Steak and ale pie

PaulStat

PaulStat

PaulStat

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So I plan on making a short crust steak and ale pie in a couple of weeks time, I've only ever made one short crust pie before and although gorgeous the prep time was quite long.

Seeing as I have guests is there parts I can do the day before?
 
An obvious one would be to make the pastry the day before. Although not strictly shortcrust, I've used the below pastry recipe when making pork pies and it was both extremely easy and very tasty:

http://frombellytobacon.com/2011/03/25/pork-pie/

I substituted beef drippings for the lard as that's what I had to hand and it worked well enough. I imagine beef dripping would be even better if you're making a steak pie.
 
All of it. Pastry as below. And as the filling is essentially a stew, make that the day before and let it rest overnight - stews get better this way. Some people will never eat a stew on the day they make it!
 
Amen.

I like newcastle brown with mine too. I tried a number of ales/beers but brown was best I found. Good beer taste but not as bitter as guiness which is used a lot.
 
randomshenans said:
Amen.

I like newcastle brown with mine too. I tried a number of ales/beers but brown was best I found. Good beer taste but not as bitter as guiness which is used a lot.
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Theakston's Old Perculier (has a slight sweetness) is my goto Pie filling/Stew Ale - also if you happen to be having a bottle of Port (that requires decanting to remove the sediment) for the meal do that in advance as well and chuck the sediment in the mix also!
 
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So would I make the pastry and cling film it in the fridge or could I make it and line the pie dish with it and put that in the fridge.

Also the filling, I suppose cook it, fridge it, warm it up in a pan, then chuck in the pie with lid on and cook?
 
I would probably make the filling, let it go cool then put it in your pastry lined dish. Then put top uncooked pastry on, seal and stick in the fridge. All you have to do on the day is stick the whole thing in oven to heat through and let pastry go brown.
 
I would line the dish and add the cold filling, but leave the pastry for the lid in clingfilm. All you then have to do on the day is roll it out, seal it and egg-wash it and bung it in the oven.

This will allow you to make any last minute changes (without busting the lid!) before going in the oven - like adding any extra liquid, removing excess fat, adding seasoning or herbs, or say adding something extra you find in the fridge.
 
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Personally wouldn't line the dish with pastry and leave the filling in it overnight. That's a surefire way to get soggy leaky pastry. What I would do:

1. Premake pastry and stew

2. Line pie dish with pastry, leaving enough for lid and decorations. Wrap everything and leave overnight.

3. Preheat oven, fill pie, cover with lid, crimp egg wash, bake.

Top tips for making stew:

1. If you don't like lumps of mushy, soupy, grey vegetables in your stew, put them in muslin and tie up. Then they will impart all their flavour to the stew and can be easily removed.

2. Herbs and spices are your friend. Thyme, bay, an black peppercorns should all be in a beef stew.

3. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a home cook chucking a 'Rich Beef Stock Pot' in. (Disclaimer: there are, I'm sure, other brands that will be as good if not better)

4. Probably most important: Brown off your beef thoroughly before hand. It should look like this. Then deglaze the pan with the ale.
 
One trick for vegetables is t actually add them part way through cooking so the meat is tender and the vegetables intact.
 
Both are good approaches... I also kind of like letting the vegetables get to the falling apart stage and then mashing them into the stew. Obviously this shouldn't be done with all of them though.
 
maccapacca said:
FT was it you who did a pork pie thread? Can't find it...
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Wasn't a thread but I did post stuff in a few places. To be honest I mostly stole the entire recipe from here:

http://frombellytobacon.com/2011/03/25/pork-pie/

After having made it a few times I'd say:

Trotter Gear: ****** awesome. Definitely do this part.

Pastry: Also great.

Pie filling: The author of the blog likes extremely dense and overly seasoned food. If you like that then stick to the recipe. If you're more normal (in my opinion, which may well be wrong) then I'd probably add in some bread crumbs and reduce the salt content slightly. I think it's a personal thing though :)

edit: Definitely do the whole "basil leaf in the middle of the pie" thing btw. I missed it the first time but the other few times I made sure to do it and it really adds a lot of flavour (plus breaks up the stodge somewhat).
 
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PaulStat said:
So I plan on making a short crust steak and ale pie in a couple of weeks time, I've only ever made one short crust pie before and although gorgeous the prep time was quite long.

Seeing as I have guests is there parts I can do the day before?
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Do one well before as a test. I reckon you should be able to make and cook the whole thing beforehand. Reheat it at a fairly low temp but have foil tightly wrapped over it until the last 20 mins or so. It's worth a try :p
 
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Especially for French Tart
 
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