Another Addiction

You remember how I was whining the other day because I didn't have any baking pans or dishes small enough for individual Yorkie puds? Remember how I mentioned ordering some 6-inch cast iron skillets just for that purpose? And I'm glad I did. Got a great deal on some refurbished Lodge Logic pre-seasoned puppies (and free shipping) so there's no way I'll complain. Still, there was a moment of epiphany this morning when I had to just stand there and thunk my forehead with the heel of my hand and say, "Fool! Back to the scullery with you, wench!"

See, I have four -- count 'em, folks, FOUR -- Corning Ware individual (5 1/2 inch) baking dishes that I've been using as soup bowls. Corning Ware goes in the oven. Corning Ware works just perfectly fine for individual servings of whatever. Sheesh!

Just to prove it to myself, I whupped up a batter in small proportions while the Corning Ware was heating in the oven, laced with a teaspoon each of olive oil and butter. One egg came to 2 ounces so I added 2 ounces of flour and 2 ounces of milk, a bit of salt and a teaspoon of rice vinegar. (I like to fiddle with different vinegars.) The batter was ready by the time the butter/oil mixture was beginning to pop and sizzle so I poured it in and popped the whole thang back in the 400 degree oven. By the way, just in case, I had the Corning Ware dish sitting in the middle of my beat up old pizza pan. I wasn't sure if the batter amount would be contained or if any of the oil would spill over. It was and it didn't so all turned out okay.

There wasn't as much rise with this Yorkie as the monster the other day and I'm wondering if the difference is not letting the batter sit for a few hours. So many of the recipes recommend this and that's what I did with the big one. Nevertheless, my little pudding came out so beautifully I almost couldn't bring myself to eat it.

If you believe that, I have a bridge I want to sell you.

While the Yorkie was ballooning away for its 15-minute baking period, I mini-diced a small potato and fried it nice and golden-crispy in some olive oil. Added seasoning and a spoonful of flour and tossed everything around until the potato bits were well-dredged. Added about a cup of milk, half a cup at a time, and kept stirring until everything was nice and thick. Threw in a handful of precooked shrimp, then stirred in about half a cup of shredded cheddar, removed the pan from the heat and put a lid on it until the Yorkie came out of the oven.

Well, good golly, Gertie. Ladled about half of my tater/shrimp mixture into the Yorkie -- which I had slid from the Corning Ware onto a dinner plate -- and sat down with a fork and sufficient gusto to obliterate the whole thing without even raising a sweat.

Excuse me. Ladies don't sweat. We glisten. But I didn't even have to do that. My only regret is that I didn't make enough batter to do a second one later, for the rest of the tater/shrimp stuff. That's okay. I've got some homemade jalapeño bread and a toasted slice of that will do quite well as a base. But that's for later. I'm still full and content from lunch. I'll tell you what -- it would not surprise me to find I've acquired a new addiction. That doesn't alarm me. One could do much worse than getting hooked on Yorkshire puddings.