Yorkshire Pudding:anyone ever attempt this one?

[lsdesign]

My mom used to make this occaisionally with roast beef.I remember liking it quite well and wondered if there are any seasoned pudding makers out there who might have more info on doing it better or with variety. I did find a simple recipe in my NY Times cook book but somehow there has to be more to it er' maybe not.

[Laura B]

I am not a "seasoned" pudding maker, however, like you, my mother made it frequently. (She is British.) There really is not much to it at all. You just use the pan drippings from your beef and then you pour the batter into the cups. All of the recipes I have seen are very simple.

[LSB]

I've made it a lot and it is very easy. A couple of things to note - be sure to heat up your pan in the oven first and, if your drippings are not enough or you want to use them for gravy, ou can just use canola oil. And I reduce the oil/drippings by at least half to make it a bit lighter.

Also, I make mine in muffin or popover tins for individual servings.

Louise

[lanie]

Here is one that I have used for years and has never failed me yet.

No Fail Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

combine gently with a whisk
add 4 eggs (one at a time) whisk each separately
stand room temp 1 - 2 hours
stir before pouring
heat oven 400
heat muffin tins a few minutes with 1/2 tsp. olive oil in each and spray pan with pam
Bake 400 x 20 minutes

[Searcher]

Elaine, that recipe is almost exactly like the one my youngest daughter uses. She doesn't add oil to the batter though and she has a ceramic cooktop so she just sets the muffin tin on that until it's very hot. These always come out well, and there's no need to make ahead or let sit at all. They're light, easy to remove from the pan and they reheat well. She and her British husband eat leftover roast beef and gravy inside the leftover puddings.

Yorkshire Pudding

4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon parsley

Heat oven to 450ºF.
Combine flour, salt and parsley in medium bowl. Add milk and lightly beaten eggs. Mix until blended.
Place 12 hole muffin tin in oven for 10 minutes or until very hot. Spray with Olive Oil cooking spray. Fill each hole in muffin tin with enough batter to fill 2/3 full. Bake at 450ºF for 20-25 minutes.
Note: Try not to open oven door until it’s time to remove the Yorkshire puddings.
You can easily half this recipe. Puddings can be reheated successfully in microwave for 15-20 seconds.

[Shirley Ekstein]

Al though not a Yorkshirewoman, I am from Lancashire which is the next-door county, so here’s a recipe from (almost) the horse’s mouth. Do realise scales are not as prevalent in the US as they are over here, so have given cup and fluid ounce measures as well. So - for 4 people -

2ozs or half a cup all purpose flour (we use plain flour – this is your best equivalent)
pinch salt
1 egg
5 fluid ounces milk and water, mixed more or less equally. (We call this a quarter pint, but your pint is 16 fl ozs, whereas ours is 20 fl ozs, so thought it better to specify fl ozs. In cup measurements, it’s approx ¾ of a cup.)

Put your flour and salt into a basin and make a well in centre. Drop in your egg. Start to whisk egg into flour, adding, at the same time, about half the liquid. Beat well, then beat in the rest of the liquid. Leave to stand for half an hour or up to 2 hours (tho if you leave it that long you might need to add a little more liquid when you come to cook – flour grains will have swelled and thickened, and you need to loosen them. Whatever – you need to end up with a pouring batter – something a little less thick than heavy cream.)
Meanwhile, heat in the oven set at Gas 7 (425F) a roasting tray for a large pudding (or a muffin tin for individual ones) that has been slicked with some sort of fat – beef dripping is lovely – goose fat works beautifully – olive or sunflower or peanut oil is fine, but NOT butter ‘cos will burn – and I do mean SLICKED – don’t over-do the fat – not only is it not necessary it’s positively harmful to your Pud – will not rise properly and will be greasy.
Pour in batter – it should start to sizzle and set on the bottom immediately. Bung it back in the oven, top shelf, and leave for approx 30 mins. Do NOT open oven door to check until at least 20 mins have passed to allow Pud to set – after that, check as often as you like. You will – or should! – end up with a hugely risen-round-the-sides, hollow-in-the-middle batter pudding (or puddings) which is just GORGEOUS with beef gravy – (qualification here – should be Proper English Beef Gravy!)
Variations – to eat with pork, add 3 or 4 choped sage leaves and a tablespoon chopped onion to basic batter and stir very well before pouring into tins.
For lamb roast, use chopped mint and parsley.
Actually, variations are only limited by your imagination – for instance, over here, we eat something called ‘Toad in the Hole’, which is simply sausages (any sort you like) browned quickly on one side under the broiler then dropped into the slicked pan, batter poured over, cooked approx 45 mins – lovely for a family supper eaten with braised cabbage and young carrots.
Anyway – hope this incredibly long post has given you something to think about!
Regards, Shirley.

[lsdesign]

Thanks to all who posted and oh Shirley, I'd hoped that you might see my post and respond. Thank you for all of the lovely information and the variations. The reason I am asking this in the first place is that I had been reading a Raold Dahl book to my child and Yorkshire pudding was described in the story as well as "Toad in the Hole"! My next request is that you tell us about what a Proper English gravy might be. Americans need to know this stuff, at least this one does.

[beejayw1]

...made using the pan drippings.

Gosh, I haven't had one in years! Must see what I can do about it...

[Shirley Ekstein]

Isdesign – feel absolutely awful calling you this, so may I say ‘Izzy’? (guess I’m being a little forward, but once you mentioned reading Roald Dahl to your children, felt – wow! Here’s someone I’d love to know!)
Now – Proper English Gravy. We like a LOT of gravy, and it’s easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy as our girls also used to say, more years ago than I care to remember.!
OK – do your roast as usual. When done, remove from oven, lift out meat and leave in a warm place covered with foil.
Put your roasting pan on top of stove, as is, all juices and fat intact. Now throw in a scant tablespoon of plain (all-purpose) flour, turn on heat to low and stir flour and pan juices together till they make a roux – now turn the heat up and keep cooking till the roux starts to turn brown. Now remove pan from stove and start to stir in, gradually, around an (American) pint beef stock – use a fork, and really work the mixture so it mixes properly – like making a white sauce . Return to stove and bring to boil. As soon as it hits the boil pour in a glass (4 fl ozs give or take) of red wine . Return to boil, season with salt and pepper to your taste, then either leave bubbling very gently till serving time or, (as I do) pour into gravy jug and re-heat in microwave when serving-up.
Must admit several things.
1) Actually prefer Knorr Beef Stock Cube to homemade
stock . (Think am seduced by a certain MSG content .)
2) Using red Wine is NOT classic Brit.
3) Who cares? Makes it taste really REALLY brilliant.
4) Specially with Yorkshire Puds.
5) This is English Gravy filtered through a French Cooking Education - but it's good, promise.

Hope all this waffle makes sense - if not, gimme a shout and I'll endeavour to make things more clear.

Love, Shirley.

[sneezles]

lsdesign,
You must find a copy of Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes, illustrated by Quentin Blake, ©1994 and first printed in 1995 by Scholastic Books. It has about 30 recipes from various Roald Dahl books and it's just a hoot to read. My oldest (who is now 21) was a huge fan of Dahl's and even though I gave this to him on his 15th birthday, he loved it! Both of my other sons have read the books and we even attempted some of the recipes!

[lsdesign]

Thanks once again Shirley for taking the time for my gravy instruction. I have a gang coming of people I have never met for dinner a week from Saturday (how do you like that for risky business?) and I think I'll just go back to basic beef,gravy and the Yorkshire pudding for the menu.
What have I got to loose? I am relatively new to town and the pressure to go gourmet will not be upon me. Thanks for the inspiration! I loved the menu for Toad in a Hole as well with the cabbage and carrots. I will try that one too and report on the reception it receives among my boys.

And Sneezles, I will look for that Roald Dahl book. Chances are I will have more questions for Shirley after reading it. It sounded great to me and terribly silly.

Lyn