Mini Yorkshire Puddings with Rare Beef and Horseradish and Mustard Crème Fraîche Sauce

This recipe is from Lindsey Greensted-Benech, former Catering Director at Norwich City Football Club. I found it hard to believe at first: could a cold Yorkshire taste good? All I can say is, as you live, you learn – it is one of the most ingenious buffet-party recipes I've ever come across, and disappears like lightning. The good news is that the Yorkshire puddings can be made ahead and frozen, in which case you need to re-crisp them in the oven, preheated to gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C) for 4-5 minutes from frozen. The beef can be cooked a day ahead. Don't assemble these too far in advance, or they can go soggy – they should be the last thing you send out.

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This recipe is taken from How to Cook Book Three

Method

You need to start this by making the batter, so sift the flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre, break the eggs into it and add salt and pepper.

Begin to whisk the eggs with an electric hand whisk and as you beat them, the flour around the edges will slowly be incorporated. When the mixture becomes stiff, simply add the milk-and-water mixture gradually, keeping the whisk going. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula so that any lumps can be pushed down into the batter, then whisk again until all is smooth. Now the batter is ready to use.

Next, place the muffin tin on the baking tray and brush the cups generously with most of the dripping. Now pop the tin on the tray into the oven to pre-heat for 10-15 minutes.

After that, use a thick oven glove and remove them from the oven, placing the baking tray over direct heat, and quickly spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each cup. Immediately return them to the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until well risen and very crispy. Then remove the Yorkshires to a wire rack to cool.

Now repeat the whole process with the remaining batter.For the beef, turn the oven up to gas mark 8, 450°F (230°C). In the meantime, pre-heat the frying pan on the hob, brush it with a little dripping and, when that's hot, seal the beef on all sides, but don't move it around until each side has sealed properly.

Remove the meat to a roasting tin, season with freshly milled black pepper and roast in the oven for 18 minutes for rare beef, or up to 25 minutes if you like it less rare. After that allow it to cool, then cover and chill thoroughly in the fridge to make it easier to slice.

When you are ready to serve the Yorkshire puddings, thinly slice the beef into 24 slices and arrange a fold of beef in each one. Mix together all the sauce ingredients, then add a teaspoon of the sauce and a sprig of watercress to each Yorkshire.