Bedfordshire Clanger Recipes

TRADITIONAL BEDFORDSHIRE CLANGER RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7. To make the savoury filling, put the onion and oil in a frying pan over a medium heat for 2-3 mins, until the onion is soft and golden. Stir in the pork and sage and cook gently for 5 mins, stirring often. Peel, core and chop the apple and add it to the pork mix along with the Worcestershire sauce. Cook for a further 5 mins, then stir in the peas, season to taste and leave to cool.
• To make the sweet filling, peel and chop the apples, then place in a mixing bowl and stir in the dates, orange rind, sultanas and sugar.
• To make the pastry, mix the flour, salt, suet and chopped butter into a course breadcrumb-like consistency. Mix in about 125ml water and the beaten egg to form a smooth dough and knead for a minute. Roll the pastry on a floured surface to about ½cm thick and cut into two rectangles about 15cm (6in) long by 8cm (3in) wide, then brush the edge of the long end with beaten egg.
• On one side of each pastry rectangle, put half of the savoury filling, and on the other put half of the sweet filling. Roll the pastry over the filling to form a sausage roll shape, and press the centre lightly so that the dividing strip sticks to the top. Push the edges together, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle the sweet half with sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 mins, then lower the heat to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 and bake for a further 25 mins. Serve hot or cold.

BEDFORDSHIRE CLANGER

Steps:

• Mix flour salt and suet together,.
• stir in enough water to give a light elastic dough knead very lightly until smooth.
• Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.
• Make an oblong and imagine this in two pieces.
• Cut the potatoes up into cubes, cut ham up into bite size pieces, chop onion quite small, chop up parsley roughly.
• Put this mixture in the middle of one side of the pastry, sprinkle with pepper.
• On the other side spread jam quite thickly or a tin of fruit pie filling.
• Roll up the entire thing as you would a swiss roll. Wrap the entire sausage in foil and steam the pudding for 2 -4 hours depending on the filling.
• When the pudding is ready serve the meat and potato half with vegetables. afterwards serve the jam side with custard.

BEDFORDSHIRE CLANGERS

Steps:

• To make pastry, combine flour and salt in a bowl. Cut suet into flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. Mix water in with a fork, a bit at a time, until it becomes a soft dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Melt butter in pan over medium heat and saute onion, steak, and kidneys (or mushrooms) until onions are soft and meats are browned. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
• Remove pastry from refrigerator. Divide into fourths. Roll each fourth out on lightly floured surface into a rectangle. Cut a strip from a short side and place down the middle of the rectangle to make two sections.
• On one half of each rectangle, spread the meat mixture. On the other half, place the apples, raisins, and sugar.
• Carefully roll up pastry jelly-roll style. Moisten the ends and seal. Wrap loosely in greased foil and place in a large saucepan.
• Cover with boiling water and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Check water level occasionally, adding additional boiling water as needed.
• May be served hot or at room temperature. You can also make one great one and share it (as the original recipe stated), with gravy and vegetables for the savoury side and a custard sauce for the sweet.

BEDFORDSHIRE CLANGER RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the gammon in a deep pan with the cider, bay leaf and sage, so that the liquid is covering the joint. Put on a medium heat. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for 3 hours. Once cooked cut into bite sized pieces.
• Place the butter in a frying pan and wait until the it becomes frothy. Add the onions with a little bit of salt and cook until translucent. Once cooked through add the brown sugar and continue to cook on a low to medium heat until they are golden brown and caramelised. Turn off the heat and allow the onions to cool at room temperature.
• Place the apples in a frying pan with the melted butter and the lemon juice and cook until soft on the outside but still hard in the centre. Add the sugar and the cinnamon and leave to cool.
• Place the peeled and chopped potatoes into salted water and par boil. Then leave to cool.
• For the pastry, sieve the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the suet and the butter and rub in with your fingertips until you have a breadcrumb-like consistency. Add in the water and one egg and bring together. Once formed, make the pastry into a flat circle, clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill (if you're in a rush place the pastry in the freezer).
• Preheat the oven to 180C degrees.
• Once chilled roll out the pastry, 2mm thin and cut 10cm by 15cm.
• Like when making a sausage roll, you only want the filling to cover one half (length-ways) of your pastry, so that you have enough pastry to bring over the top to cover everything neatly.
• For a Bedfordshire clanger you want the savoury filling to fill 2/3rd of the space and the sweet side to fill the remaining third. Place a thin wall of pastry at the two third point to prevent leakage between the two sides when you add the fillings.
• For the savoury side, first place a thin layer of Dijon mustard on the pastry, then pile the gammon, caramelised onions and potatoes on top.
• For the sweet side place the apples with some of the juices.
• Egg wash around the three sides and pull the remaining pastry over the top and seal. Egg wash the top of the clanger and place in the fridge for 10.
• Take the clanger out of the fridge, slash three times on each side, sprinkle with brown sugar on the sweet end and salt on the savoury and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.