Yorkshire – A Different Kitchen

What to eat on a visit to South Yorkshire? Why, Yorkshire Pudding, of course!

No sooner am I back in the UK, than I am off on my travels again. This time it is a trip with my brother, Jim, to the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

We have been a number of times over the years, and I always enjoy it. Sheffield is a great city, with a special festival atmosphere for the spring fortnight each year when the snooker is here.

The World Snooker is an established fixture in the UK sporting calendar, with every frame being televised live by the BBC as the drama unfolds over 15 days. Holding the sport’s premier competition and season finale in a working theatre is an inspired decision. Each year the tournament throws up tension, twists and turns befitting a venue named after Arthur Miller’s classic 1953 play.

This is an intimate setting to watch professional sport, with the spectators close to the players and action. The house lights go down, and the silence descends when a match is under way, as the world’s top players try to outsmart each other in a game of great skill and strategy.

On the night before we travelled up to Sheffield, Jim served up for me the Giant Filled Yorkshire Pudding shown in my main photo at the top of the post. It is filled with a roast chicken and sausage dinner, which was delicious. I’m pleased to say he agreed to share his recipe for posting here on A Different Kitchen.

Servings

This will make 1 giant pudding, suitable for 1 adult. Simply multiply the ingredients up to make more for each guest.

Timings

10 mins to make the batter, which should be left to rest for 30 mins to 24 hrs. Then 10 mins to heat the oven and 25 mins to roast.

You Will Need

1 large egg
35g plain flour
50ml whole milk
1 tbsp oil

Method

Crack the egg into a jug and sieve in the flour.
Whisk until smooth, while gradually adding in the milk. At this stage, add salt, pepper and herbs if you wish.
Leave for at least 30 mins but no more than 24 hours to use. Normal room temperature is fine, but if it’s hot or if in any doubt, place in the fridge.
Heat an oven to 210C (230C if not a fan oven). Drizzle the oil into a 20cm diameter roasting tin.
Place the roasting tin in the oven when up to temp, for 10 mins to get it nice and hot. Then pour in the batter – it will spread out across the bottom of the tin. Place back in the oven for 25 mins. Do not open the door during this period, or it will collapse!
After 25 mins, check that the pudding has a good brown colour around the edges (which will have magically climbed up the sides of the tin to the rim!) and feels firm and dry.
When ready, take from the oven. Top up with the filling of your choice and serve.

Customise it!

Jim’s giant pudding is filled with sausages, roast chicken pieces, roast potatoes, carrots, peas and gravy. You can use other fillings – a spicy curry might be nice. Just be wary of putting in a filling that is too liquidy, or it will soak and soften the pastry. In my photo of Jim’s, you will note that the gravy is used sparingly and is poured over the other ingredients first, rather than straight on to the pudding.

The World Snooker is now approaching the latter stages, with the Final taking place over 35 frames this coming Sunday and Monday. We won’t be in the Crucible for that, but will be at home, glued to the action on TV. If you plan to watch also, then why not treat yourself to a Giant Filled Yorkshire Pudding, like we did ? You won’t regret it.

Choice for the ADK playlist this time comes from those famous sons of Sheffield, the Arctic Monkeys. This is from their 2022 album The Car – the beautifully orchestrated Mr Schwarz.

Travelling around Scotland for the past month in our motorhome has been super fun, but all great things must come to an end. We are now gradually making our way back home, and have broken up the journey by spending a few days sampling the delights of the North of England.

My main photo above shows the Yorkshire Dales, taken from a walk along Leyburn Shawl. I love Wensleydale cheese, which is made not far away in the town of Hawes. It is a pale cheese with a chalky and crumbly texture, and is readily available in the local shops.

I enjoyed this Leek and Wensleydale Pastry Roll that we picked up in a local deli.

Warmed up in the motorhome’s oven, it was delicious, served with slaw we made from fresh veg bought in a local farm shop.

In this part of the world they also serve a wedge of Wensleydale cheese with a slice of fruit cake – see below.

I have had this before, and liked it, so ordered it again at an afternoon tea stop in a local cafe. The combination may sound a little odd, but the tastes actually complement eachother and work well together. When you think that there are other rich fruited puddings and desserts that are served with a dairy-based product, like cream or custard, it’s maybe not that strange a choice. The fact that the cheese is missing any sweetener doesn’t seem to matter, as there is so much sugar in the cake!

I am interested to know if there are any other parts of the world where fruit cake is served with a slice of cheese? Answers welcome in the comments below, please.

The Yorkshire wit is nearly as sharp as their cheese – what about this sign welcoming us to our stopover site for the night.

Don’t worry anyone, there was no cause for concern. Everyone had a good laugh about the sign – the Yorkshire welcome is a very warm one wherever you go.

By the time this post is published, I will be back home. I hope you have enjoyed the posts from my trip. It’s been a celebration of some of the culture and natural beauty that the UK has to offer, as viewed through my usual lens of Good Food, Great Music. We have tried to buy and eat local, and feature some of our great regional food and drink.

And speaking of Great Music, spending a few days in the North makes me think of this wonderful earworm of a track from The Fall. They’re not Scottish, or from Yorkshire, but I did nod respectfully to the memory of Mark E. Smith as we passed Manchester on the M62. And played this on the motorhome stereo: The Fall with Hit the North – Part 1.