a life of pies…the life of pie…  pies are squared? so comfortingly satisfying is a good pie that it lulls you into a state where you want to contemplate such matters and more.

The making of a good pie is not to be rushed, its a calm purposeful endeavour.  Here my late friend the too talented photographer  Teodora Maftei took the photos for an article that first appeared in food story.ro so thats why they look so polished and slick and I am in them! What fun we had that day shooting, Teo exclaiming her characteristic “Fxxxxxxck”  every few minutes and then scoffing pie.

Teo loved London more than any other city.  So this one is for her. Go Teo – you daughter of London.  xxx

Ingredients

• 1 quantity of  Very Buttery Pastry 
• 1.6 kg boneless beef shoulder , cut into 2cm cubes (pulpa de vita)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 2onions, diced
• 1carrot, diced
• 1clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 500ml ml beef stock (nobody will report you if you use a cube)
• 500ml Stout or dark beer (I use Silva dark beer as a substitute for  London Porter and Guinness  quite often)
• 10 sprigs of thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• 200 g mushrooms (If you have some porcini around great – or dried porcini soaked in water plus some fresh mushrooms)
• 1 tablespoon of strong mustard
• 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg – beaten with 1 tablespoon of water plus a pastry brush

Gadgets & Gizmos

A large old pan that you can put in the oven and that has a good lid, or improvise with lots of aluminium foil.

A pie dish.  For real pies you need a pie dish that kind of has a “lip” that the pastry can adhere to. For smaller pies ie individual pies it is less important and you can use pyrex glass dishes (like in this photo), ramekins or even cappuccino cups. What is important is that you brush with egg wash to “glue” the pastry on.  For a big pie you need a “pie funnel” which is a distinctly British piece of kitchen paraphernalia. It consists of a ceramic funnel which simultaneously raises your pastry up above the filling thus keeping it crisp and also giving a vent for the steam to escape. They are often to be found in the form of blackbirds.  If for some unknown reason you do not own a pie funnel an upturned egg cup suffices.

A rolling pin or a wine bottle to roll the pastry although often I just press it with my hands for small pies

How To

Fry the onions, garlic and carrots in the oil as you would for an Italian “soffrito”.  Scatter the flour over the beef and toss it around.  Tip the flour coated beef into the pan.  The heat can be quite high and fierce but don’t burn the garlic.

Seal and brown the meat. A brown, crusty layer of flour goo on the bottom of the pan augurs well for a rich flavor infused sauce. Nothing to fret about.

Pour in the beer. It will froth up and alcohol vapours will waft through the house.  At this point add the stock and scatter herbs, mushrooms in and invite any significant other over to inhale deeply and nonchalantly say “oh honey didn’t I ever make this for you before?”…”let me slow cook it for a million hours because it tastes better after one day”. Anticipation is all.  Sling it in the oven. Go have a bath or fix your nails or do your hair or all three.  Because the beef is for the next day and they just have to wait.  Cook at 140C for 4-5 hours until the beef is falling apart (a bit like how the significant other will be when they taste the pie..hah!)

The next day…..

Inevitably there are “pastry on the bottom” debates.  I generally do not as I am generally serving with some mashed potato or other carbs and this has quite a lot of sauce. But I have made fully enclosed pies and there is something rather beautiful about pastry fully enveloping the filling.

“The Pastry”….

I like the pie with shortcrust pastry. I know that puff pastry is more showy but I kind of like a good shortcrust – more comfort and more homey.  This one is so buttery and so easy to handle that it doesn’t crack and so is quite easy to roll over the pie dish. You can of course use a ready made puff pastry but try and buy an all butter one.

Fill your pie dish with the pie mixture so the chunks of beef just stick out at the top. Those pieces will “lift” the pastry a bit. Roll your pastry out so it is still quite thick.

If you are using puff pastry just unroll from the packet.  For this kind of pie a thin delicate pastry such as you need for a dessert tart would end up falling into the pie. Here you need the pastry to be more substantial – approximately 0.5-0.75cm thick.

Paint the outside of the dish with the egg wash – where you want the pastry to adhere to.  Use your rolling pin (or wine bottle if you don’t own a rolling pin) to lift the pastry up and gently drape it over the pie.   Trim off any bits that hang over with a knife but you do not need to be really precise. Now “crimp” the edges either with your forefinger and thumb or with a fork – this looks pretty but also helps the pastry stick to the pie dish.  Paint with the egg wash – if you don’t have a brush then use your fingers – its messy but feels good.

Bake at 180C for 30-40minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.  Serve hot with mashed potato and seasonal veggies like cabbage and carrots.

If you want to serve a salad you are missing the point.

Improvs and Ideas:

Freeze some filling…having this around for pies, to serve with mash after all the effort is a great instant meal idea.  It also makes a great “posh” Shepherds Pie – put the mashed potato on top and put back in the oven until crispy and brown on top.