Basic Black Pudding

Basic Black Pudding

Ingredients

2 litres of pig's blood

500g flare fat or cooked head meat

150g diced back fat is the best ingredient for

a British style black pudding (optional)

500g onions

100g pearl barley or crushed oats

Salt and pepper

45mm ox casings approx 1 metre per 2 litre mix

Quatre spices

4 tbsp white pepper

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

? tsp ground cloves

Or equal parts of:

Black pepper

Nutmeg

Ground cloves

Ginger or cinnamon

Method

1 Melt the flare fat and soften the onions without browning them, then put them through a blender and return to the fat.

2 Add the salt, pepper, spices, and any other flavourings and/or pieces of diced back fat.

3 Whilst ensuring you never bring the mix to the boil, add the blood via a sieve to take out any last-minute lumps that may have formed.

4 Turn off the heat and fold all your ingredients together.

5 Fill the ox casings with a ladle and plastic funnel.

6 Let the filled skins rest in a wire basket or metal colander whilst you bring a large pan of water to the boil.

7 Once the water is boiling reduce the heat to 80?C add the puddings and cook for 20-30 minutes, pricking any that float to the surface with a needle.