This worked out really well!

I'd never made a boiled pudding before. Or baked with suet. Lard, yes, but not suet. I'd used suet in cooking and making things like mincemeat. But I don't think I'd ever done a classic suet pudding before. So this was a bit of an experiment, but also a lot of fun.

I made this as a gluten-free, dairy-free clootie dumpling. I just used a commercial gluten-free flour mix and some rice-based GF breadcrumbs and then swapped in some oat milk for the cow's milk. The flour I used did have some vegetable gums added to try to compensate for the lack of gluten, but my dumpling was still somewhat lacking in structural integrity. I might try adding an extra egg next time, just to help bind it a little more. It was still delicious either way, it just didn't stay intact.

Clootie Dumpling

From BBC Good Food

Ingredients

• 175g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 175g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• 175g beef suet, grated/shredded
• 100g dark soft brown sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 100g currants
• 175g sultanas
• 2 tbsp black treacle or golden syrup
• 150mL milk
• 1 large egg

Directions

1. Boil a pudding cloth for 15-20 minutes, then wring it out and dust it liberally with flour.
2. Tip the breadcrumbs, flour, suet, sugar, salt, baking soda, spices, and dried fruit into a large bowl and stir to mix.
3. Whisk the treacle or syrup into the milk and egg using a fork until well blended.
4. Stir the mixture into the dry ingredients with a fork or butter knife to make a soft dough.
5. Use the floured pudding cloth to line a large bowl and then press the dough into it to make a large, round ball.
6. Dust the top of the pudding with more flour and then bring the edges of the cloth up around the top of the pudding and tie it off, leaving enough room for some expansion.
7. Fill a large pot with water, place an upturned plate in it, and bring to a simmer.
8. Place your cloth-wrapped pudding into the simmering water, cover, and cook for 3 hours.
9. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
10. Tip the pudding into a colander to drain, then carefully peel off the cloth.
11. Place the pudding on an ovenproof dish or baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes to dry it off and produce the classic skin.
12. Serve sliced with custard, cream, or ice cream—and a dram of whisky if you like.

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Variations

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Version

Ingredients

• 175g gluten-free breadcrumbs¹
• 175g gluten-free flour, plus extra for dusting
• 175g beef suet, grated/shredded
• 100g dark soft brown sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 100g currants
• 175g sultanas
• 2 tbsp black treacle or golden syrup
• 150mL oat milk (or non-dairy milk of your choice)
• 1-2 large eggs

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¹ As noted above, I used some dry, rice-based breadcumbs for my version in order to keep my dumpling gluten-free. This seemed to work fine. That said, I think I'd probably aim to get a loaf of GF bread next time and make my own fresh breadcrumbs. ^Back

Skirlie is a simple dish of suet-fried onions and oats. It's somewhat similar to white pudding (without the casing), but has proportionally more oats and less suet. I'm also used to white/mealie pudding being quite heavily spiced. And, while skirlie can be spiced, it isn't necessarily prepared that way. For this version, I kept it very simple and only added salt and pepper.

Skirlie

Slightly adapted from Scottish Scran

Ingredients

• 120g suet, grated/shredded or 60g suet + 60g butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 340g steel-cut (pinhead) oats
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat the suet (or suet and butter) over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until onions are soft and beginning to brown (~10 minutes).
3. Add the oats, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently until oats have darkened and softened slightly (~20 minutes).
4. Serve with whiskey sauce and/or mashed potatoes.

Shortcut Khliî Substitute

My understanding is that real khliî involves marinating and then sun-drying meat. This meat is then cooked in a mixture of fat and oil at which point it is dried again. Prepared this way, khli&icric; can be kept for up to two years without refrigeration.

Wolfert offers a faster alternative to making authentic khliî. It is still a somewhat lengthy process, but skips the drying steps which expedites things a great deal. Sadly, this means that it doesn't have the same impressive keeping qualities of genuine khli&icric;, but it's still very tasty and will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Shortcut Khli&icric; Substitute

Slightly adapted from the Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 1.13kg bone-in lamb shoulder or 680g flank steak + 450g short ribs
• 1 head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1/2 Tbsp. cumin seeds
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne
• 2 Tbsp. vinegar
• 3/4 c. olive oil, divided
• 200g chopped suet
• 2 c. hot water, divided

Finishing Spices

• 1/2 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. la kama spice mixture
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne
• salt & pepper

Directions

1. Rinse off the meat and place it into a enameled cast iron Dutch oven or casserole.
2. Combine garli, salt, coriander, cumin, and cayenne in a blender and blend to a paste.
3. Add the vinegar and 1/3 c. of the olive oil and blend until smooth and well-combined.
4. Pour garlic mixture over the meat and let stand for 1-2 hours.
5. Add the suet and 1 c. of the hot water to the unwashed blender and blend until smooth.
6. Pour suet mixture into a pot.
7. Add remaining hot water and 1/4 c. of the olive oil to the pot with the suet mixture and set it aside.
8. Warm the meat (with its marinade) over low heat.
9. Meanwhile, bring the suet mixture to a boil.
10. Pour the boiling suet mixture over the meat.
11. If the meat is not entirely covered, add enough additional hot water to do so.
12. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, reduce heat to low, and cook for ~3 hours.
13. Lift out the meat and set the casserole aside.
14. Remove and discard any bones and gristle from the meat.
15. Slice the meat¹ and toss it with the finishing spices.
16. Pack the sliced -- or in my case, shredded -- meat into a clean, dry 750mL jar.
17. Boil down the cooking liquid until almost all the water has evaporated.
18. Strain the cooking liquid into a deep bowl and allow to sit, undisturbed, until the fat rises to the top.
19. Spoon the fat over the meat.
20. Use a thin skewer to allow the fat to penetrate to the bottom of the jar.
21. Top off the jar with a layer of fresh olive oil.
22. Cool completely, then cover and transfer to the fridge to store.
23. To use, remove from fridge and allow to warm up slightly. (It will be very hard and difficult to extract otherwise.) Carefully remove the desired portion with clean tongs or chopsticks and then top off with more olive oil to keep the meat completely covered.
24. Meat should keep for 3-4 weeks in the fridge.

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¹ I wasn't able to slice my meat. It was so tender that any attempt to slice it or manipulate it in any way resulted in it shredding itself. This seems to be fine for most applications, but it means that I ended up with a jar of shredded beef rather than beef slices. ^Back

Khboz Bchehmar with Khliî (Beshmar Bread with Khliî)

My original dinner plans for tonight fell through, so I decided to try making these flatbreads instead. The filling was extremely tasty, but I think I would have just as soon had it on top of a plain flatbread as made into a stuffed one.

If you don't have any khli&icric; (or khliî substitute) on hand, then this can also be made with a mixture of finely diced beef or lamb and grated suet. I opted for the preserved meat version because I had some on hand that needed using up.

The shaping instructions for these stuffed breads were somewhat ambiguous. I took my best guess based on what made sense to me, but feel free to try something different if you'd like.

Khboz Bchehmar

Slightly adapted from the Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

Filling

• 1/3 c. khliî or 1/2 c. khliî substitute
• 60g fat from khliî (or khliî substitute)
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 3-4 Tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. harissa
• 1 tsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 Tbsp. sweet paprika
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon (preferably Ceylon/true cinnamon)

Dough

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. extra-fine semolina flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. instant (rapid-rise) yeast
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3/4 c. warm water, divided

Directions

Filling

1. Combine the meat and fat in a bowl.
2. Rinse the onion and squeeze it to expell any excess water.
3. Combine the parsley, onion, cumin, coriander, and salt in a molcajete or large mortar and pound it into a paste.
4. Mix in the harissa, tomato paste, paprika, pepper, and cinnamon.
5. Add the paste to the meat mixture, cover, and set aside.

Dough

1. Combine the flours, yeast, and salt and mix to blend.
2. Gradually add 1/2 c. of warm water and mix to form a stiff dough. (You may need to add an extra Tbsp. or two of water to get the dough to come together.)
3. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes.
4. Turn out the dough and gradually work in the rest of the water while kneading. You may need a Tbsp. or two more or less than called for. Work the dough until it is smooth and supple with just a hint of tackiness to it.

Assembly

1. Divide dough into four equal portions.
2. Shape each portion into a ball.
3. Working with one portion at a time, stretch and roll the dough to form a rectangle (or oval) ~20cm by 30cm.
4. Spread 1/4 of the filling in the centre of the dough.
5. Fold the dough in thirds crosswise (letterfold).
6. Press the dough flat. (Wolfert says to press and stretch it back to its original size, but I couldn't see any way to do this without the whole thing falling apart.)
7. Sprinkle with a little extra semolina flour and perform a second letter fold perpendicular to the first.
8. Press and seal the dough again.
9. Prick several times with a fork, then flip over and prick the other side with a fork as well.
10. Cover and set aside to rise for 45-60 minutes.
11. Heat a pan or griddle over medium heat.
12. Add one or two breads to the hot pan. As the bread heats up, the fat/suet will melt and run out the holes in the dough, allowing the bread to fry in its own fat.
13. Cook for ~7 minutes on each side.
14. Serve with butter and/or harissa.