A true epicurean receipt for this dish directs the paste to be made with veal-kidney suet, and filled with alternate layers of the inside of the sirloin, sliced and seasoned, and of fine plump native oysters, intermixed with an occasional small slice of the veal fat.
SMALL BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.
Make into a very firm smooth paste, one pound of flour, six ounces of beef-suet finely minced, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a pint of cold water. Line with this a basin which holds a pint and a half. Season a pound of tender steak, free from bone and skin, with half an ounce of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper well mixed together; lay it in the crust, pour in a quarter of a pint of water, roll out the cover, close the pudding carefully, tie a floured cloth over, and boil it for three hours and a half. We give this receipt in addition to the preceding one, as an exact guide for the proportions of meat-puddings in general.
Flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 oz.; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; water, 1/2 pint; rump-steak, 1 lb.; salt, 1/2 oz.; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful; water, 1/4 pint: 3-1/2 hours.
RUTH PINCH’S BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.
To make Ruth Pinch’s celebrated pudding (known also as beef-steak pudding à la Dickens), substitute six ounces of butter for the suet in this receipt, and moisten the paste with the well-beaten yolks of four eggs, or with three whole ones, mixed with a little water; butter the basin very thickly before the paste is laid in, as the pudding is to be turned out of it for table. In all else proceed exactly as above.
MUTTON PUDDING.
Mutton freed perfectly from fat, and mixed with two or three sliced kidneys, makes an excellent pudding. The meat may be sprinkled with fine herbs as it is laid into the crust. This will require rather less boiling than the preceding puddings, but it is made in precisely the same way.
PARTRIDGE PUDDING.
(Very Good.)