02.03.08

The Perfect Pie (in my book)

Posted in food at 10:36 pm by coldclimate

Pies are deeply unfashional at the moment it seems, with chavs munching down (and silencing their offspring) with Gregs Dummies, and every Food Nazi from Queen Gillian McKeith downwards loathing their fat laden fillings and pastry topping, so I was quite proud of Jamie Oliver when he set about making a beef and cheese pie on telly last week.

After a truly crappy week (working hard, storms blow a wall onto my car possibly writing it off, next car insurance quote being three times what they ask for it on monday, etc etc etc) I was in the mood for pie.  I had a remarkably good one in Reading this week, and decided there was nothing for it, I was going to have to have a go.  It turned out to be the best pie I’ve ever eaten, and the same phrase was used by three other people, so I feel I should share it with the world.  The pasty is the easiest I’ve ever made, and turned out ok even through I’m crap with pastry.

Pastry: 8oz plain flour, 2oz butter, 2oz cooking margarine (this should probably have been lard to be honest), hand full of chopped thyme, some cold water (about a cup full im guessing) and a teaspoon of salt.
Sieve the flour, dump in the thyme and salt, drop the fat on the top, and with cold hands, rub it all together until it looks a bit like breadcrumbs.  The colder your hands the better.  Add enough cold water to bind it all together into a lump without being sticky.  Wrap in clingfilm and stick it in the fridge until needed.

The filling: 2 pounds of shin beef, one large onion, 4 rashers of fatty bacon, as many mushrooms as fit into your hands cupped together and a bottle of beer, a stock cube and a teaspoon of mustard.

First up, chop the onion into half.  One half slice finely, the other into big chunks.  You need an onion about the size of a grapefruit, or several small ones.  Pop them into a big pan (not frying pan) with a good lug of olive oil on a low heat.  They’ll take about 20 minutes which is plenty of time to do everything else (including the pasty if needed).

Chop the beef into big chunks.  Too big to go into your mouth comfortably.  Douse them in plain flour and black pepper, then shake off all the excess flour.  I used shin beef because it’s god a great flavour and perfect texture for this sort of thing.  Any other slow cooking cut would work well,  using best steak is pointless and will add nothing.  Shin, brisket, neck, all would be good, and very cheap too.  2 pounds in weight was £6 and a mighty chunk of meat.

Once the onion is golden and melting, scrape it all out of the pan and off to one side.  Chop the fatty bacon into inch long strips and put it in the pan, turn the heat up, and add a teaspoon sized blob of lard.  Once it’s all sizzling and exciting drop a handfull of floury beef in, and brown on all sizes.  You want some burnt bits, they give the good flavours.  Brown the rest of the meat in handfull sized batches, fishing the last batch out and dumping it in with the onions.

Once all the beef is browned (and at this point pinch a bit - it’ll be melt in the mouth soft, bloody on the inside and burnt on the outside - perfect), put everything back into the pan (the onions and the beef), turn the heat down to it’s lowest setting, and add the crumbled up  stock cube, mustard, pinch of salt and the bottle of beer.  I used Hobgoblin beer, and I imagine any dark and malt beverage would do the same.  Guiness is somewhat traditional, but I like beers not stouts with my meat.  Pop a lid on it, and leave it for …. 2 hours.  Yes, all 2 hours.  Don’t mess about here, the long cooking it what makes this perfect.

After 2 hours, lift the lid off, turn the heat up an ddrive off some of the liquid.  You’re looking of a thick gravy that coats meaty chunks which you can just about break apart with a spoon against the side of the pan.  It’ll take about 5 minutes I’m guessing.

At this point you can leave everything to go cold and move on to the enxt stage an hour before you want to eat, but be warned, all house guests will pinch spoonfuls of the meaty goodness at all opertunities, so best just get on with it.

Laddle the meat into a tin and scatter another good handful of thyme over it.  I used an 8 inch wide rectangular tin, because i like my pie thin, but a deeper dish would work just as well.  Leave it to cool whilst you sort of the pastry.  Roll it out to the size of your dish, using plenty of flour to stop it sticking.  Mr Oliver also put greaseproof paper on the top whilst rolling and I have to admit, it works very well.

Lay to pasty over the top of the tin, and push all the over hang into the tin so it rumples up.  These bits all be extra crunchy goodness.

Cut a few nicks into the top to let the stream out, and stick it into a hot over for 40 minutes or so.  The meat is cooked, all you’re doing it baking the pastry and letting the meaty liquid goodness bubble through it.

Best served with fresh with chips, or cold the next day, my personal favorite.

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