Yorkshire Pudding

A Very Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has had a fabulous Christmas. Ours was quiet, but lovely, apart from a tornado warning (What the hell? This is December!) at 7am on Saturday morning. Our weather has been all over the place this past couple of weeks. Last week, Sunday – Tuesday, we had night time lows of 0°F and highs in the low 20’s. On Christmas Day we had a high of 62°F, and on Boxing Day 72°F.

(For more info on Boxing Day, check out my other blog: http://grandlakeink.blogspot.com )

Saturday a cold front moves in bringing storms and wild winds, but fortunately, the tornado passed us by. Then the past few days, temps have been back in the mid 60’s. Weird weather! Anyway, here endeth the weather report for NE Oklahoma.

Today’s recipe is Yorkshire Pudding. Don’t be misled by the title, this is not a dessert it's a batter pudding, like a pancake batter, but baked in the oven, and served with roasted meats and gravy. In England, Yorkshire Pudding is traditionally served with roast beef, but it makes a great accompaniment to any roast meat. I made these to have with our turkey on Christmas Day, and they are totally yumptious. Hubby is a Yorkshireman, and even he admits that for a Lancashire lass I make a mean Yorkshire Pud.

Yorkshire puds are also great served cold. I use them to make sandwiches, which hubby calls "pudding pots," with any leftover meat and stuffing. Or they can be served as a sweet with jam, preserves, or lemon curd.

If you’re interested, here is a little history of the dish.

Hannah Glasse is credited with creating the first Yorkshire pudding in 1745, and the original recipe appears in her book The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy. Back then, meat was cooked on a spit over an open fire and a tray was placed under the meat to catch the drippings. Hannah Glasse hit on the idea of adding a pancake batter to the drippings and Yorkshire pudding was born.

Yorkshire pudding became very popular among the working classes who served it with gravy as an appetizer ― in reality a filler ― because meat was very expensive.

Yorkshire puddings traversed the Atlantic to the USA with the early pioneers and settlers. In this country they became known as Portland Popovers, individual muffin-sized puddings, and so named because the batter swells over the sides of the pan during cooking. The original Yorkshire pudding, however, was cooked in a large, shallow-sided baking dish and then cut into slices for serving.

Today, in England, you are more likely to find individual, muffin-sized Yorkshire puddings ― more akin to their American counterpart, popovers ― than their larger ancestor.

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour.
1 pint milk.
2 eggs.
12 teaspoons vegetable oil.

Note: Most Yorkshire pudding recipes require half these ingredients, but I like my Yorkshire puddings to really "popover" during cooking.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Put flour in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Crack the eggs into the well and pour in half the milk. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.
• Pour in remaining milk and beat with a fork, or whisk, until bubbles form on the surface. Place batter in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
• In a 12 case non-stick muffin pan add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to each case, and place in the oven until the oil is smoking hot.
• Meanwhile, remove batter from refrigerator and whisk again until bubbles form.
• When oil is hot, quickly add batter to muffin cases, and return pan to the oven.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Do not open oven door during cooking as this will cause the puddings to go flat.