This is a conversational recipe which, I hope, is a fun way for you to learn how to make a Yorkshire Pudding.
This blog is for people like me, people who love to cook but don't like to follow someone else's precise instructions.
For me, cooking is my happy place. I like to feel free and uncluttered when I cook. The joy is in feeling the ingredients come together in the pan or bowl, and adjusting if the result is too dry, or too wet, or too anything, really.
This is my first go at sharing the way I love to cook. This recipe is for something that is part of every Brit's weekend. It's called a Yorkshire Pudding, but it's really not any kind of pudding. (Note here - American's use the work 'pudding' when someone from the UK would say 'mousse'. Equally, when Brit's say 'pudding', an American would say 'dessert'. Weird, right?)
So, back to the Yorkshire Pudding. I've been told that the nearest equivalent in the United States is the 'popover' but I've honestly never found a popover on the West Coast, where I've lived for nearly 20 years. Maybe it's an east coast thing? In England, we eat Yorkshire Pudding with the famous 'Roast Beef'. (Here's another interesting note - English people call French people "Frogs", because that's what French people eat. Therefore, French people call English people "Rosbif" for the same reason.)
A good Yorkshire Pudding is light and golden brown. It's well-risen, but with a serious dip in the center so that you can drop in a little chunk of meat, or a large swoosh of gravy.
Let's get down to the 'how'. I'm going to tell you how to make a great Yorkshire Pudding without having to weigh and measure.
Ingredients (this is about right for a small family, where the Yorkshire Pudding is just part of a meal. It'll maybe make 8 - 10 puddings):
1 egg, not too small
palm of salt
milk (about a mug full)
all-purpose flour (few tablespoons)
So here's what you do. You start with the egg and you break it into a mixing bowl. Doesn't matter if the yolk breaks. When you're cooking, you shouldn't be fretting. If you can't stop fretting, then see if you can fit in a walk, or if it's getting late in the day and you enjoy a sip of wine, now might be a good time. Cooking and anxiety just don't go well.
Recipes so often say "pinch of salt" but don't believe it. A pinch is ... like ... 50 crystals. Never enough. If a recipe needs salt then it needs more than that, always. I usually think "palm of salt" by which I mean "curl up your hand and tip in some salt until you can't see the creases in your skin any more". Anyway, use a whisk to beat together the egg and salt. You don't need some fancy electric whisk - one of those lovely modern Scandinavian ones is great for this job.
Tip milk (really doesn't matter if it's skinny milk, or 2%, or yummy fat milk) into a mug - not right to the top, mainly because you're bound to spill it and then you'll just have to clean up and it's so boring.
Pour the milk into the whisked egg and whisk it again. You don't have to make your arm ache, just make sure that there aren't any unmixed dribs of egg yolk hanging out.
Finally, the fun bit. Yorkshire Puddings are best if the flour has air in it. Get a sieve (I love this one because so many of the ones you buy are 9" and it's too big if you're sifting into a regular bowl) and sift in about 2 really really heaped tablespoons of flour. If you don't know what a 'tablespoon' is, then you could translate "2 heaped tablespoons" into a generous half cup.
Here's what really matters - when you whisk the flour into the eggy, milky mix, then it'll end up being the texture of heavy cream (or Heinz tomato soup ... or warm car oil!). It shouldn't be close to the thickness of sausage gravy. If it is, then whisk in more milk. If it's the thickness of your morning latte, then you need to whisk in more flour. Easy, right? We call this a 'pouring batter'.
Now we get to cook the puddings. (Rest the batter for as long as you can. If you can rest it for lots of hours, then it will settle and the flour might settle. Whisk again if you want to, but then let it rest for 15 minutes before you go cooking).
The oven should be at about 400 Fahrenheit. That's nicely hot, so don't forget your glasses will steam up when you open the door, if you're as old as me. You are cooking the puddings in something that looks like a muffin tray. This one is really affordable, although I recommend you get two because once you discover how delicious these Yorkshire Puddings are, you will NEVER only cook six at a time, even if you're eating alone.
So, you put the tin(s) into the pre-heated oven, but first you pour a little bit of a good oil into the base of each 'bowl'. What's a 'good oil'?? Different oils are good for different things. For Yorkshire Puddings, use a light oil. Sunflower, safflower, maybe avocado. Pour about a teaspoonful-and-a-half into each bowl and swirl it a little to coat the tin.
Leave the tin, and the oil, in the hot oven until you know the oil will be hot. You're going to pour the lovely batter into the tin and when the batter hits the oil it must sizzle.
THIS IS IMPORTANT. Never, ever open the oven until the puddings are almost certainly cooked. They'll flatten like pancakes if you do. They'll take at least 20 minutes, and as long as 30, depending upon what else is also in the oven. Try to avoid cooking Yorkshire Puddings along 'wet' things like a bain-marie.
Hopefully, you have a glass window in your oven door. When these Yorkshire Puddings are cooked, they will be risen and golden. They'll also have brown bottoms, but sadly you can't know about that until you get them out and check. Good luck, but I think you're going to enjoy this experience and find a new and delicious eating experience.
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