On Wed, 24 Dec 2014 09:17:44 -0500, William > wrote:

> You all have a family favorite you serve at family gatherings...how
> about sharing with RFC!
>
The only gatherings with traditional food that will cause mutiny in
the ranks if not served are Thanksgiving and Christmas. I make the
"dreaded" green bean casserole from scratch for Thanksgiving. Sorry,
no recipe, but it has all the components: green beans, mushrooms and
almonds. Last Thanksgiving I made rolls using a dough with potato in
it. Again, no recipe. I looked at a recipe for potato rolls and used
leftover mashed potatoes instead of a potato that had been cooked for
the occasion. They were so good, I know they'll be requested again.

Secret ingredient for great gravy: use the fond and add a few drops of
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce.

We always have a "prime" rib roast and Yorkshire pudding for
Christmas. Here is my recipe for Yorkshire pudding

Yorkshire Pudding
by: sf

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 lg. eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup beef drippings (use just enough to thinly coat the pan)
3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature


DIRECTIONS

Mix flour and salt together until blended. Make a well in the flour,
add the milk, and whisk until consistent. Beat the eggs into the
batter (I just put everything in the blender and whiz). Add water and
beat again until the mixture is light and frothy. Set aside for an
hour or, if it's made the day before, refrigerate overnight.

If the batter has been refrigerated, allow it to come up to room
temperature before using. When the roast beef is ready to come out of
the oven, ready the mixture.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).

Pour off drippings from roast beef and measure out desired amount
(about 1/2 cup should do). Pour drippings into a 9x12 inch baking
dish (I use a 12 inch cast iron skillet) and place into the oven until
the drippings sizzle… I heat my skillet on the stove, then pour in the
drippings. Pour the batter over the drippings and bake on the lowest
rung for 30 minutes (or until the sides have risen and are golden
brown). Cut into eight portions and serve immediately.

*Note 1: if you don't have enough fat, save some for your gravy and
use a flavorless oil to make up the rest of what you need to coat the
pan.

Note 2: The most important step to good Yorkies is to heat the fat
first before pouring the batter in!!

Note 3: I find the timing is more like 50 minutes for the large cast
iron pan, so be forewarned. Treat it like a soufflé, bake it with
high heat from the bottom (I put it on the lowest rung in the oven)
and you won't go wrong.

Edit: I used my roasting pan (which is larger than 9x12) for the
Yorkshire pudding last year (never had a proper roasting pan before
that), so the batter was spread out more thinly and cooking time was
virtually cut in half. I plan to do it that way this year too. By
using my roasting pan, the Yorkshire pudding will cook while the meat
rests and I won't need to start it ahead in a different oven.



--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room