Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding
The quintessential British Sunday lunch, and one which always goes down well with my husband. The closest thing to Yorkshire puddings in American cuisine is the popover, which is something I didn't grow up with. I've been trying since moving to Scotland to conquer the Yorkshire pudding, and this is the best recipe I've found so far. It is, according to the husband, almost as good as his mother's. High praise indeed.
All the recipes below are by Gordon Ramsay.
Serves 6 (but that's British serving sizes - I'd say it serves 4 hungry people)
For the roast beef:
1 3-rib (3-4 pounds) prime beef roast, bones attached (ask your butcher to remove the bones and tie the meat back onto them for easy carving) - I was naughty and just bought the beef from the supermarket, and the bones had been removed completely.
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the Yorkshire pudding:
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons veg oil (or the beef drippings) - definitely use the beef drippings!
For the gravy:
3 thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled but smashed - I peeled mine, and you'll see why at the end
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 plum tomatoes, halved or 2 canned plum tomatoes, drained
1 cup red wine
2 1/2 cups beef stock
(I also added mushrooms)
One hour before cooking, take the meat out of the refrigerator to let it come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Sear the meat on all sides, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the meat, still in the pan, to the oven and roast - uncovered - allowing 15 minutes per 1 pound of meat for medium-rare or 20 minutes for medium.
Meanwhile, make the Yorkshire pudding batter: In a blender combine the eggs, milk, flour and salt. Blend (or just whisk with an electric whisk - it just needs to be light and airy) until well combined and place in the fridge until ready to use (allow to rest for at least 30 minutes).
When the meat is cooked, transfer to a cutting board with a well, cover with foil, and allow to rest while you make the gravy and puddings (this gives time for the meat to reabsorb the juices lost in the cooking). Increase the oven to 450 degrees.
Put one teaspoon of oil (or beef drippings) into each section of a 12-hole Yorkshire pudding pan or muffin tray and put into the oven on the top shelf until very hot, almost smoking. As soon as you take the tray from the oven, pour in the batter to three-quarters fill the tins (it should sizzle) and immediately put back on the oven (I put them on the top shelf, which was at the highest level, and they rose so much that they stuck to the grill at the top of the oven and some burnt, so make sure they have plenty of room to rise! My husband assures me, though, that his mother always loses a couple to burning, and it's a sacrifice that must be made to ensure the others are perfect! I suppose our ovens don't cook very evenly). Bake until the Yorkshire puddings are well risen, golden brown and crisp, 15-20 minutes. Don't open the oven door until the end or they might collapse.
Meanwhile, make the gravy. (Actually, mom and I found the gravy took quite a while to reduce, so you might want to start it before putting the Yorkshire puddings in the oven). Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of drippings from the skillet or pan (you may have already done this for the puddings). Place over medium heat and add the thyme, garlic and onion and cook until the onion is softened. Add the tomatoes, wine and stock (and mushrooms if you use them) and bring to a boil, mashing the tomatoes into the liquid, until reduced by half. Pass the gravy through a sieve, pressing the vegetables to extract their flavour. Bring back to the boil and reduce to a gravy consistency (we didn't wait that long as the Yorkshire puddings were done, so the gravy was thinner but still delicious and then made a good base for the beef stew we made the next day with the leftovers).
Remove the ribs from the meat and carve the beef thinly. Serve with the warm gravy and Yorkshire puddings, roasted potatoes and vegetable of your choice. (Mom and I also kept all the smashed up veg from the gravy - which is why it was good that the garlic was peeled - and put that on top of our portions of beef, which was delicious).
All the recipes below are by Gordon Ramsay.
Serves 6 (but that's British serving sizes - I'd say it serves 4 hungry people)
For the roast beef:
1 3-rib (3-4 pounds) prime beef roast, bones attached (ask your butcher to remove the bones and tie the meat back onto them for easy carving) - I was naughty and just bought the beef from the supermarket, and the bones had been removed completely.
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the Yorkshire pudding:
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons veg oil (or the beef drippings) - definitely use the beef drippings!
For the gravy:
3 thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled but smashed - I peeled mine, and you'll see why at the end
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 plum tomatoes, halved or 2 canned plum tomatoes, drained
1 cup red wine
2 1/2 cups beef stock
(I also added mushrooms)
One hour before cooking, take the meat out of the refrigerator to let it come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Sear the meat on all sides, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the meat, still in the pan, to the oven and roast - uncovered - allowing 15 minutes per 1 pound of meat for medium-rare or 20 minutes for medium.
Meanwhile, make the Yorkshire pudding batter: In a blender combine the eggs, milk, flour and salt. Blend (or just whisk with an electric whisk - it just needs to be light and airy) until well combined and place in the fridge until ready to use (allow to rest for at least 30 minutes).
When the meat is cooked, transfer to a cutting board with a well, cover with foil, and allow to rest while you make the gravy and puddings (this gives time for the meat to reabsorb the juices lost in the cooking). Increase the oven to 450 degrees.
Put one teaspoon of oil (or beef drippings) into each section of a 12-hole Yorkshire pudding pan or muffin tray and put into the oven on the top shelf until very hot, almost smoking. As soon as you take the tray from the oven, pour in the batter to three-quarters fill the tins (it should sizzle) and immediately put back on the oven (I put them on the top shelf, which was at the highest level, and they rose so much that they stuck to the grill at the top of the oven and some burnt, so make sure they have plenty of room to rise! My husband assures me, though, that his mother always loses a couple to burning, and it's a sacrifice that must be made to ensure the others are perfect! I suppose our ovens don't cook very evenly). Bake until the Yorkshire puddings are well risen, golden brown and crisp, 15-20 minutes. Don't open the oven door until the end or they might collapse.
Meanwhile, make the gravy. (Actually, mom and I found the gravy took quite a while to reduce, so you might want to start it before putting the Yorkshire puddings in the oven). Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of drippings from the skillet or pan (you may have already done this for the puddings). Place over medium heat and add the thyme, garlic and onion and cook until the onion is softened. Add the tomatoes, wine and stock (and mushrooms if you use them) and bring to a boil, mashing the tomatoes into the liquid, until reduced by half. Pass the gravy through a sieve, pressing the vegetables to extract their flavour. Bring back to the boil and reduce to a gravy consistency (we didn't wait that long as the Yorkshire puddings were done, so the gravy was thinner but still delicious and then made a good base for the beef stew we made the next day with the leftovers).
Remove the ribs from the meat and carve the beef thinly. Serve with the warm gravy and Yorkshire puddings, roasted potatoes and vegetable of your choice. (Mom and I also kept all the smashed up veg from the gravy - which is why it was good that the garlic was peeled - and put that on top of our portions of beef, which was delicious).
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