Yorkshire Pudding

Originating in Yorkshire England, this mandatory staple in my home whenever roast beef is cooked, was initially used as a cheap first course to fill diners up so that they wouldn't eat quite so much meat. And as you can see from the ingredient list:

1 cup flour
1 cup eggs
1 cup milk

that it's a fairly cheap dish to prepare.
Cheap it may be...but something magical happens. If you take the fat from the roast beef or any good quality vegetable oil, and put that in the bottom of a muffin pan then fill with the batter and cook at a ridiculously high heat, they puff up to insane heights and the cooked eggy batter becomes crispy on the bottom, delightfully brown and tender in the middle. (Full recipe below)

Of course, according to my husband, the Yorkshire puddings are just a tasty vehicle for gravy, and in fact do taste fabulous when smothered in rich roast gravy. My son however, has been known to down 3 or 4 of them in one sitting, to the exclusion of just about everything else on his plate including the gravy! He likes them plain, straight up out of the pan.

I've yet to try a 'toad in the hole', which is a Yorkshire pudding baked with a chunk of sausage in the middle. To me the combination of roast beef and Yorksire pudding is just too good to mess with.

Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup milk
1 cup flour (all purpose)
1 cup eggs
1 tsp salt
vegetable oil or pan drippings

Combine your ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk until all lumps are gone. Let this mixture sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes so that the gluten relaxes, otherwise your puddings will be hard little rocks.

Place a muffin pan on a cookie sheet and fill each muffin cup with enough oil to cover the bottom in a good layer. Swirl it around to coat the sides a bit.
Preheat oven to 425F and place the cookie sheet and muffin pan into the oven to get smoking hot.

Carefully remove the pan and fill about 2/3 of the way with the batter and return quickly to the oven.

DON'T PEEK! Let them cook for about 15-20 minutes or until they've puffed way up and are golden brown.

Remove from oven and let drain on paper towels for a minute, then serve still piping hot with gravy.