Yorkshire Pudding

[rthibeau]

[Ian]

Ah classic STODGE!!!!
You know if there's one thing I missed while being away was a really decent Yorkshire Pudding, actually ANY kind of Yorkshire Pudding
The folks in Europe just don't know what they're missing, at least before I came home I managed to introduce it to a few.

Here's my own recipe, the ratio's can just be halved or doubled depending on the servings you want (this makes 6 decent sized puddings):

2 Cups of plain flower
1 Cup of eggs (as many whole eggs as it takes to fill the same cup you used for the flour and milk)
2 cups of whole (unskimmed, full fat) milk
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp Black Pepper (finely ground)
1 tbs beef dripping, melted

Beat the eggs together as if you were going to scamble them, then slowly add them to the flour in a bowl and mix in gently until you have a thick almost paste like mix. Add the milk a small amount at a time and stir in gently with a whisk, keep adding the milk until you are happy with the thickness of the batter (this may take the full two cups, but if not it's not a problem). It should be a thick batter, nothing like, say, a Tempura batter. The consistency of double cream, maybe a tad thicker.

The big mistake people make with Yorkshire Pudding is to beat the living daylights out of the mix with a whisk, all you want is to combine the ingredients into a smooth batter, if you whisk it too much it may not rise properly and thats what a 'real' Yorkshire Pud is all about. I know it sounds strange but try it both ways and see which rise most often.

The other trick is to let the batter stand and settle for half an hour in the fridge while your heating the rest of the BEEF DRIPPING in the pudding pans, when the mix comes out of the fridge just GENTLY stir it if it's seperated at all, if not then leave it well alone and just pour it into the SMOKING hot pudding pans.

Thats the other trick to getting your puddings to rise, the fat in the pans has to be smoking hot. Apart from that follow the cooking times Basil gives you above, but keep an eye on the little Devils, I've seen them rise so much they start lifting up the shelf above! LOL

Remove when the top edges are just starting to turn a dark brown, everything else should be a lovely golden colour.
Make sure that you serve them with a really good gravy, it really does complete the dish.

My favourite gravy is liver, sausage and onion gravy. Just cook the sausages and liver with some sweated onions IN the gravy mix in a deep roasting pan (the one you'd roast a chicken in works well) and then strain out the gravy. The sausages taste amazing, even though they are pale and the liver will crumble on your tongue.

Mwaah! Bellisimo!

p.s. As a twist you can add a splash of white wine vinegar to the mix for a bit of bite, finely chopped mint if your serving them with lamb, all sorts of things. Experiment! This really is a simple and filling bit of Classic Stodge from my birthplace, Gods own YORKSHIRE! :)

[cheftjcook]

Ian, Yorkshire Pudding is something everyone should be blessed with a taste of at least once in their lives.
I enjoy using the classic...the renderings of a Prime Rib or Top But and dipping the pudding in the fond in the bottom of the roasting pan. This never makes the front of the house, usualy devoured right out of the oven by the guys/girls in the back of the house.
That being said it is also very good cooked in the renderings of pork, Sausage, lamb, chicken, duck or even goose. But Each contributing its own flavor imprint.
We also vary between over size muffin pans almost like a lg popover or a small roasting pan. Either way the oil is smoking hot and the product a little bit O' Heaven.
You are correct that over beating does harm to the batter, as it does with most batters. It over develops the gluten strands in the flour. Resting the batter to relaxe it, like bread dough between proofs, will help. When making a bagel or pizza dough you realy work the dough hard and use little shortening, to develope the gluten strands and produce the signature texture of a stronger chewy dough. The opposite being a Puff Pasrty were multiple layers of butter are folded in to give flakeness and tenderness (shortening the gluten strands)

Well any way, I now have an idea of what to feature an the menu tomorrow and dreaming of tonight! Thanks!!!
TIM