Braised Beef and Mushroom Pie
Ingredients
- 1kg braising beef cut into bite size chunks
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 2 tbsp veg oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 stick celery finely diced
- 1 medium carrot finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 200ml full bodied red wine
- 440ml beef stock
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 10 splashes Worcester sauce
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 150 button mushrooms
- Salt & black pepper
- 1 beaten egg
Suet pastry
- 300g plain flour
- 100g suet
- 100g butter cut into small chunks
- 1/2 tsp salt
Preparation
Put the beef chunks in a bowl and add 2 tbsp plain flour and a good pinch of salt and pepper, shake the bowl around and ensure the beef is well coated.
Using a large heavy bottom pan or pressure cooker on a high heat, add the oil and then brown the beef in 3 batches. The flour will stick to the pan but don’t worry.
As the last batch of beef is browning, add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic and stir for a minute. Add in the rest of the beef.
Add the glass of wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Now add the stock, Worcester sauce, bay leaves and mustard. If using a pressure cooker, cover and bring up to pressure for 20 minutes. If using a pan, partially cover and simmer on medium low for approximately 2 hours.
While the filling is cooking, make the pastry by putting all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and rubbing in the butter. Pour in 125ml cold water and gently bring the pastry together into a ball. Put it in the fridge for later.
Back to the filling, add the mushrooms and simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste and season. Remove from the heat and pour into your pie dish or tin. Remove the bay leaves and leave to cool.
Flour your kitchen top and rolling pin and roll out the pastry to fit your dish. The pastry should be roughly 1cm thick, place it over the pie dish and gently press the edges.
Brush with beaten egg and bake at 200 degrees for 40 minutes.
