Thanks everyone for helpful hints. It was my usual recipe (Delia's) which has always worked well... but I suspect the "Irish plain flour" might be to blame. I've been curmudgeonly about this before. Bought plain flour, then found it contains raising agents. I'll see if I can find the real thing. Â
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Yorkshire pudding was eaten as a first course, a slab of tasty fat and carbohydrate, loosened with gravy, to fill you up so that you didn’t feel the lack of expensive meat in the second course.
My mother-in-law used to tell the story of her first visit to her future in-laws in Yorkshire and thinking all she was getting for her dinner was unaccompanied Yorkshire Pud.
Speaking of the lack of tasty meat; my wife served up meat-free sausages last night, one of those alternative meals that uses mushrooms instead of things that have a face. Wurst food I've eaten in a long time  Half a bottle of HP sauce might have masked the flavour but we were all out. I couldn't face eating the last one and I never leave food on the plate. She cooked some alternative chicken imitation bits last week and at least they were just bland, this stuff was enough to send even the most devout vegetarian running to the butchers.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Have you seen the green ones @wild edges? I laughed for ages at the supermarket when I saw them. They're vomit inducing We've tried various things because of daughter's problem with red meat, although she isn't a vegetarian. The veggie stuff doesn't seem to have come on much since Linda McCartney's day. Most of it seems dire. I might even get some of her sausages again - I remember them being ok. Fortunately, pork is fine for her, so we use the mince a lot. Â
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I will be paying a visit to the butchers and stocking up on proper sausages as soon as I can. All the vegetarian stuff that doesn't pretend to be meat is fine. They need to spend more time getting flavours right than buggering about with texture.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
I think if you're going to make a success of vegetarian food you have to forget about meat in all its forms, especially fake meat. If you want "sausages", either embrace qood quality pork ones or try Glamorgan.
I love mushrooms but don't want to eat Quorn which must surely involve some dodgy chemical processing and I really dislike tofu but love edamame beans so I'm not about to try soy based meat substitutes. With a bit of knowledge and ingenuity it's perfectly possible to make well-balanced, nutritious and tasty meals without any meat or fish, pretend or otherwise.Â
I follow a vegan diet (apart from our own honey). I never eat meat alternatives as they taste and smell a bit too much like the real thing, but I do make my own burger patties using pulses as the main ingredient.
I don't think our food is bland .... we eat lots of Thai, Indian and Italian dishes. Also plenty of suitable bread and cake recipes we like.
I'm with you on tofu @Obelixx ..... grim, slimy stuffÂ
Bee x
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders Â
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Posts
We've tried various things because of daughter's problem with red meat, although she isn't a vegetarian. The veggie stuff doesn't seem to have come on much since Linda McCartney's day. Most of it seems dire. I might even get some of her sausages again - I remember them being ok.Â
Fortunately, pork is fine for her, so we use the mince a lot. Â
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I love mushrooms but don't want to eat Quorn which must surely involve some dodgy chemical processing and I really dislike tofu but love edamame beans so I'm not about to try soy based meat substitutes. With a bit of knowledge and ingenuity it's perfectly possible to make well-balanced, nutritious and tasty meals without any meat or fish, pretend or otherwise.Â
I never eat meat alternatives as they taste and smell a bit too much like the real thing, but I do make my own burger patties using pulses as the main ingredient.
I don't think our food is bland .... we eat lots of Thai, Indian and Italian dishes.
Also plenty of suitable bread and cake recipes we like.
I'm with you on tofu @Obelixx ..... grim, slimy stuffÂ
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime