Kentish Pudding

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Kentish Pudding

A traditional pudding from this area of South-East England, filled with chicken, bacon and mushrooms

Serves 4-6 people:

For the pastry

275g Self-Raising Flour, plus a little extra for rolling out

140g Suet

2 big pinches of Salt

about 100g cold water

For the filling

1 lb/450g uncooked Chicken meat, cut into big pieces - boned and skinned thighs are ideal

50g Butter

1 big Spanish Onion, peeled and finely-chopped

1 big, or 2 medium cloves of Garlic - finely chopped (optional, but not traditional)

150g Streaky Bacon, cut into pieces and the rind removed

250g Flat Mushrooms, wiped with a cloth, if dirty - then sliced

3 tablespoons (45ml) Flour

400ml Chicken Stock (made with 1 cube, if necessary)

100ml Dry White Wine (this would have originally been verjus)

2 tablespoons of washed and chopped Parsley

1 teaspoon (5ml) Salt and a generous quantity of freshly-ground Black Pepper 

 

Make the pastry first, by mixing the flour, salt and suet together in a bowl - then adding enough water to make a firm, but soft, dough.

Roll out the pastry into a large circle (using a little extra flour to stop it sticking); and line the pudding basin - right to the top.

Cut a quarter section out of the circle, so the bowl is easier to line.

Re-roll this section out to form a circle, big enough for a lid.

Make the filling by melting the butter over a low heat, in a deep frying pan, large enough to easily hold all the chicken.

'Sweat' the chopped onions until translucent and a little soft, add the chopped garlic (if using) and cook for a further two minutes, stirring.

Increase the heat to medium and add the chicken pieces.

Stir them around, so they seal and become opaque on all sides.

Remove the chicken and most of the onions to a side dish, leaving as much liquid behind as possible.

Add the remaining butter, and reduce the heat to low.

Add the bacon pieces and after a further two minutes the sliced mushrooms. Stir around until the mushrooms are soft and have absorbed the butter.

Add the flour and mix well in.

Slowly add the wine, followed by the chicken stock - season with the salt, pepper and parsley.

Bring the mixture to the boil.

Remove from the heat and mix the sauce with the chicken.

Fill the pudding bowl with the chicken mixture.

Cover the pudding with the top, and make a good seal - using a little water, if necessary.

Cover the bowl with tin foil, so it has a good overlap, and fix this in position with string.

Half-fill a big saucepan with boiling water and carefully lower-in the pudding basin.

Cover with a lid and 'steam" over a medium heat for 3 hours - topping up the water occasionally so that it's always about half-way-up the pudding basin.

Serve straight from the bowl.