Dan Lepard's stout loaf recipe, plus bacon-cured beef pudding

In traditional recipes, prep time was not considered a scarce ingredient because, typically, a woman's labour wasn't valued; that, or you paid someone to cook for you. But long, slow cooking gives flavours that even today we can't successfully fake. This week, two overnight recipes, both using old techniques in a new way. A stout loaf For the overnight mixture 440ml can stout or porter 150g rye flour ½ tsp yeast 50g cultured buttermilk or yoghurt For the dough 500g strong white flour, plus extra for shaping 2 tsp salt Oil and rolled oats, to finish The night before, stir the stout, rye flour, yeast and buttermilk in a large bowl, cover with a cloth and leave on the kitchen worktop. Next day, stir in the white flour and salt, mix with some gusto until evenly worked through, cover and leave for 10 minutes. Oil a small patch of worktop and your hands, then lightly knead the dough for just 10 seconds. Put the dough back in the bowl and leave for 90 minutes, or until risen by half, giving it another couple of quick kneads along the way. On a lightly floured worktop, shape the dough into a ball and put on a tray lined with nonstick paper. Brush with water, dredge with oats and press gently on to the loaf. Cover and leave to rise again for an hour, or until risen by half. Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7, cut a deep cross in the middle, bake for 20 minutes, lower the heat to 200C (180C fan-assisted)/390F/gas mark 6 and bake for 20-30 minutes, until richly coloured. Bacon-cured beef pudding The curing process slightly firms the beef, so it needs more cooking than you'd think. If you're worried it's going to be tough, simmer the beef and bacon mixture until slightly tender before stirring in the mustard, flour and onion. 200-300g casserole steak, such as topside or silverside 125g rindless back bacon 125ml stout or porter For the pudding 250g strong white flour, plus extra for rolling ¾ tsp salt ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda 50g unsalted butter, plus extra for the bowl 50g cultured buttermilk or yoghurt 50ml cold milk 150g raw potato, any type 3 tsp each Colman's mustard powder and flour 1 medium onion, peeled and finely sliced The night before, cut the beef into 3cm cubes and place in a bowl. Roughly chop the bacon, transfer to a blender and add the stout. Puree until very smooth, our over the beef, stir and chill overnight. The next day, make the dough. Put the flour, salt and bicarb in a bowl and rub in the butter. In another bowl, stir together the buttermilk and milk, and grate in the potato. Combine the milk mix into the flour until you have a soft dough. Rub the inside of a one-litre pudding basin with lots of softened butter and place a disc of nonstick paper in the base. Roll out the dough to about 1cm thick and drape inside the bowl and over the sides. Stir the mustard, flour and onion into the meat mix, then spoon this into the basin. Fold over the dough to enclose and trim away any excess. Cover the pudding with foil, tie securely around with string and place in a deep cooking pot into which you've place a trivet in the base. Fill the pot with enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the basin and simmer for three hours. danlepard.com/guardian • Dan Lepard will be appearing at Guardian Open Weekend , held on 24 and 25 March. Festival passes have now sold out, but you can follow coverage online and in the paper.