I Cook Food: Steak And Kidney Pudding
Steak and Kidney Pudding.
This takes a long time to steam, and because of that a tougher cut of meat is appropriate. When I last made it I believe it was beef skirt and pigs kidney.
Fat for greasing
Half an Onion, very roughly chopped
Two or three Mushrooms, sliced
450g Steak and Kidney
75g Suet
225g Plain Flour
Some Water
Salt
Half a teaspoon of Baking Powder
Grease a pudding basin (take a look at how much steak and kidney you have and find a pudding basin that’s a bit bigger). Sift the flour and baking powder and a good pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Add the suet and stir it in. Then add a little water. You don’t need a lot. Stir it in for quite a while until it is a firm pastry, adding water a little at a time.
Roll it out on a floured surface. It needs to be big enough to cover the basin; if you make a roundish piece that will go about the outside, then cut out a quarter to make the lid, it should go in nicely. Be sure to seal the join by moistening your fingers and pushing the pastry together.
Now put in a few pieces of steak and kidney, a few bits of onion, a few slices of mushroom. Lightly season the layer. Keep doing this until you run out of filling (you may need to push it down). Splash in a very little water, a bit more than one tablespoon at most. Now fold up the leftover quarter of pastry and roll it out into a round lid. If you’ve overfilled the pudding basin you may need to make it thin and big to cover the domed top. Don’t worry; if anything it will cook down.
Using moistened fingers seal and press down the edges of the lid onto the sides. Old recipes, including the one this has been most taken from, suggest greased proof paper and a pudding bag, but aluminium foil and a trivet work perfectly well. Either way, seal up the pudding bowl, then place in a steaming pan of water and cover. Steam for four hours, more if you like, it doesn’t hurt, but be sure to check it every hour or so to make sure it hasn’t boiled dry.
When it’s time to eat turn off the heat and take the lid off. Give it five minutes, then take the basin out the steaming pan and unwrap it. The pastry should have gone from grey to brown. Put a plate with a lip on top and turn over. If you’re lucky it should plop out; some juice may escape so use a deep plate. If it doesn’t come out, tap it, and if still not you either need to slide a knife down the side to loosen it or just spoon it out the basin. Remember to grease the basin better next time.
You can serve it how you want, but a boiled potato or two to mop up the gravy and some (steamed) greens go very nicely.
(This recipe is based in the main part upon the Steak and Kidney Pudding and Suet Pastry recipes in Cooking with Creda (1950)).
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| I didn't take a pic of mine |
This takes a long time to steam, and because of that a tougher cut of meat is appropriate. When I last made it I believe it was beef skirt and pigs kidney.
Fat for greasing
Half an Onion, very roughly chopped
Two or three Mushrooms, sliced
450g Steak and Kidney
75g Suet
225g Plain Flour
Some Water
Salt
Half a teaspoon of Baking Powder
Grease a pudding basin (take a look at how much steak and kidney you have and find a pudding basin that’s a bit bigger). Sift the flour and baking powder and a good pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Add the suet and stir it in. Then add a little water. You don’t need a lot. Stir it in for quite a while until it is a firm pastry, adding water a little at a time.
Roll it out on a floured surface. It needs to be big enough to cover the basin; if you make a roundish piece that will go about the outside, then cut out a quarter to make the lid, it should go in nicely. Be sure to seal the join by moistening your fingers and pushing the pastry together.
Now put in a few pieces of steak and kidney, a few bits of onion, a few slices of mushroom. Lightly season the layer. Keep doing this until you run out of filling (you may need to push it down). Splash in a very little water, a bit more than one tablespoon at most. Now fold up the leftover quarter of pastry and roll it out into a round lid. If you’ve overfilled the pudding basin you may need to make it thin and big to cover the domed top. Don’t worry; if anything it will cook down.
Using moistened fingers seal and press down the edges of the lid onto the sides. Old recipes, including the one this has been most taken from, suggest greased proof paper and a pudding bag, but aluminium foil and a trivet work perfectly well. Either way, seal up the pudding bowl, then place in a steaming pan of water and cover. Steam for four hours, more if you like, it doesn’t hurt, but be sure to check it every hour or so to make sure it hasn’t boiled dry.
When it’s time to eat turn off the heat and take the lid off. Give it five minutes, then take the basin out the steaming pan and unwrap it. The pastry should have gone from grey to brown. Put a plate with a lip on top and turn over. If you’re lucky it should plop out; some juice may escape so use a deep plate. If it doesn’t come out, tap it, and if still not you either need to slide a knife down the side to loosen it or just spoon it out the basin. Remember to grease the basin better next time.
You can serve it how you want, but a boiled potato or two to mop up the gravy and some (steamed) greens go very nicely.
(This recipe is based in the main part upon the Steak and Kidney Pudding and Suet Pastry recipes in Cooking with Creda (1950)).
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