Recipes

A Tale of Two Puddings – Week 4 2021

26/07/2021

A.K.A. The day Elizabeth accidentally traumatized her family by disguising blood pudding as chocolate cake.

It’s Week 4, which means we’re officially past the mid-way mark of this year’s cook off. This week’s recipes have us putting away the frying pan and pulling out the pudding bag. What? You don’t own a pudding cloth …. or bag …. or basin. As always, we’ve got plenty of options and work arounds for you.

But before we dig in…

A quick reminder that modern interpretations of this week’s recipes can be found at the bottom of this post. Just cook the dish, snap a photo of the results, and add your pic to the comments section of the week 4 recipe post on the Colony of Avalon’s Facebook page. You’ll automatically be entered into this week’s prize draw. Up for grabs? A $50 gift certificate for Alder Cottage Newfoundland Online Cookery School. But that’s not all, you’ll also be entered into our grand prize draw for a Snowpeak Takibi portable outdoor Fire and Grill. WOWZA! Deadline for this week’s entries are 11:59 pm, Sunday, August 1, 2021.

Ready to get started?

A Tale of Two Puddings

This week’s recipes come to us from Robert May’s classic The Accomplisht Cook. The art & mystery of cookery. Wherein the whole art is revealed in a more easie and perfect method, than hath been publisht in any language.

May was born in 1588 and came from a family of distinguished chefs. At the age of ten he was sent to Paris to continue learning his trade. He then spent seven years as an apprentice in London. Throughout his long career, he cooked for many members of the British aristocracy. The Accomplisht Cook, written in 1660 when May was already 72 years old, is full of tips, tricks and trade secrets.

The Accomplisht Cook includes many extravagant dishes, and some that are downright bonkers, like an exploding pastry ship with flags, streamers and guns, and a pie containing live frogs and birds guaranteed to make dinner guests “skip and shreek”.

Modern Recipe Interpretation - Sweet Oatmeal Pudding

  • Ingredients
    +-
    • 1 c steel cut (pinhead) oats, soaked in milk or water for 2 hours OR 1 cup of rolled oats
    • 2 cups milk or cream
    • 2 eggs, plus 1 yolk, beaten
    • ½ tsp ground cloves
    • ½ tsp ground mace
    • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
    • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
    • ½ tsp salt
    • Pinch of saffron, soaked in 1 tbsp hot water (optional)
    • ¾ c dried fruit (currants, raisins, chopped dates, cranberries)
    • Flour, for dusting pudding cloth
    • Butter and sugar, to serve
  • Method
    +-
    • For steel cut (pinhead) oats – Soak the oats for 2 hours in milk or water, drain. 

Place oats in a pot, add 2 cups milk or cream, cook until liquid is absorbed. Leave oats to cool. While oats are cooling, put a large pot of water on to boil. Skip down to “Add eggs, spices and fruit”
    • For rolled oats – Mix the oats with 1/2 cup of milk/cream and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, put a large pot of water on to boil.
    • For rolled oats, add the remaining 1.5 cups milk and mix.
    • To the oats, add eggs, spices, and fruit. Mix thoroughly.
    • Dip a clean cotton or linen dish towel in boiling water. Let it boil for one minute. Remove cloth, and CAREFULLY wring out excess water, flour one side of cloth.
    • Pour the oat mixture into the middle of the floured cloth. Pull the edges up, forming a ball, and tie the cloth tightly.
    • NOTE: You can also stem your pudding in a heat proof bowl, pudding basin or pudding mould. You can find detailed directions here. Skip ahead to the 0.50 second mark.
    • Put the pudding in the boiling water. Cover with tight lid; boil 3 hours, replenishing water as necessary to maintain water level.
    • As long as there is a gentle simmer and steam is being created in your pan then your water is hot enough to cook your pudding.
    • Resist lifting the lid of the steaming pot for the first 30 minutes; the drop in temperature could cause the pudding to collapse. However after this time, definitely check on the pudding regularly to make sure that the pot does not boil dry.
    • Remove the pudding from water, allow to cool for 10 minutes, remove the pudding cloth/bowl/basin, and plate. Serve topped with butter and sprinkle of sugar.

Modern Recipe Interpretation - Savoury Oatmeal Pudding

  • Ingredients
    +-
    • 1.5 cups steelcut (pinhead) oats OR 1.5 cups of rolled oats.
    • 2 cups milk or cream
    • 1 small onion, diced small
    • 10 oz blood (pork or beef)
    • 4 eggs, beaten
    • 2-3 Tbsp dried Italian herb blend
    • 2 tsp ground mace
    • 1 tsp ground cloves
    • 2 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • Method
    +-
    • For steel cut oats – Cover the oats with milk, and soak for 3-4 hours. Drain the oats, then place oats in a pot and cover with cream (or milk), cook until liquid is absorbed and oats are al dente. Leave to cool.
    • For rolled oats – Mix the oats with 1/2 cup of milk/cream and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Then add the remaining 1.5 cups of milk/cream and mix.
    • Preheat oven to 350* F
    • To room temperature oats, add seasonings, eggs, and blood. Mix well.
    • Pour into greased pan or baking dish, bake until a toothpick or skewer comes out clean. About 50-80 minutes depending on the pan used.

top
By using Colony of Avalon, you accept our use of cookies.
OK