Spinach & Cheese Popovers

Please excuse the blurry phone-camera picture, but these were SO GOOD.

R had to work on Sunday, so I spent all day playing with Piper, cooking (chicken Korma, chicken soup with homemade noodles) and baking (mini blueberry scones, red velvet cupcakes, popovers) while watching The X-Files on Netflix (all 9 seasons available for streaming, whoo-hoo!). These tasty little morsels were among the truly staggering amount of food I cranked out that day.

My basic popover recipe (from my big giant Good Housekeeping cookbook) calls for baking the popovers for 50 minutes, taking them out and cutting slits in the top for steam, and then baking for 10 more minues. Piper had been asking for spanakopita (she loves spinach), but since we were out (and I was not about to make my own), I made these. I chopped up some fresh spinach, tossed it in a bowl with a little garlic salt, dehydrated onion, and shredded cheddar. Then I baked the popovers for the required 50 minutes, and when I took them out to cut the steam slits, I just stuffed some of the spinach mixture inside and put them back in the oven. I was glad I'd gone with the dehydrated onion, as it sucked up all the moisture from the cooking spinach and melting cheese, otherwise they might've gotten soggy in the middle. The popovers came out with slightly crumbly outer crusts, and inside it was a delicious combo of eggy popover innards, mellow spinach, buttery cheddar, and tangy garlic salt.

One thing I'll do differently next time (and there will be one) is maybe cook them for 40 minutes before stuffing, so the flavors meld just a wee bit more. I might also try the garlic salt instead of regular salt in the batter recipe, or use garlic powder in the spinach. They were a tiny, tiny bit too salty for me. Other than that, they're great. I froze a bunch of them, in a pathetic attempt to keep us from eating them all in one day, and they are still great when defrosted. They are delicious for breakfast with a cup of strong coffee, they are GREAT for lunch when dunked in a bowl of soup, they are a terrific after-nap snack for the kid. The freezing trick only managed to make them last a few extra days; as soon as I go get more spinach, a double batch will be in the works.