Shel_B

That's good to know, although, when using eggs, I generally by fresh ones. Thanks!

This morning, that's what I did, using white and crimini 'shrooms and some dried porcini and shiitake. Thanks for your suggestion to keep it simple.

There's some mushroom stock simmering on the stove as I type. I took your advice and added some ground, dried porcini and shiitake to the chopped button and crimini mushrooms. Keeping it simple this time - the apartment has a nice, earthy aroma. Thanks for the suggestion.

My concern, and apparently it's unfounded, is that putting eggs into warm water would cook them to some degree. I guess that's not the case. Thanks ... great idea.

And since I use eggs infrequently, I sometimes forget that I have eggs stored in the fridge, especially if the carton works its way to the back of the shelf and other items are placed in front of it, and if I forget long enough, the quality of the eggs definitely suffers.

I'm not Shel_B, but when I bake on the spur of the moment, I sometimes forget that my eggs are supposed to be at room temp. I take them out of the fridge, crack them into a bowl, then go "Oh shoot - those are -cold- eggs!" At which point "Is it safe to let these sit out until they're warm, or do I have to warm other eggs and turn these into breakfast?" becomes relevant. That's exactly what happened recently when I was making a batch of popovers. And that's what prompted my question. Thank you, Elaine. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that has had this experience.

Great article =explains a lot. Thanks for the pointer!

I am familiar with that technique, but your comment, and HungryC's, does not answer my question.

Although I don't bake much, I often bake on the spur of the moment, and need to bring eggs to room temp. Is it acceptable to do that with eggs that have been broken into a bowl, or is it better to let the eggs come up to temp in the unbroken shells? And yes, I know about using a warm water bath for eggs in the shell. I just want to know if eggs that have been broken into a bowl can be allowed to come to room temp. Has abyone ever done this? Is there a downside? Thanks!

After trying these chiles, I wondered what all the fuss was about Hatch chiles. I do buy them for one specific dish where I want a very mild and not to hot chile background flavor. It's for a specific spinach cheese frittata that is often eaten by women in their 70s and 80s who want very little heat. These chiles are perfect for them.

rotuts ... I tend to agree with Jaymes on this, if for no other reason sauces like this are so easy to make and the results are so much better than what can be purchased. I understand that there's a big convenience factor when you buy the items, and I certainly am no stranger to convenience (having just enjoyed a couple of TJ's masala burgers for lunch), however, just think about giving it a try, if you haven't already and decided that you just don't want to make this item.

Thanks, FrogPrincesse ...

Has anyone ever noticed that the "single use" gloves many people wear are often filthy? Is there a definition in all the verbiage that describes what single use gloves are, and is it stipulated that the gloves must only be worn once, when serving or preparing a single dish, after which they must be replaced with clean gloves, or can single use gloves be worn to touch and prepare more than just one item or meal? Example: the local Subway shop has counter personnel that wear such gloves, and they are worn, and worn, and worn through the prep of many sandwiches and also while cleaning the counter, etc.

Popover Problems: Having had a chance to examine carefully my results, it's clear there were some problems with the popovers I made. First, I could only get five popovers from andiesenji's recipe, and that's a puzzlement to me. I filled the cups in the pan to between 1/2 and 2/3 the way full. Actually, the first cup I filled was about 2/3 the way full and the rest closer to half. Any thoughts on why I couldn't get six popovers from the recipe? Might the cups in my pan have had more capacity than those in andiesenji's pan? Of bigger concern is how thin the popovers were. Of course the popovers were light and airy - they were completely hollow and the crust was very thin to the point where I could actually see through the crust on a couple of the popovers. There was a very thin layer of custardy innards which had a good texture and taste, but there wasn't much of it at all. My first thought was that I didn't use enough flour, having sifted the flour into the measuring cup. The next time I make these I'll add some more flour, perhaps two tablespoons more. Might that be a step towards correcting the problem? Finally, two of the popovers actually had a small, circular hole in their bottom, big enough that I could insert the tip of my little finger into it. What's that all about? ETA: I should mention that I used 1 cup low fat milk, 1 (sifted) cup of flour, 2 beaten eggs, 1.5 tsp salt, and 1 Tbs melted ghee, plus some vegetable oil to grease the cups. Preheated the pan before adding the batter, baked at 450°-F for about 15-minutes, reduced heat to 350°-F and continued baking until the popovers were nicely browned, about 20-minutes more, +/- Any thoughts on what went wrong, suggestions on how to correct the problems? Thanks!

Serendipitously, I discovered a great tool for cleaning in small or hard-to-get-at places - an old, battery operated, toothbrush, specifically this one: http://www.oralb.com/products/cross-action-power-toothbrush/ but I'm sure most any will work. And last night, Toots reminded me that she, too, uses a toothbrush in the kitchen, although hers is just a regular brush, not battery operated.

I'll have to look at the Breville or the manual to determine the lowest settings. but I think your idea has merit. I've no Thermapen, and no plans to get one in the immediate or near future, but I can easily work around that shortcoming. But first I have to housebreak that puppy! ETA: OK, I looked at the manual and it says the lowest temperature is 120° - F. So your idea might very well work. In addition, just having had some of the salmon cake for dinner, the center of the cake was moist and flavorful, so it seems the higher heat I used didn't get all the way through the salmon cake, it just overcooked the outer area. Using lower heat for a longer time may very well do the trick!

I appreciate the thought, however, I have no water bath, no Auber sensors, and have no plan to get or use anything like that.

I may be mistaken about this, however, I seem to recall that the small cans of green chiles sold by TJ's, are Hatch chiles. Can someone confirm this, or correct me if I'm wrong?

Well, here's my first batch of popovers ... they sure did Pop! and they are very light and airy.

I want to try making a small batch in mugs in the Breville oven. I can't fit my new popover pan in the small Breville, but the oven can certainly hold a couple-three coffee mugs. Meanwhile, I used your recipe to make a batch this afternoon - in fact, they're still in the oven, got another ten minutes or so to go. My-O-My, they sure did rise high, popovers reaching up to the sky ... and it looks like they are going to turn out just fine. Unfortunately, filling the cups about half full allowed for only five popovers. No big deal, but a bit of a surprise. I can see the scenario for the next batch: more batter filling six of the pan's cups, plus extra to make in the Breville. Mmmm ... the apartment smells so good right now. Thanks for all your help with this project. ETA: Oh, I should add that instead of regular butter or shortening, I used some homemade lavender-infused ghee, and the subtle flavor notes from the lavender add a nice quality to the lightness of the ppovers.

Great! After my salmon was cooking I thought about doing what you did, putting panko on the tops, but I thought it may have been to late to do that. Next time, for sure. And in the "What If" department, it would be nice to see what breads and muffins can be baked in the little oven.

Yes, that's the one. The result would be to get the eggs to set up and hold the loaf, and have the dish warm enough to be enjoyable to eat but not too dry or overcooked. Maybe I should be thinking about the temp eggs need to set up, as in a frittata. The other consideration is to have the onions (in this case leeks) be cooked enough not to have a raw taste, but that can also be accomplished by sautéing the onions/leeks a bit before adding them to the loaf.

I made one today and it got up to about 165° F, and that seemed a little high as the salmon was somewhat dry. Does 150° seem about right, or maybe even a bit lower? Thanks!

Baked Salmon Cakes in the Breville Over the past weekend I found two small, Corning Ware White Round Grab It Bowls which have little handles on them, and which also had their dedicated lids, for $2.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Corning-Ware-White-Round-Grab-It-Bowls-P-150-B-/400641113607?hash=item5d48123e07. I planned to make salmon croquettes today and it occurred to me that it might be interesting to see how the recipe translates to being baked rather than fried. In addition, I had some left over poached salmon, and it seemed like a perfect place to use it up, adding it to the canned salmon I planned to use. I had to adjust the recipe a bit to accommodate the additional salmon, but essentially the croquette recipe was used as it had been developed. The batch of salmon fit perfectly into the two small casseroles, and the dishes fit perfectly into the small Breville. Never having baked a salmon loaf before, I could only guess at time and temp. I searched a few on line salmon recipes and decided on 400-deg F. for 20-minutes, slid the salmon-packed casseroles into the Breville, and let her rip. When the final bell rang, it looked like the salmon was slightly undercooked, so I added a few more minutes to the time and, voila, a fine result. There are a couple of nice things about using the Breville in this way. In no particular order, cooking the salmon is quicker and easier as there is less cleanup, and my hands didn’t get dirty from making the patties. The Breville comes to temp a LOT quicker than a full-size oven, and that saves some time. In addition, I used quite a bit less energy than cooking the patties on the stove. Further, the cooking vessels can be used as serving dishes, or the salmon can be stored in the dishes to be reheated later, again adding to the convenience and ease of cleanup, prep, and serving. Thus far, I am very happy with the little Breville. It’s turning out to be an almost perfect choice for the days I’m cooking for just myself, and thus far it’s been fine for the dishes that I make for two or more people. Toots likes it for its simplicity, and since our (loose) arrangement is that whoever cooks needn’t wash the dishes, it makes her work simpler and easier. The less dishes she has to wash the happier she is, and, of course, the happier she is, the happier I am. I'm a happy guy ... Breville = Happy!

Thanks for the thought and the pointer, however, I am definitely focused on an electric hand mixer. Getting ready to make popovers today for the first time. The pan is scheduled to arrive today and I just returned from picking up the needed ingredients.