Terry Pulliam Burd wrote:
> The Yorkshire pudding attempt on Christmas day was a thumping
success.
> We used the following recipe from James Beard's _American Cookery_
> cookbook, with technique exceptions (and the below serves roughly 6,
> so we doubled it and it doubled beautifully):
>
> 2 eggs
> 1 cup milk
> 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
> 1/2 teaspoon salt
> 1/2 teaspoon pepper
> beef drippings
>
> Beat the eggs until quite light and gradually beat in the milk and
> sifted flour. Or put all at once into an electric mixer or blender
and
> beat or whirl for a few seconds, just until the batter is smooth.
> Flavor with salt and pepper and add, if you like, 2 tablespoons
> drippings. Heat the muffin tin and pour in a heavy layer of hot
> drippings. Then pout in the batter and bake at 450=B0 F about 10 mins.
> Rduce the heat to 375=B0 F and continue baking for 15 to 20 mins or
> until beautifully brown and puffy. Do not open the oven door during
> the first 20 minutes of baking.
>
> The technique exceptions: After making the batter, we took Dora's
> counsel and let it rest for an hour (and, yes, Dora, they were
> popover-ish, which is how we first ever had a Yorkshire pudding in
> England when we lived there as teenagers). Afraid that we wouldn't
> have enough drippings, I bought 1/2 lb. of suet (ground) along with
> the roast. Sure enough, there weren't enough drippings, so we melted
> the suet in the microwave. There were also lovely bits of beef in the
> suet to add to the flavor. Nancy Dooley, Phil, Wazza and Michael all
> counseled that the drippings be heated to very hot in the oven before
> pouring in the batter, which we did. We also followed Michael's
> suggestion to put 1/4 inch of drippings into each muffin round. The
> baking time was as the recipe suggested and the puddings turned out
> beautifully browned and as big as popovers. Everyone raved about them
> and now the DH, who heretofore was proud of his ability to get corned
> beef hash out of a can and into a skillet, and our kids think he
> actually knows how to cook!
>
> Thanks to all of you for helping us get a lovely Yorkshire pudding on
> the table on Christmas Day!



Great news! Makes our turkey sound a little...ordinary.

But I want credit, at year's-end, for two things: the quarter-inch of
beef drippings in the muffin tin, and the first person to use the word
"squidgy" with reference to Yorkshire pud.
Have a great New Year, fellow gustatorians and topers!



Dog