yorkshire pudding dinner plate

… i’ve had one of those weeks.  It started bad on Monday when purchasing coffee from Pret. (Yes Pret again, I still don’t know why I continue to go in there…)  It took 10 minutes before I received the coffee I’d actually ordered.  Their system simply doesn’t work.  There’s no point shouting my order to the coffee-maker behind you if they’re already ten coffees deep.  It’s bound to go wrong.  To be fair, it was the staff or the 10 minute wait that put me in a mood, it was the sanctimonious young lady in the queue behind me who, when sensing my frustration, told me to calm down and that it was a ‘busy time of day.’  Listen love, I know it’s a busy time of day, thank you but I ordered my coffee 10 minutes ago and I don’t need you to tell me to calm down so fuck off.  of course I didn’t verbalise this at all, I simply smiled sweetly and took it out on my colleagues at work 5 minutes later.  I think the encounter set me off on the wrong foot for the week as I’ve had a string of bad service ever since.  Having been a waiter, barman and restaurant manager myself I understand the vagaries of service work and I realise that particularly here in the UK we don’t respect the job, either going in or from a customer perspective but I honestly feel that a new wave of service staff, who simply do not care about the job they’re doing, have infiltrated the already toxic system and it’s this lack of even being the slightest bit bothered about their jobs that filters down onto the customer and makes life miserable.  Even in the building where I work there are very few people who have the time of day for a simple hello as we pass on the stairs.  On the other hand, it makes those that do make an effort  stand out hugely and we felt very comfortable with the considerable tip we left for our waiter at the pub last night who, whilst clearly being thrown from pillar to post from every Tom, Dick and Harry, still found time to be attentive, polite and just a little bit cheeky…

for us, this is the ultimate in comfort food… what better thing in life is there than an edible plate. I always remember when I first met The Viking he was crazy for Aunt Bessies GiantYorkshire Puddings and of course being a nice middle class boy from North London I had never heard of these so you can imagine the world of food delight that opened to me.  Maybe I haven’t made this quite clear… this is a plate, made from Yorkshire Pudding… so you can eat it.  It’s as though the stars have aligned.  I can hear angels singing for the sheer beauty of it all. For years I’ve used a Delia Smith recipe for my Yorkshires and I never had an issue with them but if i’m honest they never rose to the towering heights I expected.  You know when you go to a fancy pub on a Sunday and you get those darkly golden beasts of puddings that have a crunchy crown and soft base… well I think i’ve discovered the ultimate batter recipe and to be honest all I did was add a few more eggs.  most definitely worth trailing.  This batter is enough for 2 large Yorkshire’s or 6 regular sized ones… I’ve filled them with a classic Sunday Lunch type meal… green beans, roast potatoes, honey and rosemary glazed carrots and veggie sausages because I’m currently trying to do meat-free weeks… but of course you can include any kind of food within these beauties… a thick stew would be wonderful or some roast chicken thighs perhaps…

140g plain flour

1 medium onion – finely sliced in rings

1 teaspoon sugar

1 large glass red wine – I’m using a very special Malbec sent to me by Aldi as part of their Exquisite Collection which I reviewed on my blog last week

1/2 pint good quality vegetable stock with 2 teaspoons of my favourite Bisto Caramelised Onion Gravy Powder

pre-heat the oven to 200C fan and drizzle the sunflower oil into 2 classic 20cm Victoria Sponge shallow cake tins… the oil needs to be sunflower or similar with a high heating point… not olive oil… you need to use enough oil to just coat the bottom of each tin and then a teeny bit more…

to make the gravy, heat some oil and a little butter in a large pan and throw in the sliced onions and the teaspoon of sugar and stir.  Turn the heat down and let them gently sweat for at least 30 – 45 mins, stirring every 5 mins, until you have a wonderfully deep golden colour, then turn the heat up and throw in the red wine and let it bubble furiously until reduced by half then pour in the stock and gravy powder, stir together and turn the heat off

place the cake tins into the oven and let the old get hot hot hot for at least 15 minutes

place the flour in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and crack your eggs into in and with a balloon whisk begin to whisk the eggs together, bringing the flour in slowly as you go.  Add the milk a little at a time and whisk well as you do to avoid lumps

once the old is hot enough, quickly open the oven and pour the batter evenly between the two tins, then slam the door shut and let them rise for at least 15 mins.  It’s best to use an oven with a glass door so you can see how they’re doing.  Opening the oven door would kill the rise.  When they’re done you can turn the oven off and they should stay in the oven and remain crisp whilst you sort yourself out…

serve by filling the Yorkshires with any divine savoury or indeed sweet filling of your choice and then smother in gravy… (or custard – depending on your choice of filling and how kinky you are.)

whilst it’s very tenuous, i’m linking these Yorkshires to Tea Time Treats hosted by Lavender and Lovage as it has the theme of Pancakes, Hotcakes and Waffles (or anything with batter…)

i’m also linking to Extra Veg, hosted by Utterly Scrummy and Fuss Free Flavours

it’s also linking to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline Makes and The More Than Occasional Baker which celebrates the letter Y

eat and of course, enjoy!