3 lb Stewing beef; (shin is good)
1 lb Veal kidney; (ox is ok)
4 tb Olive oil
1 tb Unsalted butter
2 Spanish onions; sliced thin
1 ts Caster sugar
1 oz Plain flour
1 pt Beef stock
1 pn Dried thyme
1 tb Worcester sauce
1/2 pt Draught Guinness
Sea salt and white pepper
2 Blocks puff pastry; (fresh
-preferred,
; not frozen)
Fresh ground black pepper
Egg-wash; (1 egg to 6tbsp
; milk) for dressing
; the pie crust
Trim all the excess fat from the meat and cut into largish cubes. Trim the
kidneys of any sinewy threads and slice into 1/4 inch pieces.
Heat the oil and butter in a large casserole dish and fry the onions on a
very high heat until quite dark brown with the sugar. Add the meat and seal
off the steak and kidney pieces. Season only lightly at this stage as the
liquids will be reduced later.
Add the stock and beer and scrape up any sediment from the bottom of the
casserole base. Add the pinch of herbs and Worcester sauce and bring the
stew to the boil. Then place the lid on and reduce the heat to a slow
simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender. Before decanting into
the pie dish it is important for the sauce to be thick and gooey. This is
easily done by bubbling and reducing the liquids on a hot hob until the
sauce is dense and syrupy. The gravy can finally be thickened by stirring
the flour a spoonful at a time into the gravy, and the resulting gravy can
be recombined with the cooked meats.
Place the meat and gravy mix into the dish and lay the rolled out pastry
(1/8 inch thick) on top. Wet the edge of the dish with the egg wash – this
will prevent gravy bubbling out and leaking. Poke a thin cut into the
middle of the lid with a sharp knife to let the steam escape. Bake in a hot
oven, 200C/400F/gas 6 for 30 minutes or so until the crust has risen and is
golden brown.
Best enjoyed hot.
Yields
1 servings