Serves: 4
Cook Time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
- Short crust pastry:
- 500g self-raising flour
- 250g lard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- Cold water to mix
- A beaten egg to glaze
- Pie filling:
- 1 kilo Hereford Braising Steak cut into 1″ cubes
- 3 large white English onions chopped
- 6 chopped English mushrooms
- 3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 tablespoon of tomato purée
- Fresh thyme (from the garden if possible)
- 1 beef stock cube
- Red wine
- Water
- Salt and pepper
- Rapeseed oil
Method – Filling (best made the day before):
- Dry the beef on kitchen paper to remove most of the moisture.
- Add some oil to a large, deep pan and get the pan quite hot. Adding a little of the beef at a time, seal and lightly brown the meat then put to one side until all the beef has been browned.
- Add the onions to the pan, turn down the heat and cook until they are soft. Add the garlic, cook gently for about two minutes and then add the beef back into the pan.
- Sprinkle in the beef stock cube, and add the tomato purée, mushrooms and a good glass of red wine. Top up with enough water to just cover the meat and then bring to the boil.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, lay the thyme on the top and cover with a lid. Place in the oven on a low heat (around 125-150°C) for about two and half hours.
- Taste again and add more seasoning if required. Remove the thyme and let the filling go cold.
Method – Pastry:
- Rub the lard and salt into the flour until it turns into a rough crumbly mixture (I do this in my Kenwood Mixer).
- Mix in the egg and just enough cold water to make the mixture hold together without being wet. Take out of the bowl and leave in a cool place wrapped in cling film.
Method – Constructing the pies:
- Put the cooked cold meat into the pie dishes about one 1″ from the top of the dish.
- Roll out the pastry a little larger than the dish. Line the dish top with pastry, wetting the inside edge of the dish with cold water to make the pastry stick.
- Put the pie top on and crimp the edges to seal. Make a small hole in the centre of the pie to let out the steam and brush the top with the egg mix.
- Bake the pies in a hot oven at 375°C. When the pastry is browned, move the pies to the bottom of the oven and turn the oven down a little (around 350°C is fine) and leave for about 40 minutes.