Method :
Cut off any
fat or skin from the beef. Cut the beef into 2cm pieces. Cut the fat,
skin and hard centre away from the kidney. Slice the kidney. Cover the
steak and kidney with flour and put it in a bowl. Peel and slice the
onion and wash and slice the mushrooms. Add the salt and pepper,
mushrooms and onion to the steak and kidney. Stir well. Leave this bowl
on one side.
Now make the
pastry. Put the flour and baking powder through a sieve into a large
bowl. Add the salt and suet. Stir well. Add 3/4 of the water and stir
well. If the mixture is too dry, add the rest of the water. The mixture
should be soft but not sticky. Put some flour on your table or board.
Roll out 3/4 of the pastry. It should be about 1cm thick. Put this all
around the inside of a thick bowl which will hold 1 liter of water.
Leave a little pastry over the top edge of the bowl. Put the steak and
kidney mixture into the bowl. Add the beef stock. It should half fill
the bowl. Roll out the rest of the pastry. Put this on top of the bowl.
Wet the edges of the pastry and push them together tightly. Put a clean
white cloth or aluminum foil over the top. Make a fold in the middle of
the cloth or foil because the pudding will get bigger as it cooks. Tie
the cloth or foil with string around the top of the bowl. If your cloth
is big enough, tie the ends over the top of the bowl to make a handle.
This makes it easier to lift out of the saucepan when it is cooked. Half
fill a big saucepan with boiling water.
Put the heat
on low. Gently put in the pudding bowl and put a lid on the saucepan.
Cook for 4 hours. Add more boiling water to the saucepan from time to
time. Do not let it boil dry. After boiling water to the saucepan from
time to time. Do not let it boil dry. After 4 hours, lift the pudding
bowl out of the saucepan. Be careful and use the handle - it will be
very hot. Take off the cloth of foil. Put a clean white cloth around the
bowl and take it to the table at once. Cut the pastry with a knife. When
you have taken out one serving, pour in a little boiling water. This
will make more gravy in the pudding. Serve with buttered carrots or
cabbage and boiled or mashed potatoes.
Serves 6
This is one
of the great English dishes. The suet pastry in which the steak and
kidney is cooked keeps all the flavor inside. In the past people often
used oysters instead of mushrooms. In those days oysters were very cheap
and mushrooms very expensive. Today it is the other way round. You will
find Steak and Kidney Pudding all over Britain and if you really want a
taste of British cooking, try this recipe. It takes a long time to cook,
but it is worth it!
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