Yorkshire Pudding(s)

Not anything like Jell-o brand . . .

Yorkshire puddings are a popover that are a typical accompaniment to a British Sunday roast.  The batter is dead simple and the technique isn't hard, but the devil is in the details.  This recipe makes 12 "puds" but you can halve it for smaller groups. 

BTW, the guy over at seriouseats.com has done a scientific test of all the lore surrounding these beauties.  So beat his suggestions and testing against my recipe.

Now back to cooking...here we go..

You'll need;

• 1.5 cups AP flour
• 1.5 cups milk
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 Tbsp vegetable oil
• a muffin/cupcake pan

Mix the eggs, flour, salt and milk until there are no chunks.  I transfer the batter into a 4 cup measuring cup cup after mixing.  The spout is the key to success later.

I would've mixed in the beaker, but my whisk doesn't get into the corners.

Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes. 

25 minutes before you want to serve these you should preheat the oven to 450F and remove the batter from the fridge.

After the oven has come to temperature put about 1 tsp of vegetable oil (or a 50-50 mix of oil and roast drippings if you can swing it) into the bottom of each cup of the muffin pan.  The oil should be  1/4 in deep (less than 1 cm).

Put the pan into the oven to preheat the oil.  Ready the batter by giving it a last second stir.

Rinse off the spoon and keep it handy. 

When the oil is just smoking remove the pan from the oven and fill each cup 3/4 full of your batter.  Sizzling is normal at this point. Less batter is better than more.

Work quickly but use the spoon to catch drips so that there is no batter outside of the cups.

Put the pan back in the oven and ignore them for 15 to 20 minutes.  This is when the magic happens.  They will rise like crazy in the middle 10 minutes. Think souffle.

After 15 minutes look through the window to check on your puds.  If they have risen and are brown on top they are done.  If they have risen but are not brown leave them in for a few more minutes.  If they haven't risen then you are not having Yorkshire Pudding with dinner and should warm some bread or dinner rolls.

11 minutes . . .

If you don't have a window you will have to crack the door (gently) at the 15 minute mark.  As long as you aren't an Orc this should be fine.

15 minutes.

When they come out leave them sit in the muffin pan for 1 minute and then get them to the table.  They will stay warm if you put them in a basket/bowl and cover with a towel.  If you eat them right away they will have an uncomfortable amount of steam emanating from them. Watch your face!

If there is a lot of oil left over in your pan it means that you used too much.  Excess oil will cause some of them to collapse because of the weight of the oil on top.

Too much oil afterwards. No wonder some collapsed.

If you aren't eating these with a meal then sprinkle a little salt on top or spread some butter on them.

Key Ideas:

• Hot oil meets cool batter.
• No batter on the lips of the pan maximizes the chance of an even rise.
• Don't molest them for 15 minutes.
• The less you fill the cups, the taller they will puff (counter-intuitive)
• If you can use beef drippings with the oil you will be a hero.