Shrimp Popovers

I’ve never visited Charleston, South Carolina, but after hearing the Lee brothers describe the fresh oysters and fish of the waterways, the variety of locally-grown fruits and vegetables, and the rich cooking traditions of their hometown, I hope to get there someday soon. Matt and Ted Lee recently taught a class at Central Market Cooking School, and I attended with a media pass and received a copy of their latest book The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen. I posted some photos from the class on my Facebook page. The book brings together classic, iconic Charleston dishes, with updates in some cases, and stories of their origin. I had never heard of the liqueur called Rock and Rye which is a Charleston favorite. It’s made with rye whiskey and candied oranges, and I can’t wait to make it this winter. Other classics include dishes like Deviled Crab, Four-Pepper Collards, Peach Upside-Down Skillet Cake, and Shrimp and Grits. During the class, the brothers explained how Shrimp and Grits has changed over the years. Originally, it was a simple dish of shrimp cooked in butter with salt and pepper and served over plain hominy grits. Over the years, tomato found its way into the sauce with the shrimp, and then one restaurant after the next added new and different ingredients to personalize it in various ways. The version they shared includes tomato and bacon but otherwise keeps the complexity in check. The grits are made with milk and butter but no added cheese. It’s an interesting journey to follow a dish backwards to where it began and note its changes over time. The Syllabub has an interesting history as well. In Charleston, it was originally served more like a drink and always with rosemary which grows prolifically there. The night of the class, we were served an updated, layered syllabub of whipped cream with Madeira and fresh strawberries. 

After the class, I started flipping through the book and the Shrimp Popovers immediately caught my eye. It’s a straightforward recipe for popovers, but a spoonful of shrimp butter is placed in each cup of batter before baking. They smell delicious as they bake and puff up to full height, and they come out of the oven light and airy with crispy edges all around. The full recipe of shrimp butter in the book makes a lot more than you need for the popovers, so I made a half portion of it and still had enough for two batches of popovers. The quantity I made included a half pound of shrimp which were briefly boiled in salted water and then cooled, shelled, and deveined. The cleaned shrimp were combined with four tablespoons of butter, a little salt, and a pinch of sugar in a food processor and pulsed until no lumps were visible. The shrimp butter should be refrigerated for about an hour before using, or it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days. For the popovers, a cup of flour, one-half teaspoon of salt, a pinch of sugar, and I added a pinch of ground cayenne were sifted together before a cup of milk, two tablespoons of melted butter, and two eggs were whisked into the mix. The popover pan was heated in the oven for the last few minutes as it came to 450 degrees F. I brushed nine of the cups with melted butter before pouring in the batter to fill each cup about two-thirds full. A spoonful of shrimp butter was added to each cup, and the popovers baked for 20 minutes. 

The popovers are perfect when just cool enough to handle, but they can also be reheated for a few minutes before serving if baked in advance. And, there are several suggestions for using any extra shrimp butter like spreading it on toast or biscuits, stirring it into grits, or tossing it with pasta. Until I get a chance to visit Charleston in person, I’m happy to continue getting acquainted through the food in this book. 

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