Cookery for every household

It is not necessary to make a hole in the top of a meat pudding- as is the case with a pie, as the pastry itself is porous and allows the steam to escape. The only exception to this would be if the pudding were baked, when a small hole should be pierced and kept open in the top, but this is not a usual mode of cooking a meat pudding, and one scarcely to be recommended, as baked suet crust is not so light as that which is boiled or steamed. Small meat puddings may be turned out of their basins and have a little hot gravy poured round them. Large puddings are usually served in the basin with a heated and folded serviette tied or pinned round them. A small jug of hot gravy or boiling water should always be served separately. 1467. Beef Steak and Kidney Pudding 1 lb. beef (cut thin). 2 sheep’s kidneys. 1 table-sp. flour. Seasoning. 3 table-sps. stock or water. 1 dessert-sp. ketchup. Suet pastry. Prepare the meat according to directions given for Beef Steak and Kidney Pie (Recipe 1452). Take a 1J pint basin and grease it well with clarified butter or a little dripping. Then make some suet crust as in Recipe 1441, and roll it out to about \ inch in thickness. Line the basin with this, pressing it well in so as to take the form. Be careful, also, to get it smooth and of an equal thickness all over. Trim off round the edges and roll out these scraps into a round to form a cover. Fill up with the prepared meat, and pour in the ketchup and stock. The contents should be piled rather high in the middle as they shrink in cooking. Double down the edge of the pastry which lines the basin over the meat, and wet it with cold water. Place the round piece on the top and press the edges well together. Cover with a scalded and floured pudding cloth. Plunge the pudding into a saucepan of fast-boiling water and boil quickly until thoroughly cooked. More boiling water must be added as required, and the pudding must never be allowed to go off the boil. When ready, lift out and let it stand for a minute or two. Then remove the cloth and wipe the basin. Heat a table napkin, fold it neatly and pin it round the basin, and serve the pudding thus, in the basin in which it was cooked. A small jug of boiling water or nice gravy should always be sent to the table with a meat pudding, as it will require filling up when the crust is cut. Note. — The pudding may be steamed instead of boiled, but longer time for cooking must be allowed. Skirt steak may be used instead of ordinary steak ; it is cheaper and makes a very good and tasty pudding. The pieces of skirt should be dipped in boiling water for a minute or two to enable the skin to be peeled off them. Then cut them in small pieces and season as above. A few parboiled and sliced potatoes are sometimes mixed with the meat. Chopped mushrooms or onions may also be used for flavouring. Time to boil, 2\ to 3 hours. Time to steam, 3 to 4 hours. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. 1468. Kidney and Liver Pudding l lb. ox kidney. | lb. calf’s or sheep’s liver. i lb. bacon. 1 table-sp. flour. Salt, pepper. A pinch of nutmeg. A pinch of mace. A little stock. Suet crust.