Ingredients
- 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
Method
Aunt Nora was a much-loved and much-admired family member who died not long before this recipe was published.
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.
Stand the basin on a cake rack or steamer rack or upturned cake tin in a stockpot 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.
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.
