Ingredients

• 12 ounces self-rising flour
• 6 ounces grated beef suet or 6 ounces vegetable suet
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• cold water, to mix
• 1 1/2 lbs braising steak, trimmed of fat
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried herbs or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mixed herbs
• 1 pint beef stock
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

1. (Cook the meat 2 hours prior to steaming the assembled pudding.).

2. Filling: Dip meat in seasoned flour and fry lightly. Add onions and fry until golden. Place in casserole with stock, tomato puree and herbs and cook for 2 hours. Cool.

3. Pastry: Put flour, suet and seasoning in a bowl. Add sufficient water to form a firm but soft dough.

4. Pudding: Roll out the suet pastry and using assorted sizes of saucers, cut out rounds to fit the pudding bowl diameter, starting off small and getting bigger!

5. In a well buttered pudding basin, start with a small round of suet pastry and then add some stewed beef, then a layer of suet pastry and then the beef -- carry on in this way until all the pastry and beef is used up - the last layer should be suet pastry. Cover with buttered greasproof paper and then aluminium foil.

6. Steam for 2 hours, making sure there is always plenty of water. (Always top up the steamer with BOILING water - adding cold water will make the pudding heavy.).

7. Serve with fresh seasonal greens and vegetables and mashed or steamed potatoes.