Steak Mushroom & Onion Pies

Finally the search for a suitable meat pie casing has come to an end. I combed many a website for the perfect one but in the end I found a very large muffin baking tray, it worked perfectly. The beauty of this method is that you can buy sheets of frozen pastry (flaky puff pastry) that fit perfectly into each meat pie so that all you need to use is different meat sauces as the pastry is easily available in your freezer. You want to find a pastry that is butter based & not oil/yeast based, this pastry will give the pie a beautiful flaky texture.

Previously I have made a Chicken & Leek Pie during the World Cup Kitchen but this time I wanted to make a more traditional meat pie filling. I went for a Steak Mushroom & Onion Pie. The key when making the meat sauce is: more time the better. In the recipe I say cook it for 2.5 hours but the longer the better. Turn the sauce temperature right down and let the sauce stew away would be the best philosophy. Let the mixture cool completely before you add it into the Pastry casings.


Ingredients 

500g stewing steak
1 large onion
10 mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic
1 devil eye chilli
230ml (1 Cup) Beef Stock
4 Tbsp White Flour
1 Tin Tomatoes
1 Glass Red Wine
1 tsp dried oregano
Tsp Sea-Salt & Black pepper
1 Packet frozen shortcrust pastry
1 egg
Sunflower Oil
 

Cooking utensils 

Chopping board
Sharp knife
Bowl
Garlic crusher
Thick bottomed saucepan
1 non-stick frying pan
1 baking tray for meat pies
Egg brush

Preparation

- Trim fat off steak and cut into even cubes
 

- Season 2 Tbsp white flour with salt & pepper and cover steak completely
- Chop Chilli, Onions & Mushrooms finely


Cooking
 

- Brown your steak in a frying pan at a medium to high heat

- When steak is browned turn heat down to medium and pour in half of your glass of red wine and cook until the wine has absorbed into the beef (aprox 5-7 minutes)
- Meanwhile on a medium heat, sauté your onion in some sunflower oil
 

- After 5 minutes add your garlic & chilli and cook for a further 5 minutes.
 

- Now add 2 Tbsp of white flour to the onion/garlic/chilli mixture and stir completely.
 

- Now add your beef stock, rest of red wine & tin of tomatoes and stir well. 

- Now add your sealed beef with a pinch of salt and turn pot down to a low/medium heat and cook gently for 90 minutes. (Stir occasionally to prevent mixture sticking to bottom of pan)
 

- After 90 minutes you can now add your mushrooms/pinch of dried oregano and cook for a further hour. When its ready let the mixture cool completely. 

- Pre-heat oven to 200C
 

- Prepare your pie dishes by glazing first with butter. Then place one sheet of pastry in each pie casing.
 

- Spoon in your cooled meat sauce. Place a similar circle of pastry on top and seal the edges completely with your fingertips
 

- Brush pastry tops with egg and prick to allow the hot air escape.
 

- Bake in your pre-heated oven (200C) for about 30 minutes or until golden brown

ENJOY!!