Beef, herbs and pie crust… is there anything better?
Courtesy Simon Silander, Brick Street Bakery, Toronto, Ontario.
ingredients
Steak and Stout Filling
Pie Pastry
Assembly
directions
Add oil to a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. Add onions and sauté in oil until well browned, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and beef. Cook until beef is golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add rosemary, thyme, sage, mushrooms, carrots, celery, tomato paste, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and beer. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, frequently stirring. Reduce heat to low and let mixture simmer until meat is tender, about 2 to 2½ hours. If the mixture is too thick, add more beer to loosen the filling. Let filling cool completely.
Add flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine. With a pastry cutter or fingers, blend in the lard and butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water gradually until dough forms. Pat the dough into a flat disk. Refrigerate for at least an hour to relax the dough.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Make an egg wash by beating together the egg and water with a fork in a small bowl. Set aside.
Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Using a 5-inch individual pie tin as a guide, cut out 12 x 6-inch rounds to fill the pie bottoms. Place into individual pie plates. Add cooled filling.
Cut out 12 x 5-inch rounds for the pie tops. Re-roll pastry dough if needed. Brush pastry edges with some of the egg wash. Add pie tops with egg wash side down on top of filling this will help seal the edges. Crimp and seal edges with a fork or your fingers.
Brush pastry with more egg wash. Cut out a steam hole in the top of each pie. Transfer pies to baking sheet. Bake pies until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbling, about 35 minutes. Serve. Makes 12 to 15 pies.