Mandarine: Steak and Kidney Pudding – Daring Bakers Challenge April 2010

They had a pudding in a basin, and the smell that arose from it was so delightful that Bunyip Bluegum was quite unable to pass on.
“Pardon me,” he said, raising his hat, “but am I right in supposing that this is a steak-and-kidney pudding?”
“At present it is,” said Bill Barnacle.
“It smells delightful,” said Bunyip Bluegum.
“It is delightful,” said Bill, eating a large mouthful.
Bunyip Bluegum was too much of a gentleman to invite himself to lunch, but he said carelessly, “Am I right in supposing that there are onions in this pudding?”
Before Bill could reply, a thick, angry voice came out of the pudding, saying--
“Onions, bunions, corns and crabs, Whiskers, wheels and hansom cabs,
Beef and bottles, beer and bones, Give him a feed and end his groans.”

(by Norman Lindsay)
“Albert, Albert,” said Bill to the Puddin’, “where’s your manners?”
“Where’s yours?” said the Puddin’ rudely, “guzzling away there, and never so much as offering this stranger a slice.”
“There you are, “ said Bill. “There’s nothing this Puddin’ enjoys more than offering slices of himself to strangers.”
“How very polite of him,” said Bunyip, but the Puddin’ replied loudly--
“Politeness be sugared, politeness be hanged, Politeness be jumbled and tumbled and banged. It’s simply a matter of putting on pace, Politeness has nothing to do with the case.”
“Always anxious to be eaten,” said Bill, that’s this Puddin’s mania. Well, to oblige him, I ask you to join us at lunch.”
“Delighted, I’m sure,” said Bunyip, seating himself. “There’s nothing I enjoy more than a good go in at steak-and-kidney pudding in the open air.”

(by Norman Lindsay)
from The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

The recipe I followed is from the cook’s companion by Stephanie Alexander, except that I halved the recipe and used a 500ml or 1 pint pudding basin. I liked the mushrooms (I used swiss browns). They balanced the flavours of the steak and kidney well.

aunt nora’s steak and kidney pudding

Stephanie Alexander
1kg blade steak, cut into 2cm cubes
250g ox kidney, trimmed and cut into small pieces
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
125g flat mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup rich stock or water

Suet crust
500g plain flour
250g coarsely grated suet
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup water

Grease a 1-litre pudding basin. To make the crust, mix the ingredients in a large bowl and knead lightly. The dough should not be too stiff. Roll two-thirds of the dough quite thinly into a round and line the basin.

In a large bowl, combine the steak and kidney with the flour, mushrooms, onion, salt and pepper. Pack firmly into the basin.

Roll out the remaining dough to make a lid. Place on top of the mixture, wet the edges and press to seal very well.

(Stephanie doesn’t mention covering her pudding – which I did. I covered the pudding with a circle (4 cm or 2 ” larger than pudding’s diameter) of baking paper, then one of foil, held down the sides with a rubber band, and then tied it twice round with kitchen string. I didn’t take a picture though. But instead a picture of a smaller pudding in illustration.)

Stand the basin on a cake rack or steamer rack or upturned cake tin in a stockpot
(NB: I used a steamer saucepan this time which worked well. Other methods are using a collapsible vegetable steamer basket; or a folded cloth or an upturned plate on the bottom of the saucepan. Alternatively, this method (which is my own idea and worked well on a pudding I made the other day) - this pictured type of simmer mat sitting inside the saucepan and under the pudding with the prongs downward and then pour in the boiling water. )

and pour boiling water to come two-thirds up its sides. Cover and steam the pudding steadily for 4 hours. Check the water level every 30 minutes or so.
(The pudding puffed up while cooking and then when it was cooked I took it out and took off the baking paper and foil and let it rest for a while. The suet crust then changed from a pale yellow colour to a deeper colour and shrank down and settled to what you see.)
To serve, heat the stock to boiling or have boiling water ready. Carefully remove the pudding from the stockpot (use a tea towel to prevent being burnt). Cut a small hole in the lid and pour in the boiling stock or water. Wait 10 minutes before serving.

Steak and kidney pudding is traditionally served at the table from the basin, still wrapped in the tea towel. I like serving a puree of buttery parsnips with this, and a big dish of beans or crisply sautéed cabbage.
Serves 6.