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.