Venison, Field Mushroom and Ale Pudding is a traditional Scottish recipe for a traditional steamed savoury pudding of wild or farmed mushrooms with venison in an ale gravy. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Scottish version of: Venison, Field Mushroom and Ale Pudding.
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This is a savoury pudding, a filling of venison and mushrooms baked in a suet pastry crust.
The 'field mushroom' in this recipe is a generic and not a specific term and can refer to any of: St George's Mushroom (available in April and May), the true Field Mushroom (August to the end of October) the Horse Mushroom (July to the end of October) and the Prince [Agaricus augustus] (August to October) or you can use store-bought white or chestnut mushrooms.
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
450g self-raising flour
225g shredded beef suet
For the filling:
1 tbsp each butter and vegetable oil, plus extra oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 large field mushrooms (see note, above), stems removed
500g venison shoulder, cut into 2cm cubes, trimmed of sinew
1 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 tsp tomato purée
200ml brown ale
1 tsp sugar
4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
Method:
Begin by preparing the pastry: Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl then stir in the suet. Add 300ml cold water and work until it all comes together into a dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Gently fry the onions and garlic for 10 mins until soft. Tip out of the pan, then add a little more oil. Now fry the mushrooms until golden, then tip out. Toss the venison in the flour and fry in batches, adding more oil as you go, until really golden brown. Mix the tomato purée, ale, sugar and thyme into the pan, then take off the heat and set aside to cool.
To assemble: butter a 1.5-litre basin. Roll the suet pastry out to about 1cm thick and use to line the base and sides of the basin. Trim so that there’s a little overhang. Re-roll what’s left and cut out a lid that’s about 1cm wider than the top of the basin. Arrange the mushrooms around the sides of the basin, stalk sides facing in, then fill the basin with meat and juices (you might not need all the juices).
Place the lid on top and crimp the edges together to seal. Make a double layer of buttered foil and baking paper, and pleat it in the centre. Scrunch this over the pudding, foil-side up, then tie with string under the rim of the basin. Trim to about 2cm under the string, then put into a steamer or sit on a saucer in a large pan containing enough gently simmering water to come halfway up the sides of the bowl.
Steam the pudding for 4 hrs. Unwrap and turn out onto a big plate. Serve with your preferred accompaniments (clapshot aka tattie neeps) is always a good choice.
