The Mighty Yorkshire Pudding

I know, the Yorkshire pudding for most is the equivalent of cornbread in the south or biscuit with stew, but when you are married to a Brit and have a pudding-crazed daughter, you'd better know how to whip up a batch of these babies and they have to be, well...spectacular!

Here's my dilemma: since my husband and I have been together, a traditional roast dinner with the fore mentioned mighty has been an every-other-week and only in the winter months, so practice doesn't allow to make perfect.  Coupled with the fact that another family member suggested it was much easier to buy the powered package, add water and bake, it was an easy out not to find the best recipe or fine tune one's Yorkshire-making abilities.  I know, I know - how disappointing. As most of you know, food from a package and add water is not my thing.  In fact, it's basically against all the rules in my kitchen and it bugged me.  Hubby tried on several occasions to make a batch, whether a Jamie Oliver recipe or any other celebrity chef who seems to know what he/she is doing, and they turned out, errr.. different.  Yorkshire biscuits or pucks were more closely related to the final product coming out of the oven than a pudding.

My husband and I looked at one another and knew, we were in trouble.  We'd have to crack this mystery.  I mean, it's Yorkshire Puddings not a fine french souffle - every woman in Northern England can whip up a batch of killer puddings in 30 seconds or less and damn it, we were going to as well.

So today, the stars aligned.  Hubby was hankering for a nice roast and we happened to recently invest in a small case of high quality cuts.  With ipad in hand and maybe even a small prayer, I searched for yet again, the right Yorkshire pudding recipe.  They were all basically the same: 1 part milk, 1 part flour, a few eggs and seasoning.  But then again, these recipes were from Chefs who reside in England - big difference when it comes to the finer things like sea level and humidity.  No, this is not a joke, you have no idea how a perfectly great cookie recipe can rock in Alberta and become a pancake in Newfoundland - sea level - and I've been there personally.

So, we decided to try to get the consistency closer to the "mix with water" kind of pudding.  Our 1 part milk became more and our 1 part flour became less.  In the oven it goes and.....slightly fluffier pucks.  That's it, I'm mad, and I now have cold beef and gravy - not a good mix for Sunday roast.  We quickly went back to the kitchen, David did some further research and came up with a few other great tips to consider:

• Don't use olive oil or butter - these forms of oil have a lower burning point and will start smoking before the right temperature is reached in your oven
• Add 2 Tablespoons of cold water and whisk in the mixture just before baking - I guess this is to bring the mixture back to it's former consistency, as it does thicken a bit while resting
• Do not open the oven door while the puddings are cooking - think souffle

And it seems that everyone has their own theory on what technique makes the perfect Yorkshire Pudding.  I'm glad to say, we've finally cracked it for Alberta!  Follow this easy recipe with a few quirky steps and you'll have light, fluffy puddings to proudly present as the masterpiece to your next Sunday roast!

Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients

3/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper

Directions

In a medium sized bowl, add all ingredients and whisk together until the mixture is both foamy and lump free.  It's vital to use a whisk to incorporate as much air into the batter as possible.

Let the mixture rest for about 30 minutes; if you are making the batter earlier in the day, you can cover and place in the fridge.

Set the oven to 425.  Take a muffin pan and place 1/4  - 1/2 tsp. canola or vegetable oil in each muffin insert.  Use a towel to wipe the oil around the insert and a little left over is a good thing!  Place the muffin pan into the oven to warm.  You will know and smell when it's time to add the batter - you will smell the oil and it will be at it's smoking point.

Quickly give the batter a good whisk again and add 2 - 3 Tbsp. cold water into the batter and incorporate to loosen the mixture.  Pull the pan out of the oven and fill each muffin insert 1/2 - 3/4 full with batter.  Place the pan back in the oven, shut the door and wait....

20 - 22 minutes was enough for our oven to convert the batter to puddings: remember not to open your oven door during cooking, simply use your oven light.  Remove from oven when they are nicely brown and enjoy!