Beef and Guinness pie
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 8:13AM 
Fellow blogger, Jo Romero, has dedicated her little corner of the web to one of my favourite things – comfort food. So when she asked me to do a guest post for her blog, comfort bites, I jumped at the chance.
Comfort bites for me means hearty and warming foods like pies, stews and casseroles; those things best eaten when it is cold and miserable outside. And if I had to choose it would be a pie every time – stew with an added bonus, pastry. As you know, I am a big fan of pastry!
Most traditional English fare is very comforting indeed, hardly surprising given the weather we have to put up with. So for my guest post I chose an old British staple, the Beef and Guinness pie.
You can read my guest post here, and while you are at it have a look round Jo’s blog, there are lots of delicious recipes to try.
For those who prefer to cut to the chase, I have provided the recipe below. Makes four individual pies or one large pie for four.
Ingredients
4 tbsp flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
750g stewing or braising steak, cut into large chunks
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large brown onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
500ml Guinness
1 bay leaf
Small bunch thyme, woody stems removed and finely chopped
1 carrot halved lengthways
1 stick celery, halved
½ portion rough puff pastry
150g button mushrooms
2 tbsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp horseradish or Dijon mustard
1 egg, whisked with a fork
Method
Put the flour in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Roll the chunks of steak in the flour until evenly coated.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy based saucepan over a low heat. Add the meat and stir until lightly browned all over, then remove and put to one side.
Heat the remaining oil in the saucepan, add the onion and garlic and sweat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pale and translucent. Stir in the tomato paste then return the meat to the pan along with the Guinness, bay leaf, thyme, carrot and celery. Cover and leave to simmer gently for 1.5 to 2 hours.
Approximately 30 minutes before the filling is ready, remove the celery and carrot and add the mushrooms, Worcester sauce, horseradish or Dijon, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Preheat the oven to 180C.
Roll out the pastry to approximately 3mm thickness and cut one large or four small pastry top(s) 3-5cm larger than your pie dish(es) on all sides; it will shrink when it cooks. Put the pastry lid(s) in the fridge.
Brush the rim(s) of the pie dish(es) with a little water and use the pastry trimmings to line the rim(s). Put the filling in the pie dish, brush the pastry rim(s) with a little egg wash, and put the pastry lid(s) over the top, pressing down round the edges to seal. Brush with egg wash and cut a little slit or hole in the centre(s) so that the steam can get out when cooking.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
Cheat’s tip – a quicker, more foolproof method for cooking the pastry top is to cook it on a greased baking tray. This halves the prep time (no lining the rim), cooking time (the pastry cooks quicker) and avoids the risk of a soggy pastry lid (no steam). Just fill the pie dish with the hot filling before serving and pop the cooked pastry lid on top, as in my photos. If you prefer to stick to the traditional method, here are some more detailed tips on perfect pie tops.
Reader Comments (13)
So here I am sitting in the Sydney while, to quote your guest post, "..........outside the wind howls and the rain pounds your windows. " Yes , it happens here too, and yes a beef stew would be just the ticket.As it happens Hash Brown has a roast in the oven, but when it's next my turn in the kitchen I will give this a go . If it tastes as comforting as it looks I'll be very happy ......
My dear Mama, I am very touched by your comment - I am glad my photos convey the comfort factor - but you have no need of this recipe cause you make the BEST and most comforting beef pies in the world! Your steak and kidney pie is a renowned favourite! :)
I concur....despite my dislike of kidneys! I could have gone a beef and guiness pie the other night too...but as to be expected hash's roast was...well comforting!
yes please mama do make this...infact i don't even care if outside the wind is pleasant and there is no rain but sunshine beaming through the windows...because i think everyday is excuse enough for tasty stew....and even better pastry!!!
Dear Vix,
I subscribe to your blog's RSS feed through my e-mail program and look forward to each update. I felt that I would be remiss if I didn't tell you how much I enjoy it. The true test of your writing and photography, is if while drinking a perfect latte fashioned with the most exquisite beans, brewed for the exact amount of time and organic milk at the temperature I deem to be perfect, your picture of a simple takeaway latte makes me jealous and ashamed that I'm drinking this shoddy impersonation of a caffeinated beverage. You have a real talent. Just thought I'd let you know that.
I know a latte has nothing to do with this post, but you make a simple dish seem elegant and desirable, and your writing leaves my mouth watering. I hope that maybe one day I can be one of those that can say, "Yea, I've been following her blog since before she was famous. Yea I know, she's great."
Dear D-Lish, What a lovely comment to receive. It is so nice to get positive feedback like this, especially from someone I haven't heard from before. I have had some nice comments about my writing before, but not so many on the photographs, so that is especially nice, thank you! I think I still have a long way to go with getting the most out of my DSLR, I need to invest more time in learning and more money in some sort of lighting set up which at the moment I don't have the resources for... one day I'll make it happen, perhaps when I am rich and famous ;)
So true to form on an Easter Bank Holiday weekend, the wind howls and the rain pounds ....time to abandon plans for a BBQ and try out your Beef and Guiness pie. I had six for dinner last night. It was fan - bloody -tastic! In many ways. Most of all it tasted wonderful. Guests all raved about it. Earlier in the day I asked the chef of the brilliant new ORTO Trading Co - alias the King of Windang to taste it prior to final stage of cooking incase it needed anything extra. He said not to add a thing - "perfect flavours" . I followed your recipe to the letter - doubling the quantities - so there was more than enough for 6 people and just enough for 8. I used horse radish not dijon and Guiness, not stock. I reckon it cooked for 3 hours not two , maybe the extra quantities requires longer ? I used your cheats tip for baking the pastry on a separate tray - infact it was a double cheat. I used sheets of frozen pastry in layers one on top of the other. It rose like billowing sails - well sort of! - so it looked absolutely beautiful when presented on the table. I served it with crispy mash potato -and a 'salad" of broccali and baby sweet corn supplied by Lesley - a good combination. What also pleased me about the pie was that I could cook the filling in advance - leaving me free for the rest of the day -and not anxious about getting dinner on the table in time later. So in all, Vix, a real winner. Thanks so much .
as one of the 'just enough for 8' I would say it fed 8 happily and most wonderfully!
It was scrumptious and perfect for such a foul day!
The meat was tender and melty in the the mouth and i love that the mushies were kept nice and whole rather than lost in the stew as they so often are!
fabo...ill eat that again anyday....come rain or shine...
Hi Ma, thanks so much for your comment. I am so glad that you liked it so much and touched that the King said it had 'perfect flavours'. I think you are right that a larger quantity would need to cook for longer. In fact, I don't think it would hurt for anyone to cook the original amount for longer than I specified so long as it is over a very low heat. I gave the quickest time because I guess not everyone wants to wait 3 hours and when I cooked it I managed to get tender meat in 1.5 hours, but then went for an extra half hour to ensure it was really melt in the mouth. I think you may also be right about the amount only being 'just enough' for 4, I only served 3 people with some left over, which may not have been a very generous portion. I miss your crispy top mash, so delicious, I can imagine that would have been a wonderful side dish.
Hi Cha, I am glad you liked it too. What a lovely thing to have on a cold and wet Easter Sunday. Also happy you agree on the mushroom front, I love the texture of whole button mushrooms that have been cooked in stew.
On a practical note may I suggest putting the flour in a plastic bag and tossing the meat about herein which will save a lot of messy "big bowls" in the washing up department. As you remove the meat from the bag with your fingers toss about a bit to remove excess flour.
Your plastic bags will love you for giving them an extended useful life !
That is a great tip, thanks Hash Brown.
Made this te other day although just as the stew and it was to give to someone,...but it was uber tasty and easy too! The dijon is genius... it makes all the difference at the end. yum yum yum...only wish it could have been for myself!!
xxx
Hey Cha, only just seen this comment YEARS after you posted it. Ridiculous, I am planning to keep a much closer eye on comments from now on. Glad you liked the stew. x
this is a great blog.