About three years ago, I went on an amazing trip to London for a week during New Year's. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is try new foods that aren’t readily available back home. This trip was no exception. We had a fabulous New Year's dinner at a nice hotel, tea at the Ritz, and chocolates from Harrod's, but the meal that stood out to me the most was the one we had on the first night. It was late, and my now-husband and I were tired and hungry, so we stumbled out into the cold night air to find a pub. We eventually found one and settled in with a couple of Strongbows. I ordered a steak and ale pie with a side of peas and carrots. And I’m telling you… that is one of the best things I ever ate. Ever since then, I’ve been on the lookout for a recipe to rival the pie that I had in that pub, and (pardon the cliché) by Jove I think I’ve got it.
Beef chuck is the perfect cut of beef to use in this recipe. It has just the right amount of marbling and isn’t terribly expensive (the steak above cost me around $10). Make sure to get the oil nice and hot before adding the beef so that it sears quickly on the outside and stays relatively uncooked on the inside (it’ll be slow cooking later). The searing adds a smoky flavor as well as color.
If you don’t have a Dutch Oven (or if yours is in desperate need of a scrub down and reseasoning), here’s an alternative method. Use a deep skillet or pot to sear the meat, cook the onion, and add the rest of the seasonings, but then transfer the mixture to a baking dish and cover tightly with foil when it’s time to slow cook in the oven. It makes for a few extra dirty dishes, but you’re going to have an hour of down time while the meat filling is cooking.
So I’m not going to tell you that you absolutely must make your own pastry dough for this recipe, but I will tell you that it is worth it if you do. The recipe for the dough I have linked below makes for wonderfully flaky and buttery dough that goes so well with the rich, meaty filling. If you are going to make your own dough, start on it before anything else. To get the flaky layers, the dough requires a few rounds of rolling and folding, so it takes a couple of hours to finish it.
You have two options after your filling and crust are ready to go. You can use one large baking dish, or you can make individual pies using 14oz ramekins. I opted for the large baking dish since my largest ramekins can only hold 7oz (and how sad does a 7oz steak pie sound). The pie turns out the same either way, but if you go the “one large pie” route, bake the pie about 10 minutes longer.
For a simple side dish: Cook frozen sweet or English peas according to package directions (or use fresh if you can find them) then drain and mix with butter, salt and freshly chopped mint.
Steak and Guinness Pie [Makes 4 servings]
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- Rough puff pastry dough [use this recipe or one refrigerated flaky pie crust]
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
- Special equipment: One [need to find exact volume] qt baking dish or four (14-ounce) deep oven-proof bowls or ramekins
Directions:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
Pat beef dry. Stir together flour, salt, and pepper and then add to a large Ziploc bag along with the cubes of beef. Shake bag until each chunk of beef is thoroughly coated in flour seasoning. Heat oil in a wide 5- to 6-quart ovenproof heavy pot over moderately high heat until just smoking, then brown meat in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch, transferring to a bowl.
Add onion, garlic, and water to pot and cook, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot and stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in beef with any juices accumulated in bowl, broth, beer, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme and bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven. Braise until beef is very tender and sauce is thickened, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Discard thyme and cool stew completely, uncovered, about 30 minutes. (If stew is warm while assembling pies, it will melt uncooked pastry top.)
Put a shallow baking pan on middle rack of oven and increase oven temperature to 425°F.
For one large baking dish: Pour stew into dish. Roll out pastry dough on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch circle (or square depending on the shape of your baking dish), about 1/8 inch thick. Stir together egg and water and brush a 1-inch border of egg wash around the circle. Invert dough over baking dish and drape, pressing sides lightly to help adhere. Brush pastry top with remaining egg wash and freeze 15 minutes to thoroughly chill dough.
Bake pie until pastry is puffed and golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake 10 minutes more to fully cook dough.
For four individual ramekins: Divide cooled stew among bowls (they won't be completely full). Roll out pastry dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch square, about 1/8 inch thick. Trim edges and cut dough into quarters. Stir together egg and water and brush a 1-inch border of egg wash around each square. Invert 1 square over each bowl and drape, pressing sides lightly to help adhere. Brush pastry tops with some of remaining egg wash and freeze 15 minutes to thoroughly chill dough.
Bake pies in preheated shallow baking pan until pastry is puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake 5 minutes more to fully cook dough.
Recipe adapted from Epicurious
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