Sluttishly Savoury: Filled Mini Yorkshire Puddings

So traditionally you have yorkshire puddings with roast beef but I love them so much that I make them most weekends regardless of what meat we are having. In fact we don't even have to be roasting meat for me to feed my yorkie cravings.

These are so versatile, you can put whatever you like in them which means that you never get bored of eating them (well I haven't anyway and believe me I've eaten LOADS). Basically they are like a British version of the vol au vent (which I insist on having each birthday for breakfast!). It's a failsafe yorkie recipe too that never lets me down. I use a shallow mini yorkshire tin in order to try and keep them kind of bite sized.

Yorkies need equal quantities of eggs, flour and milk. I cracked 5 eggs into a measuring jug and repeated that same quantity for the flour and milk. 5 eggs made 36 mini yorkies so unless you are feeding a small army then perhaps 3 eggs would be fine or use 200ml of each.

You'll need:

• equal quantities of eggs, plain flour and milk
• salt and pepper
• oil

Make it!

1. Preheat your oven to its hottest setting or 230C
2. Beat together your eggs, milk, flour and season.
3. Put a little bit of oil into the bottom of each of the mini yorkshire pudding tin bases then put the tray in the hot oven until the oil is smoking.
4. Pour in the yorkie mix making sure you fill the tins no more than 3/4 full and bake until they have all puffed up and browned (about 10 - 15 minutes).

Fillings:


Just put everything into a bowl and mix adding more or less to suit your taste. If you don't like cream cheese then crème fraîche is a good substitute.


Smoked Mackerel and Horseradish pâtè

• smoked mackerel fillets (skinned)
• cream cheese
• horseradish sauce (or freshly grated root if you have it)
• salt and pepper
• squeeze of lemon  

Prawn Cocktail

• cooked prawns
• mayonnaise
• ketchup
• Tabasco
• squeeze of lemon
• paprika
• shredded lettuce

Tarragon Chicken

• cooked chicken
• finely chopped fresh tarragon
• mayonnaise
• salt and pepper
• wholegrain mustard

Smoked Salmon

• smoked salmon
• cream cheese
• dill
• lemon juice
• salt and pepper

More Variations:

How about scrambled eggs and bacon for a fab brunch? Veggie options could include soft goat's cheese, sun dried tomato and basil, sautéed mushrooms with a bit of mushroom soup (proper vol au vent style!), roasted fennel and gruyere, whatever you fancy. You don't have to stop at savoury fillings either: a dollop of delicious vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce makes a great dessert.

If you are making yorkies to go with roast chicken then add a tablespoon of powdered chicken stock to your batter mix and a pinch of dried sage. I normally add grated horseradish and a bit of beef or veal stock powder if I'm serving them with roast beef, it makes a massive difference!