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Mark Hamill spent a lot of time in London while filming the first Star Wars movies. And he often frequented a restaurant called The Hungry Horse with his co-star Harrison Ford. 

Chef Jamie Oliver did some digging and found the recipe for the restaurant’s most popular dish, Yorkshire Pudding. And he got together with Hamill to recreate the iconic English popover.

Mark Hamill smiling, wearing a suit and bowtie
Mark Hamill | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney

Jamie Oliver and Mark Hamill talk about The Hungry Horse

Hamill was a guest star on Oliver’s cooking show Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast in 2018. The chef asked Hamill about where he liked to eat while filming Star Wars in London in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

“One of the greatest [restaurants] was on Fulham Road called The Hungry Horse,” Hamill said. “They were very famous for their dessert menu.”

The actor then recalled a visit to the restaurant, where he asked Ford to order a dish with a funny name.  “I went in with Harrison one time and I lifted the menu, and I went, ‘Oh look at this, hey Harrison if you order this, I’ll give you five pounds.’” he reminisced. “And he looked at the menu and said, ‘I’m not saying steamed spotted dick.’”

Oliver noted that the Hungry Horse closed when its owner died, but he was able to track down the restaurant’s chef.  He learned that one of the most-ordered dishes on the menu was Yorkshire pudding. 

Hamill revealed that he once tried to make Yorkshire pudding himself, but the popovers didn’t rise. So, Oliver joked that Hamill just needed to use the Force to get the dish right. 

Yorkshire Pudding can be served many ways

Yorkshire pudding can be served as a main, side, or dessert. The English popover is made with a batter of eggs, flour, and milk or water. And it can be eaten with a variety of different fillings, including beef, gravy, and potatoes. 

According to Oliver, at The Hungry Horse, Yorkshire pudding was on the menu in three places. “It was a starter, it was a main, and then they had Yorkshire pudding and golden syrup for dessert,” he noted.

Mark Hamill and Jamie Oliver’s Yorkshire pudding recipe

Here’s what you’ll need to make Hamill and Oliver’s Yorkshire Pudding:

For the popovers:

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup of plain flour
  • ¾ cup of whole milk
  • 1.7 oz beef dripping (full recipe for beef and drippings can be found here on Oliver’s website)
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Then follow these steps:

1. Whisk eggs, flour, milk, 1 ½ tablespoon of water, and a pinch of sea salt to a silky batter. Refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350ºF.

2. Divide beef dripping between a 6-well deep Yorkshire pudding tray (a muffin tray or popover pan should work too). Place on the center rack of the oven for 5 minutes, or until the fat gets smoking hot.

3. Carefully and quickly pour the pudding batter into the wells, filling between half and three-quarters of the well. Return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until they have quadrupled in size. When they are done, they should look deep golden and sound hollow when tapped.

Oliver and Hamill recommend drizzling the Yorkshire puddings with gravy and serving them with roast beef, or pinches of lemon-drizzled watercress, horseradish, and roast potatoes.

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