Here’s how to turn your diced beef into a hearty Winter meal. The recipe is, of course, a stew, and could be served as one with boiled potatoes, but there’s something rather lovely about delicious aromas escaping in steam from the centre of a thick, farmhouse pie crust. I’m not one for eating anything on a soggy base, so would only use pastry as a lid - this way the stew may be transferred to a presentable casserole dish, covered with pastry and served at the table.The pastry is rich and filling so dispense with potatoes (unless you have hungry men around) and accompany it with roasted carrots and parsnip.
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Ingredients - serves 4
900g diced beef
olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
225g small mushrooms, cleaned
1 tbsp plain flour - seasoned with salt & pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
300ml dark ale
2 bay leaves
handful of chopped parsley
for the pastry:
225 g plain flour
1 tsp salt
50g butter
50g lard
1 egg |
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Method
1 Make the pastry by placing flour, salt, butter and lard in a food processor - pulse to incorporate. Now set processor to on, and add the egg, the pastry will form a ball (add drops of cold water if it’s too dry), stop processor immediately. Roll to diameter that of your casserole and leave between film in the fridge to rest until required.
2 Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onion and garlic gently to soften. Toss the diced beef in the seasoned flour and add to the pan, increase the heat and fry until the meat is sealed and browning. Now add the ale to the stew, and with a wooden spatula, slowly scrape the residues on the base of the pan into the sauce - it will thicken.
3 Fry off the mushrooms in a little butter or oil and add them to the stew together with the bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce then lower the heat and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours until the meat is tender - stir regularly or the flour will cook to the bottom of the pan.
4 Preheat the oven to 190°C. Transfer the stew to your casserole dish and sprinkle in the chopped parsley before covering with pastry lid. Seal and trim the edges and cut a hole or slit in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape, bake for 25-30 minutes to a golden crust - and serve. |
