PIES! Who doesn’t love a good pie…the ultimate comfort food. A good pie is definitely a combination crust, filling, flavour. Let me start with what makes a good pie. It must have a crispy, buttery base and flaky top, baked to crispy so it doesn’t sag in the centre when you take your first mouthful. The meat, now this is always a sticking point for me, I want to see chunks of beef. Not mince, chunky, slow cooked beef. The trick is to let the contents of the pie cool first to get a good flaky top. If you’re in a rush, place the contents in the freezer to cool quickly. The slightest bit of warm will melt the butter in the pastry, it will sink into the pie and look pretty miserable. I use a pressure cooker, if you don’t have one a slower cooker is just as good. Pop it on and leave it for the day. Depending on the size of the pie cases you use, will determine the number of pies. I use aluminum ones approx. 10cm x 3.5cm deep, I get 6 pies from this recipe.
Slow cooked Beef and Guinness Pie
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker or slower cooker
Ingredients
- 1 kg chuck steak cut into large chunks
- 1 can guinness
- 1 large onion - finely chopped
- 2 cloves grated garlic
- 1 satchel tomato paste
- 2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp thyme (dried if you don't have fresh)
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 good dash of smokey BBQ (not essential)
- 4 sheets shortcrust and puff pastry sheets
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp gravox or plain flour or cornstarch
Instructions
- Season chunks of beef with pepper and salt
- Heat pressure cooker, add a dash of oil or butter, sauté the onions and garlic.
- Add the beef, slightly sear all sides.
- Add Guinness tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, herbs, dash of BBQ sauce
- Place lid on pressure cooker, depends on what model you have. I have a vintage version, all manual. Don't worry if the liquid doesn't cover the meat.
- General rule is 20 minutes per pound / 454 grams. For a 1 kg of large chunks it's about 40 minutes. The timing starts when there's enough pressure.
- For a manual vintage version, place on high until the whistle sound commences. Then reduce to medium. Start timer.
- When time is reached, turn off heat. Do not immediately open lid, allow the lid to release naturally. About 10 mins.
- Taste the liquid, adjust with pepper and salt to your liking.
- Time to thicken, I use gravox for extra flavour. Mix with water until you make a paste. Turn onto a medium heat, slowly stir into beef mixture to thicken. Add an extra tablespoon mixed with water and stir until you achieve your desired thickness.
- Remove from heat, place in container suitable for the fridge to allow to cool completely.
- Cut shortcrust pastry to size of your pie dishes, add cooled mixture. Cut puff pastry top slightly later than dish. Place lid on top, press down gently with fork or use your fingers to make crimped pattern.
- Brush top with beaten egg, sprinkle sesame seeds.
- Place pie dishes on tray to help minimise all leakage. Place tray in preheated oven of 190 C for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.
