Steak Pudding

Pouding de bœuf (steak pudding) teaches the power of enclosure. There is no fond to brown, no roux to nurse, and no reduction to watch. Seasoned beef, plain water, and a stiff suet crust make their own gravy because the basin loses nothing. Before you touch a pan, know this: the seal is the sauce. If the lid and lining part, water gets in and flavour gets out.

The original assumed neither a saucier nor stock forever on the fire, and it never calls for the salamander. Its professional abundance lies elsewhere: two pounds of flour, a dome mould, a buttered pudding cloth, and a pot somebody could mind for hours. I have reduced its paste to three-eighths of that batch, preserving the original 8:5 proportion of flour to kidney suet and its remarkably scant water. A two-quart basin replaces the large mould, while pleated parchment and foil replace the cloth. The bulk batch, cloth wrapping, and folded-napkin flourish are scaffolding. The stiff paste, water-only filling, sealed basin, and full cooking time are the dish.

Use well-trimmed chuck and give it four hours. When the pudding is turned out, the pale suet dome cuts open to tender beef and gravy made entirely from the meat's juices. One cook, one stove, one patient evening. Moisten the pastry edges and pinch the seam without leaving a gap. That is the step that matters most.