York Guides

It is traditional to eat a Yorkshire Pudding (or two depending on size) covered with onion gravy to take the edge off your hunger while you are waiting for the main course, which would normally include some meat and vegetables. The meat would usually be beef, but people often eat chicken these days instead of beef.

Traditionally, when meals were cooked using a real fire, the pudding would cook underneath the beef where they would absorb the dripping falling from the meat above. You can achieve the same effect in a modern oven by cooking the beef on a metal grill with a tray underneath to collect the dripping, then putting the pudding batter into the oven, on a tray with the collected dripping in the bottom,  about 20 minutes before the beef will be finished cooking.
 
You may well, like most Yorkshire cooks, develop your own style of creating the perfect Yorkshire pudding, but in general it should end up about ½ inch (1cm) thick with light, crispy edges. The batter is thought to improve if you leave it to stand for a while, so many cooks prefer to make the batter at the same time they put the beef in the oven and leave it standing to one side until it is time to put it in the oven also.
 
The ingredients for Yorkshire Pudding are very simple:
 
6 oz (175 g) plain flour
A pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 pint (600 ml / 2 1/2 cups) milk
 
 
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing basin and make a well in the middle. Break the eggs into the well and drag in some of the flour from the sides.
 
Add the milk a bit at a time, beating well between each addition, until the batter is smooth and free from lumps.
 
Allow the batter to stand for at least 1 hour.
 
Half an hour before the joint of beef will be ready put a little dripping from the roast into a baking tin.
 
Preheat the tin in the oven until the fat is smoking.
 
Pour in the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes at the top of the oven until the pudding is crisp at the edges and golden brown.
 
Serve the Yorkshire Pudding with thick gravy made from the meat juices, or with traditional Onion Gravy.

ONION GRAVY

3 tablespoons of dripping from the beef
2 onions
2 oz (50 g) plain flour
1 pint (600 ml/2 ^1/2 cups) stock from cooking the vegetables
2 teaspoons vinegar Salt and pepper 

Peel and slice the onions and cook gently in the dripping for 4-5 minutes until they are soft and transparent.

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Add the vinegar, and season to taste.