Oxtail, beef shin and sheep’s kidney pud. (in the Heston Style)

I had made Heston’s  oxtail and kidney puddings in  Dariol moulds for a Kikoklu dinner a couple of years ago, they had turned out very well, I had that time served with poached oysters. This time I decided that I would make a single large one, it isn’t often that I make suet puddings as the Doc doesn’t think they are the best thing for a diabetic to eat.      

So as I was on the way home from work on Thursday I popped into Herr Tönnies Abattoir, it is one of the largest in Germany if not in Europe (though he is building an even larger one in Russia). The abattoir processes 30,000 half pigs per day (the other stuff like the local beef, goats and sheep are not included in these figures), it is also one of the largest employers of labour in the area, unfortunately most of it not local but comes from the former East Block. But sorry this has nothing to do with my Pud!

I bought oxtail, the thick part with loads of meat and 2 slices of beef leg with the bone in (Hinter Beinscheiben).

So the ingredients for the pudding was:

1.5 kg of oxtail

1 kg of beef shin

4 large sheep kidney’s

1 bunch of soup vegetables (leek, celeriac and carrots)

150g of mushrooms

300g of onion

2 tsps. of tomato puree (I used this in place of fresh roasting tomatoes)

2 bay leaves

Sprig of thyme

1 star anis

10 pepper corns

750 ml of beef stock

750 ml of chicken stock

200 ml of Madeira

500 ml of red wine

A good splash of brandy

 Method

First make the mirepoix, dicing all of the vegetables quite small, Soften the vegetables in a little oil, then the mushroom and finally the caramelise onions, put all these in the pressure cooker. 

 

Heat some peanut oil in a pan and brown the meat a single layer at a time. When well and truelly browned remove with a slotted spoon and put on top of vegetables in the pressure cooker.

Pour off the fat from the pan that had the meat in and deglaze with Madeira, brandy and red wine, flame off the alcohol and add this to the pressure cooker.

Next add the 2 stocks, the spices and tomato puree, give it a stir,

put the lid on and bring up to steam at the highest pressure, turn down the heat to the lowest and let it cook for 2 hours. (Heston says 1.5hrs but I was out at the market while Linda was watching it, that is what she done, watched it)

I cooled the pot and allowed the contents to cool a little (it is hot, very hot indeed so watch it) now remove the oxtail and shin with a slotted spoon and strip the meat from the bones (it just falls off).

Pour the stock through quite fine sieve, pressing through to get all the taste and goodness out of it discarding the residue.

Reduce the stock by about 1/3 and adjust the seasoning.

Pour about 1 ltr into a clean pan and poach the skinned, cored and diced sheep’s kidneys until they are soft and cooked.

Mix the kidney with the rest of the meat, moisten with a little of the stock and cover.

Make the suet pastry,

500g of flour (it is normal to use self-raising, but having none I used double the amount of baking powder)

250g of suet , I used packet, but have made my own from sheep or veal suet, this surrounds the kidneys and the butcher will more than likely give you it for nothing. Just mince it and sprinkle it with flour to stop it sticking together in one lump.

1 pct. of Baking powder

1 tsp. of salt

300 ml of ice cold water

Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl, mix in the suet and add the water a little at a time (I cut it in with a knife, but  just because this is how my mother did, though you do not want to over work it). Bring it all together and form into a ball cover with cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Butter a pudding basin well

Roll out the ball into a circle and cut out ¼ reform into a circle and ease it into the pudding basin allow a good bit of overhang at the top make sure all the air is out between the basin side and pastry wall, use your fingers to force it down into the bottom.

Now fill the basin with the meat mixture, packing it in tight, pour in some of the reduced stock, roll out the top, wet the top edge of the pastry and place the top onto it and press together to seal.

I would normally have cut out a piece of greaseproof paper to cover and then pleated a piece of foil over the whole, tying round the rim with string. This plastic bowl had a lid so I decided to use this, foolish boy!!!, Place an upturned plate into a large pot, place the basin on top of this and add boiling water 2/3 up the side of the basin lid on and steam. Alas this foolish boy had forgotten that the suet pastry expands, it did this and forced the lid off, so I returned to first principles and made a foil cover tied on with string, the simple things always seem to work.

I steamed for 2 hours.

As it was coming to the end of the steaming, I reduced the kidney liquid even more adding a bit more thyme and anther slug of Madeira.

We had it with glazed baton carrots, sautéed Brussel sprouts and speck and creamed  mashed potatoes.

The finished meal