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Warning: Cooking with blood can be very smelly and may attract unwanted company
such as bugs, small animals and nosy neighbors/roommates. It may smell good
to you, but *may* be nasty to anyone else - be prepared to have adequate ventilation
(a strong fan in a window, for instance) if requested or necessary.
These also provide a good excuse if you want to try to just buy blood from
your local butcher shop. :)
Here's the recipes I've managed to find so far:
[Black Pudding]
[Blood Pancakes]
[Blood Wine]
[Duck Blood Soup]
[Hare & Celery Casserole]
BLACK
PUDDING (One of many varients)
Fresh pig's blood 1.25 quarts
Bread cut into cubes 8 7/8 oz
Skimmed milk 1.25 quart
Cooked barley 1 lb
Fresh beef suet 1 lb
Fine oatmeal 8 oz
Salt 1 teaspoon
Ground black pepper 2 teaspoons
Dried and crumbled mint 2 teaspoons
Put the bread cubes to soak in the milk in a warm oven. Do not heat the milk
beyond blood temperature! Have the blood ready in a large bowl, and pour the
warm milk and bread into it. Stir in the cooked barley. Grate the beef suet
into the mixture and stir it up with the oatmeal. Season with the salt, pepper
and mint. Have ready 2 or three large roasting pans. Divide the mixture between
them they should not be more than 3/4 full. Bake in a moderate oven 350°F
for about an hour or until the pudding is well cooked through.
Cut into squares and fry till heated through and the outside is crisp, in
bacon fat or butter. Delicious for breakfast, or for supper, with fried apples
and mashed potato.
BLOOD
PANCAKES
1/2 pint calf's or sheep's blood -- (10 ounces)
1 gill beer -- (5 ounces)
1 Egg
1 small onion
4 tablespoons rye flour
4 tablespoons barley flour
1 pinch mixed herbs
2 teaspoons salt
Cranberry jelly
Melted butter
2 ounces pork fat -- for frying
Strain the blood into a bowl.
Chop the onion finely, fry lightly and add to the blood with the beer, beaten
egg, herbs, seasoning and flours. Stir well until the batter is smooth then
leave to stand for about 30 minutes.
Pour a thin layer of batter into a small, hot, greased pan and fry on both
sides until done.
When all the batter is used up, serve the pancakes hot with cranberry jelly
and melted butter.
BLOOD
WINE
1 part fresh (drinkable) blood
2 parts merlot
Microwave pig's blood at 10 second intervals for 20-30 seconds. Make sure
it doesn't congeal or turn brown (hence the brief microwaving times). Remove
1/3 of the Merlot from the bottle. Use a funnel to add the pig's blood to
the merlot. Keep refrigerated.
Blood wine will expire after 3 to 5 days.
DUCK
BLOOD SOUP (Czernina)
3-pound duck, cleaned and cut up
1/4 to 1/2 cup duck blood (can be obtained from a butcher or meat market)
3 to 4 peppercorns
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 (12 to16-ounce) box raisins
1 to 2 pounds medium prunes
1 to 2 tablespoons sour cream
1 to 2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 to 2 teaspoons vinegar
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Sugar
Boil duck until water is foamy (5 to 10 minutes); rinse. Add fresh water
to cover 2 inches above meat. Add peppercorns, bay leaves, raisins and prunes.
Boil until meat and prunes are done. Take out prunes and crush for flavor.
Put back and simmer a few more minutes.
You can now add cloves and cinnamon. Blend sour cream with flour, and add
strained duck blood to sour cream mixture. Stir until well-blended (it will
look like hot chocolate). Pour slowly into boiling soup and mix. Simmer a
few minutes more. Add vinegar, salt, pepper and a little sugar to taste.
For best results, make 1 to 2 days ahead. This soup is delicious with homemade
egg noodles, but you can also enjoy it with store-bought noodles. Also, you
can add 1 to 2 pieces pork or pork bones to the meat at the beginning for
even better flavor. Do not add too much water.
HARE
AND CELERY CASSEROLE
(can be adapted for other meats)
1 bottle red wine
1 hare – see recipe
hare blood – see recipe
1 onion, peeled and sliced
2 or 3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 celery hearts
2 tablespoons flour
2 bay leaves
6 juniper berries, crushed
seeds of 3 cardamom pods
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
Have the hare jointed by your butcher (you could do this yourself, if you
know where and how to cut), with the saddle cut into three pieces. Ask for
the blood, you can use it to thicken the sauce, but you will need to add a
teaspoon of vinegar as soon as you get it home to stop it coagulating. Wipe
the pieces of meat all over with damp paper towels, and snip off the transparent
skin on the back and legs. The bony bits, from the rib cage, and the head
can be removed altogether and used for making stock.
Put the wine in a saucepan and reduce it by half. If the wine was quite thin
and sharp to begin with, it will now be even more so. Add three or four small
sugar lumps. There’s nothing like a dash of sweetener to round out an
iffy wine. Gently fry the onion and garlic in the oil until golden brown,
and transfer them to a casserole. Halve the celery hearts, remove the stringy
parts and any brown ends, and cut to about 12 cm/5 inches long. Put these
too in the bottom of the casserole.
Brown the pieces of hare in the same pan in which you fried the onions, and
transfer them to the casserole. If you are NOT using blood to thicken the
sauce sprinkle the flour in the frying pan, and stir and scrape up the residues,
gradually adding the wine, stirring to make a smooth sauce. If it becomes
lumpy despite your best efforts (I've had this happen for no apparent reason),
simply strain the mixture through a sieve over the meat. Add the seasonings
to the casserole, stir in well, put on the lid and cook in a low oven, 150
degrees Celcius, for about 3 hours, or at 180 degrees Celcius, for 1 1/2 to
2 hours, whichever is more convenient.
To thicken the casserole with the hare blood, strain the cooking juices from
the casserole into a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir a little of the liquid
into the blood until smooth, then add the blood to the saucepan, removing
it from the heat. Stir well, allowing the gravy to reheat completely, but
it must not boil, or the mixture will curdle and separate.
This casserole is delicious served with garlic mashed potatoes, boiling peeled
garlic with the potatoes, and mashing both together. If you like the flavour,
you can add a little creamed horseradish to the mash, or serve it separately.
Braised chicory is also a good accompaniment. Spiced pears, peaches or a fruit
and herb jelly add an extra grace note.
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