Recipes

From Pies by Sophie Conran, Sophie writes "My mum's steak and kidney pudding is like her. It's the best. This is her delicious recipe".

Serves 6

You will need a 1 litre (1¾ pint) pudding basin

For the Suet pastry

    100g (3½ oz) prepared suet, such as Atora
    225g (8oz) self-raising flour
    Salt
    Iced water

For the Pudding

    900g (2lb) chuck, stewing or braising steak, cut into 3cm (1in) cubes
    225g (8oz) beef kidneys, trimmed and cut into 3cm (1in) cubes
    3 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
    50g (2oz) button mushrooms, cleaned
    1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
    A dash of Tabasco
    1 tbsp Chinese oyster sauce
    A little beef stock or water
    Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Suet pastry: Mix the suet, flour and salt in a bowl and, using a tablespoon at a time, slowly add enough iced water to bind. This can be done in a food processor, but don't over-process the mixture. Cover the pastry with clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes. Keep about a quarter of the pastry back to make the lid, then roll out the other three-quarters to a thickness of about 3mm (1/8 in).

Butter the pudding basin. Line it with the rolled-out pastry, leaving about 3cm (1in) of pastry hanging over the top. Set aside.

Now make the filling by rolling the beef and kidneys in the seasoned flour. Mix the meat with the mushrooms and pile it all into the pastry-lined basin. Sprinkle with the Worcestershire, Tabasco and oyster sauces. Pour in enough beef stock or water to fill two-thirds (or slightly more) of the dish. Season the pudding with plenty of pepper.

Roll out the remaining pastry to make a lid. Cover the pudding and fold the edges together to form a seal, pressing the edges together lightly.

Cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the top of the pudding loosely: the pudding must have room to expand. Hold the foil in place by tying some string around it, just under the rim of the pudding basin. Make a handle by passing the string across the top loosely two or three times and threading it under the rim-string. Fasten it tightly at one side. Set the sealed pudding aside.

Fill a large pan with a tightly fitting lid with enough water to come two-thirds of the way up the pudding basin. Bring the water to the boil and lower the pudding into the pan. Cover the large pan with a lid. (The first time I made the pudding I did not remember the lid or even dream that it was essential, silly idiot. After 4 hours the pudding was still more or less raw). Add more boiling water as it evaporates and boils away and don't worry if the pudding leaks a bit. Continue topping up the boiling water as necessary for 4-5 hours.

Lift the pudding out of the pan and remove the foil. Wrap the basin in a white cloth or napkin with the top crust showing, browned and slightly fluffy, over the top of its white linen collar. If the crust has come in contact with the water, it will be pale and glistening but still excellent to eat. Serve the fragrant pudding with a big spoon.