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Boiled Beefsteak Puddinc

A boiled pudding made with beef steak, kidneys, suet, flour, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Boiled Beefsteak Puddinc

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Mix the salt and pepper on a plate, reserving some salt for the crust.

  2. Cut the steak and kidneys into 1-inch square pieces and roll them in the seasoning until well coated.

  3. Chop the suet finely and combine it with the flour, baking powder, and remaining salt on a mixing board.

  4. Knead the mixture into a light dough using the cold water.

  5. Reserve one-third of the dough for the crust and roll out the rest to ¼-inch thick.

Assemble the pudding

  1. Grease a quart bowl and line it with the rolled dough.

  2. Loosely place the seasoned steak and kidney into the bowl, then pour the catsup and Worcestershire sauce over it.

  3. Fill the bowl with cold water up to 1 inch from the top.

  4. Roll out the reserved dough to cover the bowl and pinch it firmly to seal.

  5. Dip a towel in hot water, flour it lightly, and tie it tightly over the bowl.

Boil and serve

  1. Place the bowl in a large saucepan of boiling water and boil for 2.5 hours.

  2. If serving in the bowl, wrap it in a napkin and carry it to the table on a round china or silver plate.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,078 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Flour + mushroomtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the dough that wraps and holds the filling together.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the crust light and moist during long boiling.
Baking powder
Releases gas that lightens the dough as it cooks.
Round steak
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during long, gentle simmering.
Sheep's kidneys
Adds rich, savoury flavour and depth to the filling.
Mushroom catsup
Adds concentrated savoury, umami flavour to the meat juices.

The step that matters

Sealing the crust and tying the cloth. A tight seal and snug cloth keep boiling water out and steam in, so the filling cooks through without the crust becoming waterlogged or falling apart.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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