Yorkshire, largest county in England, in Great Britain and in the United Kingdom; practically a nation, and certainly thought as such by its countrymen.
Yorkshire, land of green and grey, land of thin lipped drizzle, skinny whippets and proud people sound in their history, their principles and their outlook. Yes, I'm a Yorkshireman!
Since going paleo, my beloved Yorkshire pudding has been off the table.
Since considering some foods beyond paleo, I am very happy to say ... it is back on the table!
How?
The magic of sorghum flour ...
Sorghum flour is produced by grinding the seeds of amaranth grass from the flowers.
Seed - that's the important word. As a food source, it is used extensively on the Indian sub-continent, and as a potential paleo food source, it is gluten-free and has a lower phytate content and a lower lectin content than traditional grains.
Paleo? No ... well, not yet ...
No, really ... how?
Pre-heat your oven to 230C and place a couple of tins in there with some dripping.
Dripping is awesome! It is that simple. Furthermore, dripping is pretty much defended as the last bastion of pre-industrial food and used widely in Yorkshire in traditional food as well as our plentiful 'Chippies' - Fish & Chip shops.
Dripping has a high smoke point (something like 280C) and can be continuously fried for something like 40 hours before it becomes oxidised. Now, that is a fat! That is a fat fit for paleo!
Dripping gives an authentic flavour to Yorkshire pudding. Accept no substitute!
Heat the fat. It will not smoke so you will not have any kind of clue that it is ready to use. Read on ...
Recipe? I suppose I should ... "take some of this and add a splash of that" is not really helpful when it comes to batter.
Intermission: Recipe
Take shy of 4 oz of sorghum flour into a mixing bowl and top up to 4 oz with some kind of starch - corn starch, potato starch or even cassava flour. The starch will help lift the flour from a heavy dough to a lighter batter. Experiment here - some sorghum flours are much lighter than others.
Crack in a couple of eggs - free range and naturally reared, naturally.
Add 7 fl oz of full fat milk and 3 fl oz of water.
Add a touch of sea salt.
Melt a good knob of butter and pour into the mix - this is the key. Yorkshire folk love butter! No, seriously, this is the key! Do not skip this ingredient.
Blend together with a hand blender or food processor for some time.
Back to the main feature ...
Take a teaspoon and pour it into the dripping tray. Does it spit and bubble? Yes? It's ready to roll!
Pour the batter into the trays - this will make two large round Yorkshire puddings, sufficient for a couple of people. Feel free to pour into one large tray and share, or into a number of smaller cupcake sized moulds. They're all acceptable.
Drop the heat to 200C and cook for 20 minutes, after which the puddings should be crispy, light and not dry.
Eat them sweet with berries and whipped cream. No, seriously, this will work out fine.
Eat them savoury by loading up your favourite food over - Chilli con Carne, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Corned Beef Hash, Beef Stew, Curry, whatever it is you love ... you'll love it more in a Yorkshire!
