Of all the gastronomic delights I experienced in 2013, the best have been the ones I felt proud of myself for having spent the time making. I would say this one, though, sits pretty high up the list of those as it took 2 days and a lot of care and attention. This is what puddings are about. The middle of winter is a great time to bring out the inner gourmand in us, but also we should embrace our ability to create delicious food with a little imagination and patience.
For those who do not know what it is, we need to discuss what "pudding" means. The word "Pudding" in German is what the British call "custard" and the French call "crème anglaise". They are, though, all slightly different. Custard is hot and can be runny or solid enough to sit on your spoon and I would go for custard each and every time over the other two.
Pudding, in the British sense though, does not mean this at all. It has evolved over the years into what is now a truly beloved yet highly variable household dish, albeit not so often made, considering the time it takes. My mother, bless her, often used to spend hours making a similar dish, and making this myself, I can appreciate just what an effort it was to produce it.
So what are puddings?
Well, they are round, they form a centrepiece to a table, can be sweet or savoury, and are made with pastry, often suet.
"Suet?" I hear you ask, "What's suet?"
An astute question as always, dear reader.
I love the English language for its conciseness. It is, in fact, fat surrounding the kidney of a cow used to make pastry. I know, that sounds positively dis-GUS-ting. Well yes. But there are now vegetable suet and other types, and they are very good ingredients for a sweet pudding with lots of fruit or a savoury yet crumbly pastry similar to biscuit.
This is the savoury version - you will do things in this recipe you never thought you would do, like grate fat and freeze butter.
For the filling, it is entirely up to you, as every pudding is different. Just go where your mood takes you!
Ingredients for the filling:
550g-600g of stewing beef, roughly diced
4 medium-sized carrots, chopped
5 to 8 mushrooms, sliced or quartered (porcini or some such, but if not, button mushrooms work out fine)
1 apple, sliced (optional)
1 red pepper, chopped
4 to 6 shallots, peeled and whole
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Fresh herbs, finely chopped
Some flour, pepper and salt for seasoning
1 glass of port
1 tablespoonful of Worcestershire Sauce (optional but recommended)
Instructions for the filling:
Heat the oven to 170°C.
Put the flour, finely chopped herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl and roll the beef in it. Fry gently in butter in a casserole dish until brown.
Remove, and do the same with the vegetables.
Pour over the port, put the lid on the casserole dish and put in the oven for up to 4 hours.
Before you add it to the pudding, you should let it cool down.
Ingredients for the pastry:
*tsp = teaspoon, tbsp = tablespoon
280g plain flour
A sachet of baking powder
(Alternatively, 280g self-raising flour and 1 tsp of baking powder)
Half a tsp of salt
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley and thyme
80g vegetable suet, chilled and grated
50g frozen butter (but refrigerated enough so it is very hard is fine), also grated
1 egg, beaten
Some butter for greasing
Some cold water on standby, if necessary
Baking paper and string
A large cauldron containing water for steaming
Instructions for the pastry:
(I apologise for the photo, but you need to see it)
Grease a rounded heat-proof bowl with butter.
In another bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and fresh herbs. Mix them up well. Grate the suet and add it, then do the same with the cold, solid butter.
Add the egg and knead everything until it becomes a soft, not-so-sticky dough. Cut a third off and put it in clingfilm to keep fresh.
Roll out the largest piece until it is big enough to fill your bowl. Put it inside the buttered bol and press it until it covers the entire inside of the bowl. Then fill it with the cooled-down beef stew mix until it fills the inner part of the pudding dough.
Use the remaining part of the dough to make a lid.
Then cover it with a double layer of baking paper and tie it up with string. Leave a little room for the pastry to be able to rise slightly.
By now your water should be boiling away, so put the bowl carefully into the pan so that it is no lower than half-way inside the water. Never forget to put something in the bottom so the pudding does not have direct contact with the fiery heat of the cooker. I use an upturned rice cooker base. Then steam for three to four hours.
Once cooked, get a large plate, unwrap the pudding, place the large plate on top and flip it upside down.
As you see, there is now ample space to decorate your pudding however you see fit, or adorn it with all the vegetables you are serving. This makes for an imaginative festive display for everyone to behold before it is carved up amongst all the guests. To be honest, you could do this with lamb, venison or even wild boar.
Finally, I would like to apologise for the appalling photos in this one - I have no excuses.
Enjoy!
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