YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS,
GENERAL TIPS:
- According to Mrs. Beeton's (and who dares argue?), the lightness
of the Yorkshire pudding batter "depends on the quick formation
of steam within the mixture and the quick cooking of the flour.
A baked batter therefore requires a hot oven (425F, Gas 7); the
temperature can be reduced when the flour is cooked." Other
than that, the only caution is that the batter be allowed to
stand for 30 minutes. I suspect that "quick formation of
steam" might be delayed by the use of ice water.
- Mrs. Beeton's U.S. equivalent, The Joy of Cooking, insists:
"The ingredients must be at room temperature when mixed
or they will not puff." Contrarily, the instructions go
on to say that the batter be refrigerated when left to stand,
but you must bear in mind that American summers are HOT and 30
minutes at room temperature will probably curdle the milk. Here
the mixture is beaten again before cooking.
- Keith Floyd confides, "The secret of making Yorkshire
pudding is to ensure that the oven is very hot, and that the
fat in your tin is [just] smoking hot before pouring in the batter."
He apparently advocates room temperature for standing time; there
is no mention of refrigeration.
- I suggest you try these slightly different methods every
Sunday until you get it right for you.
Eileen Morgan: Here's my mom's recipe:
SEASONED PUDDING:
- 6-8 slices of bread
3 medium onions, chopped
1 egg
sage (season to taste)
salt & pepper
1 cup quaker oats
1 tbsp flour
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour boiling water over bread,
soak & then drain well. Boil onions until tender; drain well.
Mash bread, onions together; add egg and mix well; add all other
ingredients & mix. Put mixture into a baking dish (can't
remember if you're supposed to grease the dish or not); drizzle
dripping from pork roast over top; bake 40-50 minutes. Slice,
serve with lots of gravy & enjoy! Serves 8, or in my case,
3 (one daughter doesn't like it so there's lots for us that do!)
Should you decide to compile a Yorkshire
cookbook, I'd have no objection at all to your including this
recipe. In fact, I'd insist! I believe the world should know about
this dish!!!
Eileen.
SAVOURY YORKSHIRE
PUDDING:
- 8 oz suet
8 oz breadcrumbs
2 fairly large onions
1 tablespoon coarse oatmeal
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoonful sage
1 or 2 eggs
Chop onions and suet very fine, grate bread, add other dry ingredients
and mix together with well-beaten eggs.
- Bake in well greased tin for half-an-hour.
-
Very nice with roast duck or pork.
Miss Roberts, Bradford.
SEVERAL YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS:
MRS BEETONS VERSION:
- 1/2 lb./2 US cups plain/all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
1 pt./2-1/2 US cups milk
2 tablespoons dripping [drippings from roast meat]
-
- Sift flour and salt into basin.
- Make a well in centre of flour and break egg into this. Add
about a gill [5 fl. oz.] of the milk.
- Stir gradually, working the flour down from the sides and
adding more milk, as required, to make a stiff batter consistency.
- Beat well for about 5 min. Add the rest of the milk.
- Cover and leave to stand about 30 min. [I
let it stand in the fridge]
- Put the fat into a Yorkshire pudding tin [lasagne
pan] and heat in oven until hot.
- The fat should just be beginning to smoke.
- Quickly pour in the batter and put on the top shelf above
the meat.
- Finish off below the meat on a lower shelf. Or bake at 425
until brown (about 20-25 min.), then 375 about 10-15 min.
-
- You may also pour the batter into muffin
pans and cook for about 20-25 mins. total.
- Finished product will be puffy and
brown on the high parts, rich golden yellow otherwise.
- Serve with dinner or as a sweet [dessert]
with jam spread on it.
- Properly made Yorkshire pudding, served
promptly out of the oven with
a good gravy, is the eighth wonder of the world.
YORKSHIRE PUDDING Recipe1
My father came from Leeds, Yorkshire,
& their family always ate the yorkshire pudding first with
beef gravy, this was to fill everyone up so that the beef would
go further . Believe it or not, he liked it with a scattering
of currants in it. To this day I make yorkshire pudding with roast
beef and my children and my grandchildren love it, and we have
also convinced the son-in-laws and daughter-in-laws to love it
also. All my daughters carry on the tradition.
- 1 cup of flour
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
Salt
- Mix eggs and milk together, beat well.
- Gradually add egg mixture to flour and salt. Beat Well (no
lumps).
- Let stand a while before cooking, Pre-heat oven to about
450, heat a small amount of shortening, in shallow pan, approx.
9" x 13", or individual pans, (I purchased mine years
ago when back for a visit) when the fat is spluttering add mixture
and put back onto the top shelf of the oven.
- It takes about 20 mins.
- It is hard to describe how it should look, but it should
have risen around the edges and in the middle, and should have
browned.
- It should be eaten as soon as possible.
-
- I always have to double the recipe!
- -Incidentally I now use skimmed milk
and you can't tell the difference.
-
- Audrey, Illinois, USA
YORKSHIRE PUDDING Recipe
2
- 4ozs plain flour (US=All purpose flour)
A pinch of salt
1 egg
1/2 pint of milk & cold water (1 1/4 cups US)
The standing in a cool place to let it "settle" is
essential. And one other essential secret (promise not to tell
another soul) is to beat in a tablespoonful of cold (iced) water
into the batter just
prior to pouring it into the hot beef fat. This puts sufficient
air into the mixture to make it rise and give it that lovely crisp
top.
Roy Smith Melbourne Australia
From Susan Reddy:
Most Yorkshire women I know don't measure their ingredients, but
here's one from the Good Housekeeping Cookery Encyclopaedia from
30 years ago -
Yorkshire Pudding "A batter pudding traditionally eaten
with roastbeef. In Yorkshire it is usually served separately,
before the meal, accompanied by some of the hot beef gravy, but
in much of the rest of the country the pudding is served with
the meat. It may be cooked either in a separate tin, or round
or under the joint. If preferred, the mixture can be made up as
small individual puddings or popovers."
SUSAN REDDYS YORKSHIRE
PUDDING:
4 ozs/1 cup plain/all-purpose flour
A pinch of salt
1 egg
1/2 pint/1-1/4 US cups milk & cold water
-
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees F or gas mark 7 (220 degrees
C.)
- Sieve the flour & salt into a bowl.
- Make a well in the centre and add the egg.
- Add half of the liquid, a little at a time, mixing with a
wooden spoon from the centre outwards and gradually drawing in
the flour.
Mix until smooth and stir in the remainder of the milk.
- (I use a mixer & iced water &
milk, & leave batter to stand for at least half an hour before
cooking).
-
- Pour 1 tablespoon of the dripping from the meat pan into
the Yorkshire pudding tin or shallow fireproof dish, (return
it to oven for 2 minutes).
- When it is really hot, pour in the batter and bake in a hot
oven (425F or gas mark 7) for about 40 minutes.
- Serve cut in squares, as an accompaniment to roast beef,
etc. (if making popovers, cook for about 20-30 minutes)
The Yorkshire Pudding should be a nice golden brown colour, not
black!
TIP FROM SUSAN REDDY &
a bit of Yorkshire dialect:
Yorkshire Pudding & Ice cold Water - perfect together
My Mom always adds iced (cold) water & so do I, an mi puddins
cum aht abaht 12 inches high (as big as elephants ears but not
as tough.)
Yer'll 'ave to excuse our Tana, shi's recoverin from t flu
& 'as 'er 'ead a bit stuffed up a think, then thiz all t mulled
wine and t brandy shi's bin talkin abaht (shi's probubbly bi 'avin
a sup of it an all, one spoonful for t Fruit cake & two spoonfulls
for our Tana)
GRANNY'S YORKSHIRE
PUDDING WITH ONIONS:
- 8oz plain flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 eggs
1 pint milk
2 oz good dripping.....(the fat and juices left from a cooked
joint)
- ONION GRAVY:
2 white onions (peeled and sliced)
250ml (9fl oz) red wine
400ml (14fl oz) fresh beef stock
Serves 4
Granny knows best, especially when making
Yorkshire puddings. (However there are some golden rules to follow:
TIPS: you must cook on a high heat first, then turn the oven down:
and you mustn't open the oven door at all for the first 20-25
minutes. And for the most successful results, make your mixture
a day in advance and leave it to rest in the fridge.)
- Place the flour and some seasoning into a bowl.
Add the eggs, mixing in with a whisk, and then the milk, mixing
slowly to prevent lumps forming.
- At this point, put the bowl in the fridge overnight covered
with some cling film.
- Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7.
Take four non-stick Yorkshire pudding tins (about 5in in diameter).
- Put a little of the dripping in each of the tins, but don't
use it all.
- Put the tins into the oven.
- Before you add the mix to the tins, the fat should be smoking
hot.
As you pour in the mix, so that it fills the tins to the top,
the mix should seal on the edges.
Working fast, place them back in the oven, close the door and
leave it closed for about 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the onions in a pan in the remaining dripping,
for about 10 minutes, then add the wine and stock.
- Reduce until you have a nice thickened mixture: about another
10 minutes or so.
- Season well.
Turn the oven down to 190C/375oF/gas mark 5 and cook the Yorkshires
for a further 10 minutes to set the bottom of the puds thoroughly.
Remove from the oven, place on plates, and serve the thick onion
gravy in the middle..... DELICIOUS!
Garry Stockdill,
Yorkshire, England.
