Yorkshire puddings....

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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:27 am

Arghh!!!
Got the in laws over for dinner on Sunday and his mother's a great cook, so, in the heat of the moment, I said I was great at doing the traditional English Sunday lunch, thinking she'd say "Oh no, just a salad will do" But NO!!! She wants the works!!
I can do the beef/potato/veg/gravy etc, but I'm pants at Yorkshires!
It's not the recipe I need, it's how to make them rise!!

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:28 am

Make sure the oven is very hot, do not open the door until they are cooked

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:35 am

Quote:

do not open the door until they are cooked

In which case, how do I know when they're cooked!!!

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:38 am

From the gospel according to St Delia -

Pud

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:44 am

You have to make sure that the fat is really really hot before adding the batter. If the fat doesn't spit as the batter hits it, it is not hot enough. Letting the batter stand for half an hour is a good idea, too. And slowfreddie is right, do not open the oven door. Trust Delia on the timings; she's utterly reliable, so long as you have followed her instructions to the letter. Serve them immediately - Yorkshires do not keep well at all.

If you were doing it the traditional Yorkshire way, btw, you'd have served the Yorkshire pud with gravy as a starter, then followed it with the meat course. It helped reduce people's appetites which made a small piece of expensive meat go further. Smile

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:48 am

Why not just buy the frozen one's from the supermarket? Saves the hassle and the stress of making your own.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:09 am

Mod edit: full quote of previous post removed. Eight

I love Aunt Bessy. In fact, she's the reason people think I am a goddess on the Y pudding front.
Unfortunately, I now live in NZ and Aunt Bessy didn't emmigrate with me!!

Thankyou so much. I am now heading into the kitchen to have a practice run..... (hope the smoke alarms at the ready...)

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:25 am

Yorkshire puddings and my brush with a celebrity chef....

One Sunday I was in the pub doing a quiz with some mates. One of the questions was "What are the 3 main ingredients of Yorkshire Puddings?". We put milk, eggs and flour. Bugger me 10 minutes later Antony Worrall Thompson the famous broken nosed TV chef walks in the pub. He was in the area filming a programme and staying with a family where he was learning to play the piano. So I thought I would get the answer straight from the horses mouth and ask him. He confirmed what we had put down so I said "Thank you very much, that is what we thought", and walked away I think he was a bit peeved because I didn't ask for his autograph. Very Happy

True story, honest, I can provide witnesses.

Anyway, here is his YP recipe if you need it.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/yorkshirepudding_67385.shtml

Personally, I think it is crap and not detailed enough.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Edit] Me and the same friends also entered a pub quiz once whilst on holiday in Dorset. Our team name was 'The Yorkshire Puddings'. We came last and got the booby prize of a picked egg and a packet of crisps...which was nice.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:38 am

I find that they rise best if you substitute the milk with water.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:39 am

Ahhh, fine British cuisine! Very Happy

How the world envies you. Wink

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:59 am

^^^Ah, where would we be without our frankfurters and hamburgers and currywurst. Yum!

I've been Googling again. Shocked

Every country has its unique culinary delights, until McDonalds eventually takes over the world that is.

[Edit] We also have the best school dinners in the world. That's why all the kids go to the local chippy.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 11:00 am

A teaspoon of vinegar helps. No idea why but it does.

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

My ancient cookbook states that sour milk makes good yorkshire puddings. That may be why the vinegar works. These days sour milk is hard to come by.

Yorkshire puddings as a first course are something of a tradition in our family, but we do one big one in a dish. The edges rise, but the main body is doughy.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 12:55 pm

I'll endorse the hot fat bit. That's the secret: to heat the tray & the fat in the oven well before adding the batter.

Trust me. I was born in Yorkshire. Bah gum Smile

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:16 pm

RedGadge wrote:

Trust me. I was born in Yorkshire. Bah gum Smile

You forgot the 'Ee' before 'bah gum' Although where I come from in God's own county I maybe shouldn't say too much. Laughing

I went to Barnsley once. It was closed.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 12:25 am

I want to take my wife to London to visit my Aunt and Uncle. She's terrified of the food though. Spotted Dick, Toad in the Hole, and Clotted Cream has her stomach flipping. I could go for a Ploughman's myself!

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:22 am

I don't know what a Yorkshire pudding is. I have had a few kinds of pudding, and they are so different from each other, that I am not really sure what pudding is.

I live in California. We have English pubs, and that is where I had things like bangers and mash, and shepherd's pie, and pudding. To be honest, each of these dishes depend on who is cooking it - it could be mediocre, or it can be quite tasty!

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:29 am

Oh yeah, the one time I visited London, I landed in Heathrow with a few friends, and we looked around for an airport diner. We found a nice place, with friendly people, and they served, amongst other things, something called baps. No one among us knew what a bap was, and no one felt like asking for some reason. It was only later that I found out that a bap was basically a kind of bun.

Master Baiter Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Posts: 128

oh wow i love yorkshire puddings. it is my favorite part of Christmas, we get a big roast and then make a whole bunch of puddings. YAY. I think that the best way to go is to stick the meat on top and then fold the yorkshire over. so good, so bad. after they sit in the fridge they do loose alot of flavor but i tend to eat em anyway.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:49 am

I know you don't need a recipe but here's my Yorkshire granny's tried and tested one. Serves 8-10

235ml milk
4 eggs
250g PLAIN flour
1tsp salt
6 tbsps beef dripping (nothing else works the same)

Whisk milk, eggs, salt and let stand for 15 mins. Then whisk in the flour and let stand until you are ready to cook.

Get the oven HOT - 220C - put the dripping in your pudding tray (a traditional square baking tray, none of those poncy little individual round things) for 10 mins until it's also very HOT.

Pour in the batter and cook for 15-20mins until the whole thing has risen and becomes a golden brown. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR until the pud is cooked.

Cut the Yorkshire pud into squares and serve with onion gravy as a starter. Or at least that's how they did it in Huddersfield.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:25 am

@JT

Joe, don't worry. London has a McDonalds, KFC and Starbucks on virtually every corner. It also has some of the best restaurants and gastro-pubs in the world. I suggest you post on here for recommendations just before your visit. Whilst in London you have to get your wife to try the loverly jellied eel pie and mash. Yum!

The thing you will probably notice is that the portions are not as ginormous as those in your part of the world.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:22 am

OK. Here's how it is.
I tried to cook the 'Deliah' Yorkshires last night and failed quite miserably.So, I'm gonna try Gnashers recipe tomorrow cos I've got the day off work.
(God...is this really my life? Free time and I'm trying to cook yorkshires???!!))

Sunday is the day I have to cook them for real!! I'm gonna take a photo of them before I serve them and let you mark them out of ten!! And if all else fails, I'll post a photo of my legs, coz I know I've got good pins!!!

Wink

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:36 am

Good luck! If the pud doesn't look cooked after 15-20mins leave it in a bit longer until it does. Does your oven have an accurate thermostat? I'm thinking you may have failed because the oven isn't hot enough?

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:00 am

Maybe we should get some lad input on this? Laughing

A good while back we had a thread that got lads to ponder the deeper meaning of life, and give their thoughts.
How to make big, fluffy Yorkies with crispy edges would fit nicely into that bracket.

I'll get my lads on it. Wink

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:13 am

@ GNASHER - respect, that is one superb receipe.