Steak and Kidney Pie : Serves 6
I love this Pie. It`s a bit of a forgotten recipe that we all tried back when our grandmother`s were the celebrity chefs of their time .It`s a delightful , soggy pastry underneath filled with gravy and a wonderful baked pastry crust on top .It`s really nice if you line the entire pyrex oval pie dish with puff pastry .
TIP: My Grandmother used to place a small cup upside down in the middle of the pyrex dish the same height as the bowl , so the puff pastry would not collapse into the pie in the centre.
Ingredients :
Ingredients :1 Kg of lean chuck steak cubed
400 g diced beef kidneys
A little oil for frying meat
50 g plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of ketchup
1 teaspoon of mustard
1 large bay leaf
1 large onion sliced
3 carrots diced
250g mushrooms
750 ml beef stock
Sea salt and cracked black pepper to season
The Puff Pastry
Ingredients
400 g strong plain flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
250g butter, at room temperature, but not soft
about 150ml cold water
1 egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons of milk to glaze
Method
Sift 250g strong plain flour and 1 tsp fine sea salt into a large bowl. Roughly break 250g butter into small chunks, add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely. You need to see bits of butter.
Make a well in the bowl and pour in about two-thirds of 150ml cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed.
Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
Turn out onto a lightly floured board, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle.
Roll the dough in one direction only, until 3 times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Keep edges straight and even. Don’t overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect.
Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again to three times the length.
Fold as before, cover with cling film and chill for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.
The Filling
Heat the oil in a large frying pan .Mix the beef into the seasoned flour and brown all the meat on all sides .then do the same with the kidney`s , making sure to have a spare saucepan to put the browned meat into so as to have small batches in the pan so all the meat browns evenly .Add oil in between if pan becomes dry .Once you have browned all the beef and kidney ,use a little of the beef stock to deglaze the pan to get all the little pieces off the meat and kidney`s. Add the remainder of the beef stock into the saucepan .Fry off the onion and add to the saucepan and also add the diced carrot .Add in the mustard , bay leaf and the ketchup .Stir altogether and cook for about 1 hour 30 mins at a low to medium temperature .Then fry off your mushrooms and add to the mixture .Check the seasoning at this stage and add salt and pepper to your liking .
Pie Dish
Grease the pyrex dish and roll out the puff pastry to have around 5mm thickness at the bottom of the dish .keep enough pastry to go over the top of the pie .Add in the meat and juices and leave about 2 cm short of the top of the pie ,roughly 1/3 of your index finger .Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg yolk and cover the pie with the rolled out pastry ,Don’t forget the upside down cup in the middle of the dish .Crimpling the sides of the pastry with your thumb .Cut of any excess pastry and use to make shapes for the top. Use up the rest of the egg yolk mix and brush all the pastry for a golden brown finish .
To Finish
Bake for 1 hour at 180c or until the pastry is golden brown. And serve with mashed potato and some steamed seasoned greens. If you`d like to try this lovely tasty dish check out our CHUCK BEEF HERE – dedicated to my Grandmother Georgie Murphy.