As an American, I’ve been toying with the idea of making Yorkshire pudding lately. The problem is that I almost never have beef drippings on hand as I never make roasts. The recipes that I’ve seen call for either drippings or oil. If I use oil, will I be disappointed? ISTM that they’d be pretty bland. Can I cobble together some semblance of beef drippings by mixing oil and beef broth or will they separate too quickly?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Yeah, my Scottish Grandmother would be rolling in her grave at the thought of making Yorkshire pudding with vegetable oil. A couple ideas:
The drippings from any beef you cook can be saved and used in the future. Browning ground beef for spaghetti sauce? Save them drippings.
Ask a butcher for beef fat trimmings at your local grocery or meat market. It’s not like they’re doing anything with it- they’ll look at you funny for asking, then give you some either free or at a very low price (probably).
Maybe just make popovers instead?
I’ve made them with oil, and they taste fine. If you want them to taste beefy, whip up some beef stock (homemade or quality store-bought), and ladle some into your plated puddings just before eating.
One advantage with oil is that it has a much higher smoke point, so you can get it much hotter in the tin before adding in the pudding batter. The batter will start to fry instantly and you’ll get a nice crisp result.
I’ve only ever had Yorkshire pudding with roast beef. Their whole point is to catch more of the beefy goodness. Why not just make a small one for the occasion.
We generally make so many yorkshires that there isn’t enough beef drippings in the world so we use butter. Works fine and is tastier than vegetable oil.
Yeah, I can’t quite imagine what else you’d make a Yorkshire pudding with. To me, roast beef+YP is so inextricably bound that making a roast without one, or making a YP without pairing it with the beef is just… incomplete.
I don’t know that drippings per se are what make the dish, though. I think you could use some reasonable substitutes, as long as they are high-heat tolerant (which some vegetable oils are not). That’s because…
…the secret to a successful Yorkshire pudding with big puffy surround and chewy-gooey middle is a very, very hot pan. The pan should be in the oven for at least fifteen minutes and you should use all due haste to splash in the drippings and then pour the batter and get it back in the oven. Cool or cooled pan = much less rise and generally disappointing outcome.
We make them with oil all the time and they come out really well. Besides, all those tasty drippings get turned into delicious gravy, often with red wine.
You are all making me unhappy now. I grew up with roasts and YP at least once a month. My first-ever YP could have been shot for a cookbook cover. (I later lost the knack and had to rediscover that hot-hot-pan bit.)
But the family gets all ooh-ick-yuck over beef that isn’t cooked to at least light pink, and I don’t care for overcooked $40-50 cuts, so I haven’t had it much lately.
Same crowd that will ooh and ah over restaurant steaks with a red stripe in the center. Go figger.
I make Yorkshire pudding all the time with just vegetable oil. As said above, my drippings go into my gravy (which then generously covers my pudding).
In addition to making with roast beef, I have a recipe for leftover roast chicken that I used to make as a pot pie with leeks and carrots. I’ve recently been leaving off the crust when I make it and topping with Yorkshire puddings.
Now I need to plan a roast chicken dinner for the leftovers. Mmmmm.
My mom was the same as your family. For years my dad would search for a roast that was much larger on one end than the other. That way Mom got her well done bits and the rest of us had rare to medium rare.
Do you put the butter in the pan before getting the pan hot or do you add it at the same time as the batter? I would have thought that butter’s relatively low smoke point would cause it to break down if it was left to its own in a hot hot pan/oven.
A good roast - not too lean, that is - will produce plenty for both. I made two roasts in recent years that barely made a brown spot on the bottom of the pan… what’s the point?
Use the greasier spoonage for the pudding, and the pan scrapings/fond for gravy.
Yeah, I could try that. However, the Mrs’s attitude has infected the kids so that if there’s one slightly rare steak in the pile, everyone will dissect their chunk of cow and leave anything deemed undercooked on the plate. This is phenomenally irritating, not only from a cost/waste/hey-I-would-have-eaten-that standpoint, but because the same people will tear into “properly” cooked beef - dark pink to a tinge of red, on good cuts at a restaurant - without a second thought or a pause. It’s only when I cook it that they get all whiny about it being undercooked.
So no pudding for them.
So, with all due respect to everyone 's grandmothers, aunts etc, I decided to try it with peanut oil since that what I have and it has a high smoke point. I got the pan quite hot as is evidenced by the burn on my index finger. I also bought a jar of gravy (don’t judge me) to top them off. Overall, I’d say they were pretty good. They’re certainly easy enough following Gordon Ramsay’s recipe. They came out of the oven fine but promptly collapsed somewhat. Is this normal or is it indicative of some mistake such as not cooking them long enough?
Picture here. Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Also, what to do with the leftovers? Are they worth keeping? How should I store/reheat them?
That looks great, well done! The collapsy middle is a signature of a correctly-produced Yorkie, and allows for the gray to collect within. I like a light smear of horseradish too.
Reheat them in the oven for breakfast with honey/bacon/scrambled eggs, etc.
Hmm, I don’t know if I’m in the running, being decidedly non-British and all, but I do make toad-in-the hole with bacon drippings (before the batter is poured in) and then I have also made a sort of Welsh rabbit sauce for pouring on the sausage pudding after. You know, with beer and cheese and mustard. Is this a thing? We like it, and I’m half-Scottish, so I can’t be expected to know any better, apparently.
With beef roasts, mashed potatoes with way too much dairy fat is king here. I make no apologies. I may someday try a rib roast with mash AND yorkshire pudding and beef gravy, but I think half my fam will curl up with apoplexy.
Keep the leftovers in a baggie for secret eating with mustard and salty preserved meat of any provenance. Strong Nod Midnight food, nothing else.
I was having a bit of bother attempting to decipher your family’s attitude towards a good hunk of bovine, but I think I’ve sussed it: they are afraid of anything not well-done. Harder these days, with chunks for the larder being cut ever so smaller, but I say, give the outskirts to the picky, and the innards for the choosy. Hmmm.
Last year, Christmas, I sacrificed an entire dry-aged bully rib roast to my elders who were making noises as to doneness and temperatures. I’m almost 40 fucking years old, to boot, and have had some culinary training. It will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. They will just stay out of my fucking kitchen, I’m not serving $200 worth of well-done prime, dry-aged (partially in my kitchen) roast beef. Fuck manners.
Screw the family! Let them fight over the third of the roast that is done to their standards while you feast like a barbarian on the good stuff. Any leftovers are thin sliced and devoured over the next few days with yorkshire and gravy (for as long as the gravy holds out.) If, God forbid, you run out of yorkshires before the gravy, use this recipe to replenish your supply. And do not listen to Jamie Oliver, the recipe makes 4 yorkshires not 12.
So are these things like basically a meat-flavored pastry?