British Pie Week: Steak, ale and mushroom

Original illustration by Amy McKay

Now, pies are very simple to make and impressive to serve up. Inspired by a tempting stew on the TV, my sister and I recently decided to hold a dinner party as an excuse to create the hugest pie known to man. This is a scaled down version of what we ate.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 500g braising steak (buy a big chunk of meat to cut up yourself) or stewing steak.
• Plain flour
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 300ml boiled water
• 300ml light ale
• 1 large onion
• 2 tbsps tomato puree
• Couple of pinches of sugar
• 5 large flat mushrooms
• Olive oil
• Puff Pastry

Method:

1) If you decide to buy braising steak, cut it into large cubes. The meat won’t really shrink as it cooks so cut it to the size you’d like to find in the pie.

2) Place the meat in a casserole dish and sprinkle over about a tablespoon of flour, stirring to coat.

3) Roughly chop the onion and toss in with the meat.

4) Dissolve the stock cubes in the boiled water then pour the ale and stock into the casserole dish.

5) Finally, stir in the tomato puree and pinches of sugar. Season with salt and pepper.

6) Cover the casserole dish and place in the oven on the middle shelf at 180˚ for about 3-3 ½ hours. The longer the better. Don’t worry about it. Don’t even touch it. Just let it be.

7) While your stew is cooking, lightly drizzle the mushrooms with olive oil and grill until soft, about five minutes each side. Slice them up how you like and set aside.

8) HOURS LATER... Press a chunk of meat with a fork to test tenderness. If it flakes, you’re in business. If it’s tough or chewy, give it longer in the oven.

9) Take the stew out of the oven and put aside.

10) Flour a surface and use a wine bottle to roll out your puff pastry to about half a centimetre thick. Roll it to the size of your pie dish, obviously.

11) Spoon the stew and mushrooms into the pie dish, covering with as much stew gravy as you like. Keep leftover gravy to put in a jug on the table later.

12) Cover the pie with the pastry lid and with a knife score a light diamond pattern on top to be traditional. Bake in the middle of the oven again, this time at 200˚ for about 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

Allow to cool for about five minutes. Serve with a warm jug of gravy, heaps of mashed potatoes, peas and buttered carrots for a traditional pie feast.

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.