black pudding mix

[hmmm sausages]

Aris, I know Paul Kribs uses black pudding in some lancashire sausages, sounds really interesting, i have some black pudding that didnt turn out great in the freezer thats going into a batch of sausages

As far as Skins are concerned, last time i found it didnt peel off at all easily either, but i scraped it off anyway, didnt think about eating it as I never have before.

Do you find your ox runners smell before you soak them? I've just got some out ready for a spot of pudding making and they stank Only a few weeks old and kept in the fridge

[Paul Kribs]

hmmm sausages

All natural sausage casings smell to some extent, let's face it, they are the intestines of animals. After cooking the casings smell a lot less pungent. I eat lambs and hogs, but peel off the ox runners, they are far too chewy for my preferences.

Paul Kribs

[aris]

Yes, they ponk something horrible - but they're ok after soaking.

I find that they just don't peel away well at all. I think that an artificial casing might be best for the black pudding.

[Heather]

I made some BP last weekend, some in ox runners and some in a loaf tin. Apart from the separation problem I experienced (will try the next batch with hot water), they are really good. I froze them the day after making, have eaten 2 pieces now and the casing peeled off quite easily. I tend to slice the puddings in half, peel the casing off, then bung BP, sausages, bacon, tomatoes, etc. etc. into the oven pan under the grill.

[milesthemeat]

I'm making some black pudding at the weekend.

I like a bit of pearl barley in mine. Is this in the black pudding mix from Franco?

The recipes i have seen say to boil the pearly barley until soft. Has anyone tried boiling in something else other than water to add extra flavour? I was thinking some red wine infused with juniper berries or maybe even a bit of port (ex christmas stock!)

Also, i watched the river cottage black pudding section again recently and they prick their puds before boiling. Any suggestions on this?

Cheers

Miles-the-meat

[hmmm sausages]

Miles,

Not sure about the barley in the mix, its not very obvious if it is there, i see no harm in adding more if you like it anyway. As for flavours, I like my black pudding peppery ( I added 1 teaspoon of pepper to a 1/3 kilo mix last time and it made it much nicer to my taste) so wouldnt add port etc to water for barley but thats all personal preference. let me know how it tastes if you try it.

As for pricking, if you under fill the puddings by about 1/4 then they wont need pricking, just make sure when you tie the end off to leave about an inch of spare casing for expansion (first time i made them 3 out of 5 burst cus i didnt leave enough space)

good luck and let us know how you get on

Cheers, Rob