Sharon Hudgins is an award-winning writer with three books and more than 600 articles published worldwide. Her food and travel writing has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Saveur, Gastronomica, German Life, Russian Life, The World & I, Chile Pepper, Fiery Foods & Barbecue, major newspapers in the United States, and periodicals in Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic. For several years she was the food columnist for The Stars and Stripes newspaper in Europe, and since 1997 has written a food column for German Life magazine in the United States. A former editor of Chile Pepper magazine, she has also worked as a cookbook editor, photographer, filmmaker and university professor.
Sharon Hudgins has lived in several countries in Europe and Asia and traveled in more than 45 countries around the world. Her European experience includes living in Germany for 15 years, as well as in several European capitals and in small towns from northern Scotland to southern Spain to the Greek island of Crete. She also works as a tour expert for National Geographic Expeditions. She is the author of an award-winning cookbook about the regional cuisines of Spain, and her latest book is The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East (Texas A & M University Press, 2003, 2004), winner of two national awards for travel and food writing.
Brian Turner's Favorite British Recipes
Christmas Pudding
Ingredients
l lb of each: raisins, currants, golden raisins, breadcrumbs, brown sugar
8 oz Suet
4 oz each: Mixed peel, glace cherries chopped, almonds chopped
1 each: Lemon - grate rind, orange - grate rind, carrot - grated, apple - grated
1 tbs Flour
1 tsp mixed spice
Pinch salt
6-8 Eggs
10oz stout (bottle) or dark beer (Guiness is good)
OR 5 ozs each brandy and milk.
Preparation
Mix dry ingredients first then mix with lightly beaten eggs & liquid. Grease the bottom of a bowl large enough to hold pudding and press mixture into it. Place wax paper over the top and then foil over that, crimping it around the edges to keep firm. Either cook for 2 hours in pressure cooker with about 2 inches water or put in pan with water on stove for 4 hours. Keep checking water in pan to prevent burning. Store well wrapped for as long as possible for better flavor. Some people make them one year to eat the next. Donated by sister Margaret Hawksley Serve with hot custard, cream, or brandy sauce.
Why steam for so long? Christmas puddings are quite dense because of all the fruit, nuts, etc. they contain. Steaming is the best method of cooking because it allows a slow cooking which ensures a moist and palatable result (cakes being less dense can cook for less time and still remain moist, so baking is the best method). If you used a faster cooking method for a Christmas pudding you would get a crusty pudding. A pudding steamed for 2 hours, rather than 4, would probably still have some uncooked mixture in the center. So, while the cooking time obviously depends on the size of the pudding. (This is when it is cooked on the stove - not the pressure cooker)
Related: Quick Christmas Pudding
Recipe used by kind permission of Hazel Whyte
