Yorkshire pudding

[jmcgrath]

I've been tasked with making Yorkshire pudding for Christmas Eve dinner at a friends house. They are making prime rib but I'm not sure I will have access to the drippings. Joy of Cooking lists butter as a substitute, but I think that may be lacking in flavor. I was thinking of rendering some beef suet and using that. Any opinions on either, or other suggestions? I have plenty of goose fat. Might that work?

Also, muffin tins or baking dish? There will be seven adults. Can I make it in advance or will it collapse?

Edited to add goose fat.

Jim

Edited December 16, 2004 by jmcgrath (log)

[peppyre]

You can use oil, but it's a much better idea to render some fat, more flavour. Last year for my birthday dinner my mom made the best yorkshire's she's ever made. She just poured the batter into the roasting pan right after she took the meat out. I have to say, that this was the first time we had ever done this. We had always gone the traditional route of using muffin tins. When it came out of the oven it was the most beautiful specimen! We had to get the camera and take several shots of it. So, I say, go with whatever is easiest. They both work and chances are that it will collapse if it sits for awhile, but not much. Good luck!

[Chris Amirault]

Seems a shame not to use drippings for the pudding, and the butter substitute seems wrong-headed to me. Why not roast a prime rib between now and the meal, save the drippings to bring with, and have some nice sandwiches for a week?

Of course, this is the sort of absurd suggestion that I believe to be practical, so feel free to ignore.

[jackal10]

The true flavour is beef dripping, but any high temperature fat is OK.

Goose fat works well.

Butter or oil is improved by browning an onion in it first.

I prefer individual puddings, so use large muffin tins.

If you fill them too full you will popovers rather than yorkshires - they will be a pillow rather than a cup.

[cakes]

We have added beef suet to the pan to give us enough fat to make the pudding. I would not use substitutes, no matter how much I like butter. The pudding needs to be done in a very hot oven, probably too hot for butter.

Cakes

[culinary bear]

Don't use butter - i believe they still lynch people in Yorkshire for that sort of crime.

Any hard rendered fat would do - lard, beef suet (though do check it's not floured), goose/duck fat, schmaltz are all alternatives. Good beef dripping does give an unmatchable flavour.

a basic yorkie pud recipe (all proportions by volume, not weight)

1 part plain soft flour

1 part eggs

1 part 50:50 mix of water and milk

salt and pepper to taste

about a half-teaspoon of english mustard powder per cup of flour.

mix all to a batter in the normal fashion... let rest for at least an hour.

fill pan to a depth of 1/4" with your fat.

put your pan and fat in the oven, as high as it will go - when smoking, pour in the batter and put in the oven. Cook until brown and crisp.

don't open the oven until it's done.

My old head chef produced amazing yorkies this way - always higher than mine, although I watched the old codger make them so often I knew he couldn't have deviated from this recipe. I swear he had baking powder in his pocket. :)

[forever_young_ca]

I think butter would burn given the fact that the pan must be smoking hot when you put in the batter.

I have always loved yorkies, but mine had about a 50% chance of success until I finally realized that one essential trick was not to open the oven door until they were done. I am now the official family yorkie maker!

[culinary bear]

I think butter would burn given the fact that the pan must be smoking hot when you put in the batter.

heinously non-traditional, but I wonder what would happen if you used ghee or clarified butter?

[Jensen]

Here's a strange Yorkshire pudding question for y'all...

We had a standing rib roast for dinner tonight and I had planned on serving Yorkshire puds with it. However, the oven temp was off a wee bit and the roast was delayed in cooking by about 30 minutes. Since the puds take about 20 minutes to cook and we were already half an hour behind, I decided to nix the whole pudding idea.

I put the batter in the fridge and, when the roast came out of the oven, I saved quite a bit of the drippings. My thinking was that I could bring the batter up to room temp tomorrow and make the puds then.

Will this work?

[jackal10]

Here's a strange Yorkshire pudding question for y'all...

We had a standing rib roast for dinner tonight and I had planned on serving Yorkshire puds with it. However, the oven temp was off a wee bit and the roast was delayed in cooking by about 30 minutes. Since the puds take about 20 minutes to cook and we were already half an hour behind, I decided to nix the whole pudding idea.

I put the batter in the fridge and, when the roast came out of the oven, I saved quite a bit of the drippings. My thinking was that I could bring the batter up to room temp tomorrow and make the puds then.

Will this work?

←

Yes it will work. You might want to stir the batter a bit.

You can eat them with the remains of the beef, or sausages or just with gravy, or as a sweet with golden syrup or jam and cream..

Even better make toad-in-the-hole, and brown the sausages in the tin (onions optional) before pouring the yorkshire batter round them.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I hadn't attempted Yorkshire pudding in a while...

 

 

 

Served with prime rib.  Fat was beef drippings.  Years ago in college a dear professor explained Yorkshire pudding could properly be made only by a Yorkshire woman.  Which she was and I am not.  Nonetheless I try.

 

[Anna N]

On 12/17/2004 at 4:02 AM, jackal10 said:

You can eat them with the remains of the beef, or sausages or just with gravy, or as a sweet with golden syrup or jam and cream..

Or drizzled with homemade raspberry vinegar as I recall nostalgically from my childhood. Never met anyone outside of my own family who considers Yorkshire pudding both dinner and dessert so it is great to see this from @jackal10.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I finished off the last of ours for breakfast this weekend.   Microwaved.   No condiments, just savored its glorious beefy flavor.

Our family usually fights over the Yorkshire, but this year, with just two of us and a double batch, we finally had "enough" to go around + leftovers..  

[Kim Shook]

RE: Reheating Yorkshire pudding.  I don't remember if you have a CSO, @Margaret Pilgrim, but for anyone who does - reheating on bake/steam results in a pud that is almost like fresh.  

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Ours, before the assault