Yorkshire Puddings

Last weekend we decided to have a proper Sunday dinner, the best of UK traditions.  While our meat was corned beef and not a joint of lamb or a roast beef, we did the rest up proper--roasties (roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes) steamed carrots and fresh green beans, onion gravy, Black Sheep Ale from Masham in North Yorkshire and the piece de resistance, yorkshire puddings.  They are so easy to make, I don't know why we don't make them more often but it's probably good that we don't as we managed to eat the whole pan between tea (dinner to us Yanks) and pudding (dessert to us Yanks as well). 

Yorkshire puds are similar to popovers, though this British recipe seems to have more eggs and less flour than the popover recipes I peeked at for comparison. You can make them in regular muffin tins or make an enourmous pudding in a big baking pan then cut it up for serving. Use non-stick pans if you have them. It's very common in Britain to find sausages and mashed potatoes with gravy served inside a plate-size yorkshire pudding.  Now that's comfort food of the highest standard.

Here's our tried and true recipe for about 18 puds or 12 small puds and an 8x8 pud:

-Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

-Put a small amount of vegetable oil in each muffin cup  (1/4 to 1/2 tsp) or enough in a big pan to coat the bottom   (The oil crisps up the bottom of the puddings and helps release them)

-Whisk together the following:  10 ounces of milk
                                                1 cup of flour
                                                pinch of salt
                                               3 eggs

-When oven is hot, place muffin tin in for 5 minutes to heat up the oil

-After 5 minutes, pull out pan and fill each cup with 2 1/2 Tablespoons or a scant 1/4 cup of batter

-Place tin in oven and patiently wait for 30 minutes

Try not to open the oven door for a peek until the end.  You will end up with yorkshires that are brown and crunchy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside.

The puddings are good hot out of the oven or cooled off.  After our tea, when we could move again and think greedily about dessert, I peeled and sliced two Granny Smith apples which I sauteed in a few tablespoons of maple syrup until the slices were soft. We spooned the apples over cooled yorkshires, added a little more syrup and voila! delicious dessert.  You can certainly reheat the puddings but they will be a little lacking in texture. We say be brave and just eat the lot the day you cook them OR only cook what you need.  The batter will hold over night and you can have hot puds again the next day!

Try them yourself and let us know what you think!