FLOWER POT KITCHEN: BIGGEST HIGHEST PERFECT YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

14 Jan 2018

BIGGEST HIGHEST PERFECT YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

Fool Proof Yorkshire Puddings

I remember the first time and possibly several hundred more times I my Yorkshire's turned out as a rubbery floppy door mat instead of a tall light puffed up Yorkshire pudding, that's cool, I just called it a batter pudding and got on with it, then one day I decided to learn the proper method, it turns out its really simple a simple method that guarantees the perfect light tall Yorkshire puddings every time, well almost, user error is the only factor in this recipe that can render your puddings flat.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes 12)

200g plain flour

200g eggs

200g milk

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch white pepper

Firstly you want to make the yorkshire batter ahead of time so that it can rest on the side for three quarters of an hour or so, I don't like to rest my batter in the fridge, when I do I don't have as much success with height and lightness. I also like my eggs at room temperature too, place the eggs and flour in a large jug and with a balloon whisk, whisk until you have a creamy smooth mixture, add the milk, salt and pepper and whisk again until all incorporated and lump free, you can pass this mixture through a sieve if you want, leave on this side at room temperature until needed.

Crank the oven up to 220 C / 430 F degrees in a yorkshire batter tin place a tsp of beef dripping in each tin section, pop the tin in the oven for 5 minutes to get super hot, now this bit is important for successfully high yorkshires, have your batter jug ready to pour give the batter a gentle stir, take the tin from the oven, close the door and as fast as is safe pour the batter into the tins, get this back in the oven as fast a possible and close the door! Total time should be under 20 seconds! Phew! Under no circumstances can you open the oven door for the next 18-20 minutes, if you do the puddings will flop, while this is not the end of the world it means your yorkshires will be more of a softer floppy light Yorkshire pudding rather than a light airy crispy puff of a yorkshire pudding.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.