Pudding on the Ritz

Serves: 8

Ingredients for the filling: 700g stewing steak, cut up into; 1cm cubes; 200g ox kidney, trimmed and cut into small pieces; 2 tablespoon olive oil; 100g unsalted butter; 2 tablespoon plain flour; 100ml brandy; 4 bay leaves; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme; 1 garlic clove chopped; Salt and pepper; 1 liter meat stock or chicken stock approx; 1 teaspoon caster sugar.

For the marinade: 1 bottle of red wine; 1 small onion, roughly chopped; 1 carrot, roughly chopped; 1 celery stick, roughly chopped.

For the Hot-Water Suet Crust pastry: 400g plain flour; 175g beef suet; ½ teaspoon baking powder; 2 teaspoons salt; 180ml boiling water.

For the puree: 200g carrots, diced; 200g parsnips, diced; 200g celeriac, diced; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; Salt and pepper;100ml double cream; 60g unsalted butter; 1 tablespoon chopped parsley.

For the vegetables: 450g of purple sprouting broccoli, stalks cut into 4; 25g unsalted butter; juice ½ lemon; 25g sliced almonds; Salt and pepper

Method

Put the beef in a large container. Mix the marinade ingredients and pour over the beef. Leave overnight. The next day remove the meat and the vegetables from the marinade and pat dry. Set aside. Keep the marinade wine.

Preheat the oven to 150C. Seal the beef and kidney in a frying pan in a mixture of oil and half the butter, browning on all sides. Transfer to a larger casserole or saucepan. Wipe out the frying pan, melt some more butter and brown the vegetables . Add the flour and stir well, then decant into the casserole. Deglaze the frying pan with the brandy and add this to the meat as well.

Boil the marinade to reduce by one third and add to the meat with the bay leaves, thyme, garlic, some salt and pepper, and stock to cover. Cook for about two hours in the oven until the meat is tender. Remove the meat from the pot and strain the sauce through a fine sieve, add the sugar and mix well. Cool to allow the fat to rise to the top and remove. To make the suet crust put all the dry ingredients in a bowl then make a well in the centre and mix in the boiling water. Knead the dough until smooth and cut into eight pieces.

Roll them out to circles about 23cm (9in) in a diameter and line eight pudding basins. Trim the edge at the top and roll out the little bits left to make tops.

Fill each of the lined basins to three-quarters full with steak and kidney and add a little of the juice. Cover with the tops, then fold over the top of pastry lining the bowl. Seal well and cover with buttered greaseproof paper and foil, and tie up. Steam for an hour. Reduce the rest of the strained cooking juices until thick.

To make the puree, bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the carrots, parsnips and celeriac with the garlic for 10-15 minutes until tender. Drain well and process to a smooth puree in a blender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Warm the butter and cream together and add the puree, mixing well. Sprinkle with parsley and keep warm.

For the vegetables bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the broccoli until al dente. Drain well and keep warm. Melt the butter in a small pan and add the lemon juice and almonds. Cook slowly and stir constantly until the butter and nuts are a rich golden brown. Season well and pour over the broccoli.

To serve, carefully turn the puddings out onto eight serving plates. Serve with the juices, the root vegetable purée and the purple sprouting broccoli.