A steak and kidney pudding is a British meal made around a large pile of meat and gravy with puff pastry or suet dough.
A steak and kidney pudding is a British meal made around a large pile of meat and gravy with puff pastry or suet dough. Types of meat used in a steak and kidney pudding include minced steak or lamb steak, or lamb or pork kidney. This dish is also commonly flavored with spices, oyster juice, and wine. The meat is cooked first, before being wrapped in dough and roasted in a bowl.
Pork kidney can be used in a beef and kidney pudding.
Generally, the dough made for a steak and kidney pudding is made from animal fat, usually pork fat, and is called suet dough. This type of dough is also known as suet pudding. While puff pastry is the traditional dough used to make steak and kidney pudding, many chefs substitute it for puff pastry. For a non-traditional steak and kidney pudding, puff pastry may be a better choice because it is easier to purchase commercially than suet pastry and gives the dish a more refined puff pastry texture.
Usually the meat inside the dough is cooked before it is wrapped, usually slow cooked with onions and seasonings. It is usually cut into cubes, but can also be shredded. Flour is added to the boiling meat and onions to make a sauce before the meat is stacked, bagged and covered with puff pastry. This dish is often made by lining a bowl with dough, stacking the meat, covering the meat with dough, and baking it. When the dish is ready, the contents of the bowl are flipped onto a serving plate.
The kidney is an organ that is shaped like a bean and is responsible for many functions in the body of animals and humans. Beef and kidney pudding is made with pork or lamb kidneys, and is not usually made with beef kidneys. Since many people are not used to the taste of kidney meat, often steak and kidney pudding are made from just minced steak and do not contain kidneys.
The beef and kidney pudding has been known by a number of names throughout its existence. For many years it was known as John Bull’s pudding. This dish is usually called steak pudding, and less commonly it is often called baby head pudding or baby head pudding by members of the British Armed Forces.