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16 November 2013

* Beef and Guinness Pie

Beef and Guinness Pie Recipe
I cooked a version of this Beef and Guinness Pie for the first time a couple of years ago after watching "Jamie at home". I bought the book and it was one of the first recipes that we tried. At that time, Neil was interested in doing a bit of cooking too so we made the pie together... which was fun.

Sort of.

Thankfully, his interest didn't really last beyond cooking and eating this pie... either that or I subliminally chased him from the kitchen. And by subliminally I mean standing at the kitchen door and saying "Get. Out." every time he came near it when dinner wasn't actually on the table. I may have been wielding a rolling pin at the time, too.

Neil is a man of simple tastes and absolutely loves this pie. He'd far rather eat meat and potatoes than any of the variety of foods that I put in front of him (and then blog) - but he doesn't cook so he doesn't get much in the way of a choice. I usually cook enough meat to fill two medium pies and Neil has a happy head on for a couple of days because most of the time we eat them on alternate days, so that I don't have to freeze one. They freeze really well - I just can't be bothered, and if he sees both pies I have a hard time convincing Neil that "NO... we are NOT eating one each!"

Sometimes I have to convince myself too :D

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Beef and Guinness Pie Recipe

Serves 4 - 6

Prep time - 1 hr 20 minutes (including allowing the filling to cool) minutes
Cooking time - 3hrs 15 minutes
Total time - 4 hrs 35 minutes

NOTE: The time may seem excessive, but you can make your pie filling whenever you feel like it. The pie itself only takes 45 minutes to cook.

You will need
A large pie dish - greased
(or two medium pie dishes... or 4 small pie dishes... or... or... )

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - crushed
2 medium carrots - peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery - chopped
4oz/100g chestnut mushrooms - thickly sliced
1lb or 500g good quality stewing steak (I use skirt, but shin works too)
1 tbsp fresh rosemary - chopped OR 1 tsp dried rosemary
salt
pepper
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
9fl oz/250ml Guinness (half a can)
4fl oz/100ml beef stock
4oz/100g cheddar grated
1 egg, beaten

Method
Pie Filling
  • Preheat the oven to 160Cfan/190C/375F/gas 5.
  • Heat the olive oil in the large ovenproof saucepan on a low heat.
  • Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes.
  • Turn the heat up, add the garlic, carrots, celery, mushrooms, beef, rosemary, a pinch of salt and a half a teaspoon of pepper. Stir it all together gently.
  • Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, then stir in the flour and cook for a minute before pouring in the Guinness and beef stock.
  • Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and place in the preheated oven for about 1 and half hours.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and give it a stir then put it back into the oven and continue to cook for another hour, or until the meat is very tender.
  • If at this stage your beef pie filling is a bit *wet*, pop it on the hob and simmer gently to reduce the sauciness a bit. If it's too wet your pie base will turn to mush - too dry and you'll have no sauce in your pie.
  • When your happy with the consistency, stir in half of the cheese and remove from any heat.
  • Allow to cool for at least an hour (to prevent a soggy pie bottom).

Pastry
  • Preheat the oven to 160Cfan/190C/375F/gas 5. Cut a third off of your pastry and put to one side.
  • Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the large piece of the pastry evenly with a floured rolling pin to the thickness of about 5mm.
  • Line the base of your greased pie dish with the pastry.
  • Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness, large enough to form a lid.
  • Spoon the pie filling into your pastry base.
  • Scatter the other half of the cheddar across the top of the pie filling.
  • Brush the beaten egg around the pastry edges then place the pastry you just rolled out, on the top.
  • Pinch the edges together to form a crust and trim to fit the pie dish.
  • Brush the top with beaten egg and make a small slit with a knife in the centre of your pastry lid, to allow steam to escape.
  • Bake the pie directly on the bottom of the oven for 45 minutes, until the pastry is cooked, puffed and golden.
EAT

Beef and Guinness Pie Recipe

NOTE: This recipe uses half a can of Guinness because I personally find it a bit overpowering if I use the whole can with this quantity of meat. It may seem wasteful, but someone always drinks the other half  before I can bung it in anything else!

9 comments:

  1. Now that's a pie!! It's getting cool in Atlanta and this pie would be SO great on a cool night sitting by the fire! Love the addition of Guinness! Great post, Abbe!!

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  2. What a pie - gorgeous and delicious I'm sure! I've never had a Guinness pie and I'm not sure why because it is something that the two of us would devour! No problem with Bobby finishes off the last half of can of Guinness.

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    1. Thanks, MJ! I should probably use the whole can of Guinness instead of subbing in beef stock, but when I have I don't likeit and Neil gets upset by the lack of Guinness floating around... though he got upset this time too because I stuck the other half of the can in a stew ;-)

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  3. Gorgeous pie ~ wouldn't mind having this right about now. Rainy season here...brrrr! xx :)

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    1. Thanks Sharon, it's really cold here at the moment too! November's our wettest month usually but today it's been dry (so far) ;-) xx

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  4. Delicious and perfectly made pie! Perfect for the season!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Katerina - I'm debating whether or not to make another one ;-)

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  5. Lovely, top marks for this. Tastes great. Thanks.

    Simon

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