  But maybe I had too much, maybe not enough butter in each cup. 

But maybe, I should have watched it a little more, I read peoples comments after, and hey at least I wasn't the only one with the slight burn issue, but she does suggest watching it so it doesn't burn.  So maybe don't put the tin in immediately, maybe put it in at 300 or maybe take it out at 300 or maybe just spray it.

I might also go back to, I need to read things thoroughly.  I read the part about dividing the butter differently for a muffin tin versus a popover tin, I think my ipad shut off in the middle so I missed the part (or rushed) where the bake time was slightly different for the muffin pan too.  Fifteen minutes versus twenty at 425 F, and a slightly different time range for 350 F too.  Oops.   

The insides came out just as I remember, but the outsides didn't deflate (?) like I remember my moms doing, that they had a dent in the middle or something.  I might end up asking my mom for her recipe to see how it differs or see what suggestions she might have besides don't burn the butter. 

Then the make, things honestly keep popping into my head and I have to ask my mom for some help, or to ask for the recipe or where it came from so I can look it up.  Empanadas was one thing, and my mom said as she was looking in her book for the recipe my dad came and asked if that's what she was looking for (hoping she might make them for him).  I know she hadn't made them in a while, and the masa harina might be why.  The recipe only calls for a cup, yet the stores sell a four pound bag, there has to be a better way, or a cheaper or smaller substitute I can buy right? Right, google had plenty of substitutes and I got a smaller thing of corn meal which might have worked out roughly the same.  

This was always going to be something I made on my day off, but after making it there is no doubt that day off is the only day to make it.  It was about as thorough in making (at least the dough) as making pizza was. I started early enough, but with letting dough sit/rest and then letting the empanadas sit once made, time was going faster then I expected.  

Still questioning if I should have just made the dough first, as the recipe doesn't quite have the best order or maybe it is make the dough while the green salsa mixture cools, but you also have to wait for the melted butter to cool before adding to the dough mixture. 

This recipe is roughly ten years old, it might need a little update/ modifications.  

I purchased ahead knowing this was going to be one of the things I made, and was slightly hesitant on buying a press for this just with a fuzzy memory my mom bought one and doing it by had was easier/less messy for her.  Maybe I remembered wrong.  Maybe not since I had some issues myself.  After the dough set and I started rolling out I thought I could use the largest cookie cutter I had to cut the circles, boy was I wrong.  That was too small, and trying to size up using the top of a cup was even questionable when I put them into the press.  Then the light bulb clicked that I could use the back of the press to shape them.

The first set I probably rolled out a few times resizing and rethinking how this plan was going to work.  I'm a little glad he said to only start with half the dough, although was a little worried when it said I should get ten circles and I got eight, must depend on the size I guess. The second half came out better, mostly because I knew what I was going.   The press and shaping them is really what I struggled with, he said a generous 2 tablespoons of chicken mixture.  I thought I was being generous, maybe I was too generous as I wasn't really measuring exactly, but all of them either broke or cracked as I was folding.  Maybe it was the dough, maybe they were over stuffed, maybe I just need a little more practice.  

It said the let them sit once made to cool before putting them in the oven, but since I let the mixture cool while the dough rested I called it good, and let them bake.  Letting them sit wasn't going to solve the broken/cracked part unless it helps the egg wash.  Little things that maybe I'll find out one day.  

I've got to say these were a success (besides the cracks).  Plenty and more for two people, we have leftovers of the filling, the salsa and empanadas that I've been snacking on slowly each day.  They are just as good cold if you're wondering.