Yorkshire Pudding

While dating Alex, he always mentioned his love for Yorkshire pudding when eating a Sunday roast. I wasn't sure how I felt about serving something of a pudding consistency with a savory meat (I was thinking of the Jell-O variety), and the thought kind of grossed me out.

A few years after we married, we went to England for a wonderful two week vacation with my mother-in-law, Janet.  Our first meal there was at an incredible restaurant-chain called, "The Carvery." They have some sort of meat at a carving station (turkey, ham, etc.), and then all-you-can-eat sides.  One of which, is Yorkshire Pudding.  Imagine my surprise when I wasn't served a jiggly, custard-like side, and more of a pop-over!  They were delicious and it was love at first bite.

 

While on that trip, Janet introduced me to the frozen puddings you could buy at the local grocery store, Tesco.  We (mostly me) went through many bags, and they soon became one of my favorite British treats.

 

So, I did some research and whipped these bad-boys up.  Traditional Yorkshire pudding is made using beef drippings from a roast, but you can use canola oil if that isn't readily available (in fact, I looked up the Tesco Frozen puddings online, and they use rapeseed oil --- or as we like to call it in America, canola oil). 

I also couldn't find the Yorkshire pudding pans that Alex has, so I made them in a Whoopie pie pan - turned out perfect!  You can also use a muffin pan.

Yorkshire Pudding

Adapted from this recipe on allrecipes.com.   

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup beef drippings or Canola Oil

Directions:

1. Mix flour and salt together until blended. Make a well in the flour, add the milk, and mix until consistent. Beat the eggs into the batter. Add water and beat again until the mixture is light and frothy, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside for an hour (or, if it's the day before, cover in the fridge overnight).
2. If the batter has been refrigerated, allow it to come up to room temperature before using.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
4. Put a pea-sized amount of beef drippings or canola oil in each muffin cup.  Put the pan (with the oil only) in the oven, and heat to a sizzle (this only take about 5 minutes with beef drippings, but 10-15 minutes with canola oil).  Pour the batter over the sizzling oil and bake for 20-30 minutes (or until the sides have risen and are golden brown). Do not open the oven to peak during baking time.