Posted by: John Oxton on 18 Mar 2007
You can’t have roast beef without Yorkshire pudding, well not if you are an Oxton anyway.
My recipe is very simple, an equal measure of everything. It really doesn’t matter if that measure is a coffee cup or a bucket, or if it is done by the pint. For example today I made mine with:
- Half a pint of milk
- Half a pint of plain flour (yup, dry flour up to the half pint line in a jug).
- Half a pint of eggs
These I added to a blender and blended to a smooth batter
The secret to good Yorkshire pudding is heat, around 220 celcius (428 Fahrenheit) to get things started and if you are cooking a big one (as opposed to lots of little ones) you might turn it down a little once it’s getting nice and brown.
It is important that there is plenty of fat (or oil), today I am simply going to chuck my batter into the dripping left over from roasting the beef joint. The bottom of the tray should have at the very least the depth of a finger nail of fat, more if your health conscious head can cope. And that fat should be red hot before you add the batter, smoking even. The batter should sizzle as it hits the oil. Then once it’s in the oven don’t open the door too often else it will probably collapse.
I tell how mine is cooked by colour and if it is a lot lighter, when lifted, than it looks.
Comments
# on the Sunday March 18, 2007 John Oxton added:
I should also add that Yorkshire pudding batter is better made a few hours (maybe the day before, even) before you need it. The reason? Well it seems to hold together better when it’s cooking, the shape is more uniform; where as a very fresh batter is still light and tasty but a little ugly.
# on the Monday March 19, 2007 Graham Bancroft added:
Never been a fan of Yorkshire puds, I blame my Mum who has always bought those ready made jobsters.
The kids love them though, so I’ll be sure to give them a whirl. How many puds does this make and sadly I’ve never cooked these at home so is there any must have pud tins or somethink, or would a cake tin do?
# on the Monday March 19, 2007 John Oxton added:
How many? Crikey this makes loads but the batter keeps for a day (or two at a push). I have asked Esther to whip up a toad in the hole with the left overs :)
# on the Wednesday March 21, 2007 Cole added:
Tadpoles in the hole is a personal favourite. Along with your batter you will need six sausages and a muffin tin (12 muffin capacity) and some oil.
Line the muffin dishes with a liberal amount of oil and preheat. Cut the sausages in half and place upright in the individual muffin dishes, topping up to the brim with your batter.
Ovenify for 40 or so minutes at 220 and you have tadpoles in the hole, great with gravy and broccoli (also great if you are cooking Toad in the Hole for meaties and veggies as you can split the sausages up without meat fat getting all over your veggie toads!)
# on the Thursday March 22, 2007 Michael Grinstead added:
Yorkshire pud with onion gravy, yum!
# on the Tuesday March 27, 2007 Harry added:
Supper for 6 people, this Thursday night (no veggies). Nothing too strenuous, something easy enough to prepare after work, 2 courses. Any suggestions?
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