Friday is Pie day! Although today it is a pudding!

Featuring a steak & mushroom pudding. (Because the butcher did not have any Ox kidney.)

The pudding crust.

The suet pudding pastry, combines 350 grams of self raising flour with 175 grams of grated suet. 1/2 a teaspoon of fine sea salt and 300 ml of water. Mix everything together to form a soft, firm dough.

Two thirds of the dough is used to line a well greased pudding basin.

Suet pastry with added FGBP and fresh Thyme.

The Pudding filling.

The pie filling is diced and trimmed chuck steak, finely diced celery and onion. The vegetables are gently sweated off in oil and butter and then combined with the steak and some left over, braised short-rib of beef gravy before placing in the oven in a casserole for two & a half hours at 160 degrees.

Celery and onions in the pan, chuck steak and mushrooms waiting to be prepared.

Don`t forget the mushrooms!........

The pudding mix is removed from the oven, the lid is removed and it is gently stirred and simmered to allow it to thicken. The mushrooms have their stems removed, are sliced in half and seared in oil & butter until nicely browned they are then stirred into the pudding mix, along with the finely chopped stems.

Steak & Mushroom Suet Pudding filling.

The assembly.

Once the pudding mix has cooled slightly to further thicken it, it is then carefully, ladled into the pudding basin. The top crust is then lifted onto the pudding and crimped firmly in place.

two rounds of greaseproof paper are placed on top of the pudding`s crust, and a muslin, pudding cloth is firmly, but loosely tied around the basin to hold the cloth in place, and to create a handle for lifting into the steamer.

The pudding string should fit tightly around the sides, while allowing for expansion whilst cooking.

Cooking

The suet pudding is placed in a large, false bottomed steamer and gently steamed for two and a half hours. ( The water gets topped up roughly every half an hour.)

After only 40 minutes of gentle steaming, the pudding has already begun to expand. (After an hour it smelt absolutely fantastic.

Ah! Perhaps a slightly looser handle might be in order!

The `George Formby` moment!

Two and a half hours is ample time to pour myself a beer, (Kernal Export Stout.) clean the kitchen, pour a beer, peel some spuds to make garlic mash, pour a beer, boil the spuds and poach half a dozen garlic cloves and some FGBP in milk. Pour another beer. Drain & mash the spuds, along with the garlic infused milk and a knob of butter. Finally, I got the chance to pour a beer!

"Turned out nice again!"

Si King`s comment upon the turning out of a meat pudding is, `may the force be with you!`

The very hot pudding must be lifted from a very hot steamer using the very hot, string handle. The string is then cut, and the muslin and baking parchment removed. A plate is then placed on top of the pud, and the whole, hot and slippery pudding is then, quickly but above all carefully inverted. I always give the base of the pudding basin a short, sharp tap with a knife handle before I attempt to turn out the pudding. I have absolutely no idea if this has any effect, but I do it anyway.

Turned out nice again!

The finished dish!

The steak & Mushroom pudding is served with a simple accompaniment of buttery garlic mash and a glass of Kernal Export Stout.

Classic schoolboy error! The camera lens appears to be suffering from, `Suet Steam!`

FREE BEER FRIDAY.

Answer the following question and if your`s is the first correct answer to appear in the comments section, then you may claim a free drink at the shop, up to the value of £10.

as always, T&C`s apply and the judges decision is final.

Q: Kernal Export Stout is based on a recipe from which year?

Cheers Chums! & Good-Luck!