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!

Yoder's

A wise person will grab happiness where they can find it.  A really wise person will hop in the car and drive to Yoder’s Restaurant in the Amish community of Pinecraft nestled on Bahia Vista in Sarasota.  Yoder’s is stuffed to the rafters with happiness.  We made what can only be called a pilgrimage to this city block of hallowed ground for a belated birthday dinner after having been thwarted by a line of salivating would-be diners that wound its way out the door and far into the parking lot on our first visit.  You expect lines like this for Rolling Stones concert tickets or a stall in the ladies room anywhere, not for a little Amish restaurant in Florida.  We were soon to find out why.

First of all, if you’re heading to Yoder’s, go hungry and go in the middle of the afternoon.  Any time of the day is fair game for eating in Florida but the normal feeding times 8am, Noon and 5pm will find Yoder’s overflowing.  We went on a Thursday afternoon around 2:30 and still the place was more than half full, a combination of tourists, locals and Pinecraft families.  The restaurant is very homey with lots of pine and lace and Amish art on the walls.  Despite all the people there was an almost reverential hush that presided over us all.  Perhaps it was the effect of tall ladies in dresses and white kapps circulating among the tables like school teachers of old.  Perhaps it was the massive plates of food.

We sat down quite intent on having the fried chicken and pie but our determination was tested when we saw the menu. (Click on the menu link to have a look at the full menu--amazing! It's a pdf file so it may take a minute to load)  Scalloped potatos and ham.  Anna’s Salad  Fresh spring mix, smoked turkey, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, strawberries,

crumbled gorgonzola cheese and sugared pecans with raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Served with fruit bread.  Mom’s meatloaf.  Alaskan cod. Manhattan sandwiches.  

And then there were the sides! 

Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

Amish Potato Cakes

Chicken Stuffing

French Fries

Baked Potato (after 4 p.m.)

Baked Sweet Potato (after 4 p.m.)

Corn Cakes

Amish Noodles

5-Bean Salad

Sliced Tomatoes

Tossed Salad

Cole Slaw

Applesauce

Buttered Corn

Green Beans

Vegetable of the Day

Fried Okra

Baked Hot Apples

Corn Muffins

Onion Rings (add $1.00)

Jamie stuck to his guns and ordered the fried half a chicken with Amish potato cakes and cole slaw.  I broke ranks and ordered the crab cakes with onion rings and tossed salad with bleu cheese dressing.  We both had the delicious Amish mint tea to drink.

Lordy, lordy, lordy.  When the waitress returned with our meals we could barely fit it all on the table, let alone see each other over the mountain of fried chicken.  From then on it was pure bliss. As fun as it is to try new cuisines and have dinner plates arrive with food presented as sculpture, there is something innately right about simple food exquisitely prepared.  You really can taste the difference when food comes from a kitchen that is concerned with the entire process of the meal.  Fresh ingredients. Sticklers for quality. Knowledge that good food will bring people back.

Every morsel was fabulous.  The crab cakes rivaled my favorites at Venezia on Long Boat Key, FL and Marie Dixon’s kitchen in South Freeport, ME. The onion rings were the size of bracelets with a batter so light it was akin to tempura. The coleslaw was perfection and the Amish potato cakes left us staring at each other in disbelief:  they arrived with maple syrup.  Fans of potato bread and potato donuts will know immediately how light, tasty and filling a potato pancake could be.  I supposed we were expecting something akin to a latke so when something resembling a pancake arrived with syrup we were on them in an instant. And then there was the chicken.  Truly, words can’t describe it.  Watch this segment from Man vs. Food for an idea of what it’s like to experience Yoder’s chicken.

We purposely ate only half our meals so we could have leftovers and more importantly, so we could have pie.  

Peanut Butter Cream       

Chocolate Peanut Butter    

Coconut Cream

Banana CreamChocolate Cream

Fresh Strawberry

Red Raspberry Cream

Homemade Butterscotch

Pineapple Cream

Florida Key Lime

Traditional in graham crust.

Yoder’s Key Lime

Dutch Apple Crumb

Southern Pecan

Blueberry Crumb

Black Raspberry

Red Raspberry

Shoofly

Chocolate Pecan

Raisin

Strawberry Rhubarb

Rhubarb

Mom’s Egg Custard

Baked Peach

Blackberry

Cherry

Pumpkin

Sugar Free Apple

Sugar Free Blueberry

On our previous visit to Yoder’s marketplace, we had brought home a small chocolate cream pie.  It was glorious and I chose another piece for this visit.  Jamie, a true peanut butter aficionado, went for Yoder’s peanut butter pie, which, if you watched the Man vs. Food footage, you have lovingly described to you in detail.  That pie is simply magical.  Neither too sweet nor too heavy, it’s like eating a fluffy peanut butter cloud.  We could only manage half our slices of pie with our beautiful coffee; thus they were lovingly boxed up and added to the two bags full of leftovers we departed with clutched in our happy little hands.

Some restaurants you go to just to eat something.  Others you go to just to relax. A trip to Yoder’s is a reminder that someone out there loves you.

For more information on the Pinecraft Amish community and the wonder that is Yoder's, read my blog post at Sodding Typical Amish Surprise .

(All photos are from Google images.  We were going to take photos but couldn't hold the cameras and chicken at the same time....)

Sarasota on Dwellable

IL Panificio

To be honest, I was having withdrawal.  After four years of living within walking distance of Mandola’s Italian Market and Bakery in Austin, it was a shock to discover there was no Italian market nor Italian bakery in Bradenton.  We even asked at an Italian restaurant if there was a place to get  just a fresh loaf of  Italian bread and the owner admitted he bought his daily supply from Publix.  So you can imagine my delight when we were in the Gulfgate area of Sarasota and there in its gleaming glory was Il Panificio just waiting to be explored.

Il Panificio literally means "bakery" but this treasure of a destination in Gulfgate is so much more.  If the day is pleasantly warm, portions of the exterior walls open to provide al fresco dining.  What could be more inviting than not even having to open a door to partake of beautiful food! It’s hard to know what to order first here.

Had we not been full of beer and fries from Sarasota Brewing Company across the street we certainly would have tried several different slices of pizza that looked and smelled fabulous. There are long deli cases of meats and cheeses, olives and salads.  You can order sandwiches and entrees, beer, wine or coffee. And then there are the desserts…oh my.

 We settled on cappuccino and espresso and a couple of chocolate-dipped butter cookies.  Excellent choice.  You can get a cappuccino just about anywhere these days but there is nothing that matches real espresso from an Italian market while sitting in the January sun. 

We watched as people browsed and left with boxes of cakes, tortes, cookies and exquisite, hand-tossed thin crust pizzas.  You know you’re some place fabulous when you can’t decide whether to have the pizza or the cookies first.

 
 Our barista and cookie wrangler was Roberto “Bob” Alvarez, who seems to wear many hats at Il Panificio, including offering Italian language classes, some of which meet right there at the restaurant for breakfast.  Brilliant! We chatted briefly as I took photographs and Jamie noticed from our table that Bob turned on the million dollar smile for the photograph that would go in the blog.  I bet those language classes fill up fast!

http://www.learnitalian.us/li/

Il Panficio has another location in downtown Sarasota that will surely be a destination the next time we hit the Farmers Market or need something exotic from Whole Foods.  For now, you can bet our next trip to Gulfgate will surely begin or end with a visit to Il  Panificio.

Gulf Gate on Dwellable

Gulf Gate Gastronomy

photo from http://cookerycourses.blogspot.com/

 As so often happens, it was all because of pork pies.  Knowing that nothing makes Mr. Pearson happier than a good pork pie, I had been trolling the internet for British markets in the area where I might find him pies to rival the exquisite visions made by Lewis & Cooper back in the Yorkshire village of Northallerton where the Grands live.  I was delighted to find a little shop with a tea room in the Gulf Gate Village area of Sarasota that looked promising.  I also did a search for oriental markets as it’s hard to find rice noodles for me in the grocery stores and son of a gun if it wasn’t next door to the British shop.  That was a done deal for us.  We grabbed the cooler and hit I-75 for the easy journey south.

Drive past the shopping mall at the head of Gulf Gate off the Tamiami Trail and you will find a treasure trove of bakeries, pubs and specialty shops along with the ubiquitous nail salons and dog grooming parlors.  The British shop was, to be honest, a disappointment. The prices were a bit too dear and the selection of goods wasn’t especially inspiring, though we did leave with a little tin of John West Dressed Crabmeat.  Happily, the visit next door to Oriental Food and Gifts was a jackpot.

This place is packed to the ceiling with just about any foodstuff from the far east you could need.  We left with tofu, gyoza, fish sauce, miso soup, cumin, noodles, soft ginger candies, chrysanthemum tea, shrimp crackers, hoisin sauce, coconut milk,  Chinese herbal medicine for my cough and other items Jamie uses in his Thai and Indian dishes.  On Saturdays they offer fresh Korean sushi and the place was packed!

 I realize that what I love most about shopping in markets full of items from other countries is the packaging. Given the choice between a bottle of soy sauce with a photo of some lo mein and one with a drawing of a panda eating bamboo, I’m going to buy the panda every time.  For us, there is something satisfying about opening the cupboard to see foreign alphabets and languages on brightly colored packages, a way of traveling via food to places you want to explore.  Brilliant!

We were also in the Gulf Gate area to visit the Sarasota Brewing Company brew pub but not before being lured into Ooh-La-La French Bakery and Creperie. Step through the door and you are greeted by pastry that qualifies as art.  I was so excited I forgot to take photos so visit their Facebook page for delectible pix . Such a beautiful assortment of deliciousness awaits you that it’s hard to make a choice but we did.  Jamie ordered an espresso for then and a raisin croissant for later.  I selected a small lemon tart that we’ll have for pudding tonight perhaps with fresh strawberries from O’Brien Family Farms not far from us. (Yes, finally strawberries with taste!)

From espresso to beer is not such a big leap if you’re a Yorkshireman (or married to one!) so we walked just a block and sat ourselves down at Sarasota Brewing Company.  The pub is full of tankards and televisions and nice staff, though it’s really dark inside and hard to read the menu.  It’s clear the place has a lot of regulars judging by the personalize jugs everywhere.  Tables and bars are tucked around the brewing equipment. Jamie had two pints of their current IPA that he totally enjoyed. I tried the Sequoia Amber Lager which was quite yummy, though the waitress brought a full pint when I had only wanted a half.  Fortunately, Mr. Pearson is a champion of beers in distress and finished the glass for me.  While Jamie loved the beer, I don’t know that I’d bother to go back to Sarasota Brewing, not when there are many more places to explore or known fabulous spots like Dunedin Brewery north of Tampa which come to think of it, we’ll visit again and write about!

Our final stop on this day was Il Panificio, an Italian bakery/market that was so delicious it deserves its own entry. Thanks for visiting Gulf Gate with us and see you at the Il Panificio blog above just as soon as I write it!

Condiment Confidential

If variety is the spice of life then spices mark the variety of life.  We came to that profound observation when we opened the cupboards and fridge in search of a snack only to find a mere handful of things to actually eat. What we do have is a staggering assortment of sauces and spices.  I don't just mean a few jars of this and that.  Have a look.

-two types of mayonaise   olive oil and regular

-three types of mustard   hot, spicy brown, and sweet german

-four types of salt    sea salt from Maine, sea salt from Cornwall, kosher salt and Jane's

-four types of vinegar  (down from six!)  rice wine, apple cider, balsamic, malt pub

For chinese, indian, mexican and thai cooking

-two types of soy sauce    with and without wheat

-tamarind paste

-beef madras spices for curry sent specially from England

-fish sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, sesame oil

-mustard seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds

-taco spices, chili powder, paprika

-dried chiles, coriander

The standards for italian cookery

-two types of olive oil

-basil, oregano, sage, pepper, garlic, anise seed

Baking supplies

-cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg

-vanilla, almond, lemon, orange extracts

-three types of chocolate

Mr Pearson staples

-two types of HP Sauce and a bottle of Daddy's

-maple syrup

-two types of honey     wildflower (from India??) and orange blossom (from Zolfo Springs)

-three kinds of hot sauce  (one home made)

What's in your cupboards?



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