More black pudding

Having finished the last of our gluten-free black pudding a while ago, we were hankering after more. And today we made some. We varied the recipe slightly this time, using brown rice instead of white and brown rice flour instead of rice flakes, and they are slightly better than before – less light tasting, a bit more of the proper bulk. The other big changes this time were to use only 1 litre of blood rather than 2 litres (the original recipe) and to make the whole lot as blood cakes (baked in the oven) rather than proper black puddings (boiled in skins) because it’s just easier that way – boiling all the puddings takes quite a while, let alone the hassle of filling the skins! I’ve had various requests for the recipe I used last time, so I thought I should share it for anyone who’s interested!

The recipe is basically Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s from The River Cottage Cookbook (the hardback is strangely cheap on Amazon at the moment – less than half price and so less than the paperback!), amended for gluten-freeness.

1 litre pig’s blood (freeze-dried blood powder is available from Scobies if you don’t have access to the real thing)
Casings if you’re making puddings (soaked overnight to remove salt), terrine dishes or loaf tins if you’ve making blood cakes
25 g salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or mace
300 ml milk
500 g pork fat, preferably back fat
500 g onions
250 g rice flakes or brown rice flour
250 g white or brown rice

Cook the rice and drain.
Add spices, sugar and salt to the blood.
Dice the fat finely.
Chop the onions finely.
Add about a quarter of the fat to a stock pan or very large saucepan and fry until the fat runs.
Add the onions to the pan and cook gently until softened but not coloured.
Add the rest of the fat and cook until translucent.
Add the rice flakes (or rice flour) and the milk. Rice flour will form a gungy mess so be careful!
Add the blood and stir well.
Add the cooked rice.
If making puddings, fill the skins at this stage. Carefully use a funnel to pour the mixture into the skins and carefully (and tightly!) tie the end up again. Personally, I found that tying string at the ends was the best way to keep the knots tied. The puddings are then boiled gently for 30 minutes or so in a large pan, a very few at a time, until they run brown (rather than pink) when pricked with a pin. If a pudding floats to the surface, prick it to stop it bursting.
If making blood cakes (which I recommend!), the mixture needs gently cooking for 10 minutes or so, until it thickens slightly (like custard) – stir the pan thoroughly to ensure that it doesn’t stick. This step makes the mixture thick enough to stop the rice falling to the bottom of the tins and the fat floating to the top.
Pour the mixture into greased loaf tins, place them in a tin of hot water and cover each tin with oiled foil.
Place the tins in an oven at 170°C for 45-60 minutes until the cakes are set firm (test with a skewer – they should be clean when pulled out from the centre of the cake).
Allow the cakes to cool and then carefully turn out of the tins.
Puddings should keep in a cold fridge for up to 2 weeks, blood cakes for 1 week if wrapped up carefully in plastic. Alternatively, they will freeze, but become more fragile after freezing – I recommend slicing them before freezing!

I think that the best result would probably be rice flakes and brown rice – the rice flour (as usual) gives a very slight gritty texture to the finished article, but it’s much less noticeable in black puddings than in other things. The brown rice definitely gives a better texture than white, in my opinion.

I’d certainly recommend anyone who likes black pudding giving it a go – it’s really quite easy.

pax et bonum

Article posted at 4:15pm on 22 June 2005
Category: Food, Life, Struggling, General