FAVORITE BRUNCH RECIPES: SUNDAY MORNING POPOVERS

I'm not a big breakfast person. That's not exactly true... let's just say I don't always make time for breakfast so I skip it most days. But on Sunday morning, when I try to stop for a bit and have a word with God about all my many blessings, I often cook while God and I chat. One of the things I often make is Popovers. I first fell in love with them while living in Chicago; the little restaurant inside Neiman Marcus on Michigan Avenue had them on the menu. One of my friends, a woman named Gwendolyn Watson who I have long ago lost but will never forget, told me about the Neiman's Popovers. These light, airy little puffs are so delicious- plus they are fast and SO easy. I don’t have a popover pan;  I just make them in muffin tins and so dang what if they are not perfect? They are still perfectly delicious. The secret? Pour the batter in a hot pan much like you do for cornbread. Trust me.

Fast and simple, elegant and delicious: make Sunday Morning Popovers for breakfast or brunch... a great little vehicle for almost anything you want to stuff in there. Plate by my friend Tena Payne of Earthborn Pottery.

 Prep Time: 10 minutes    Cook Time:  35 minutes

SUNDAY MORNING POPOVERS

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 ½ cups whole milk

 Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place an oven rack so that the popovers will be in the middle of the oven once they rise. If the rack is too close to the top of the oven, the tops of the popovers will burn.

Brush a standard 12-cup metal muffin tin with softened butter. Grease thoroughly including the area between the cups as well as the cups themselves. Put the pan in the oven to heat.

In a bowl, add the eggs, milk, and salt. Whisk till the egg and milk are well combined, with no streaks of yolk.

Add the flour all at once, and beat with a whisk till frothy with no lumps in the batter. Stir in the melted butter, combining quickly.

Pour the batter into the hot muffin cups, filling them half full.

Make sure the oven is at 450°F. Place the pan on the lower rack.

Bake the popovers for 20 minutes without opening the oven door. Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until they're a deep, golden brown. Resist the urge to open the door as the popovers will deflate easily.

Remove the pan and let the popovers cool slightly. Take a knife and run around the cups to release. Serve hot with butter, whipped cream, berries, honey or your favorite filling. In the fall, I like to go all Autumn and saute some not quite ripe apples in butter. Add some sugar, some cinnamon, nutmeg, maybe a little vanilla. Let the sugar begin to dissolve. Pull it off the heat, pour on some Calvados or brandy and light the thing on fire. Swirl the pan until the brandy burns off. Don't catch yourself or the house on fire. Pour over the Popovers. Count your blessings. #blessed

RECIPE: SAUSAGE, WHITE BEAN AND ESCAROLE SOUP

I love soup. There’s hardly anything I like more than a warm bowl of something hearty when it is cold outside. This time of the year, a big pot of soup is the perfect way to feed a big crowd and this recipe for Sausage, White Bean and Escarole soup is not only fast, it is also very affordable. For game day or snow day parties, you can serve this with a salad and some toasty garlic bread and you’re all set. If you can't find Escarole in the veggie aisle, arugula, kale, or other leafy green can substitute.

Sausage, White Bean, and Escarole Soup is hearty, easy, and very affordable for a big crowd! Serve with some toasted bread and a salad and you've got dinner!

SAUSAGE, WHITE BEAN AND ESCAROLE SOUP

Serves 6-8

Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds of spicy or mild Italian sausage, removed from casing

1 medium yellow onion, diced

5 carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

5-6 whole canned tomatoes plus 1/2 cup of juice from Italian canned tomatoes

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

splash white wine (or any) vinegar

1 cup white wine (optional)

5-6 cups low sodium chicken broth 

1  tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

2 cans cannellini beans (white pinto beans, Great Northern beans)

2 cups escarole, chopped

Parmesan for garnish

Tabasco-optional

DIRECTIONS:

In a large Dutch oven, over medium high heat, brown the sausage, removed from the casing. Once the sausage is nice and brown, use a slotted spoon to remove it from the pan; drain on paper towels. Reserve. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan. Let the oil get hot and add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook 3 minutes or until softened. Let the vegetables get nice and soft, stirring occasionally, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic. Cook one minute more. Add the sausage back to the pot. Add salt, pepper, and thyme. Add the tomatoes by crushing them with your hands into little pieces. Add the juice from the tomatoes, vinegar, Worcestershire, and the white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook and stir for about 1-2 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, beans and escarole. Bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cook 10 minutes more. The soup is ready to serve when the escarole is wilted. Serve with toasty garlic bread and garnish with grated Parmesan.

FAVORITE FALL RECIPES: CARAMEL APPLE CAKE

When I was a kid, my mom would make us a cake or pie everyday... usually it was pie but on occasion, she would make Apple Dapple Cake... a recipe she got from someone along the way. It was one of the few recipes she actually used and I have a copy of it in her handwriting... a treasured possession. I took that basic recipe and made it into one of my favorite fall desserts by adding the hot caramel because what is more fall than caramel apples? I like to serve it slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I served this cake to over 300 guests at the after-party following the Hangout's Oyster Cookoff in November to rave reviews. My mom would be so proud.

Caramel Apple Cake is a wonderfully easy cake to make for fall tailgates, festivals, or Saturday morning coffee.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour plus 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped fine

3 apples, peeled and chopped fine

1  1/2 cups vegetable oil (like Wesson)

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

HOT CARAMEL SAUCE

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

DIRECTIONS:

Spray a tube pan with Baker’s Joy or grease and flour it. Preheat oven to 350.

For the cake: Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add apples and pecans. Stir to coat the fruit. Mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add to the fruit mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove from the oven and sit on a wire rack to cool. While the cake is still hot, pour the caramel sauce over it and then let it cool completely before removing from the pan.

For the hot caramel sauce: Put the sugar in a saucepan over low heat until it starts to melt. Add the butter. Swirl the pan until the butter melts. Add the milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly so it does not burn. Pour the hot caramel directly over the hot cake while it is still in the pan. Be careful- the hot sugar will burn!

NOTE: It is important to pour the caramel over the cake in the pan because it creates this great coating on the bottom, side and top of the cake. As much as you want to eat it, you have to allow it to cool completely before you remove it from the pan. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to help release it.