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Stout-Braised Beef Pie with Blue Cheese Crust
Recipe by Poh Ling Yeow
Stout-Braised Beef Pie served with Robuchon mashed potatoes is comfort food at its finest
- Steps
- Ingredients
Ingredients
Pie Filling
Blue Cheese Crust
Robuchon Mash
Cider Vinegar Braised Red Cabbage
Glazed Carrots
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Steps
- Preheat a large cast iron grill pan on high heat until smoking. Preheat oven to 180C.
- For the Pie Filling, place the water into a pressure cooker on sauté setting to heat.
- Season steaks generously with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add steaks to the pan and cook until well browned, about 8-10 minutes on each side. Chop into large chunks then transfer to the pressure cooker. Cover and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Transfer the steaks onto a baking tray or chopping board to cool briefly then shred using 2 forks. Reserve the cooking liquid. Set aside.
- Place 1 tablespoon olive oil and the sliced onion into a small non-stick frypan over medium high heat. Cook until dark brown and slightly charred. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Place 80g butter, remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, diced onions, garlic, carrots, celery, bouquet garni and salt into a large heavy based saucepan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until translucent and soft, about 15 minutes. Add the stout, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Add the shredded beef, reserved cooking liquid and 2 tablespoons each of Worcestershire sauce, Pedro Ximinez and red wine vinegar. Add thyme leaves and stir through.
- Meanwhile, mash remaining 50g butter and flour into a smooth paste, then stir into the beef mixture. Stir until mixture boils and thickens then season, to taste. Remove the bouquet garni. Add remaining Worcestershire sauce, Pedro Ximinez and vinegar to taste. Simmer until liquid has thickened and has been mostly absorbed by the meat.
- Spread the mixture out onto a large baking tray and chill completely before using.
- For the Blue Cheese Crust, place the plain flour, blue cheese, butter and copha into a food processor and pulse to a sandy texture. With the food processor running, slowly add the chilled water, until the dough just starts to pull into a ball.
- Transfer the mixture into a large mixing bowl then squeeze into a ball. Divide the dough into half then divide one half into half again.
- On a clean lightly floured working surface, roll the largest piece of dough until it is large enough to line the base and side of a shallow pie dish with an 18cm diameter base. Carefully lift into pie dish.Spoon in the cooled pie filling so that it is mounded in the centre.
- Roll out one piece of the remaining dough on a lightly floured surface to form the lid of the pie. Using a 3cm round, pastry cutter, cut a hole in the centre. Carefully drape the dough over the filling, ensuring the hole is in the centre. Using a knife and the edge of the pie dish as a guide, slice away the excess dough. Press and crimp around the edge of the pie to seal.
- Combine off cuts with remaining dough. Roll out half of the dough until 2-3mm thick. Cut out leaves and arrange over the top of the pie.
- Gather the offcuts along with the remaining dough and squeeze until combined.
- Roll into a long noodle about 45cm long. Using a rolling pin, flatten out until 2-3mm thick, then slice lengthways into 3 equal strands. Plait carefully, taking care not to break the strands, then lay around the top of pie in a circle.
- Brush the pie generously with egg wash and bake until the crust is deep golden brown, without being burnt, about 55-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and stand for 10-15 minutes before cutting to serve.
- For the Robuchon Mash, peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Steam in a double boiler until tender, about 20-25 minutes.
- Press potatoes through a drum sieve using a pastry scraper, into a mixing bowl.
- Fold in the butter, a tablespoon at a time, allowing butter to melt between additions. Add enough milk so the texture is thick and just able to be poured. Season with salt and cover to keep warm until serving.
- For the Cider Vinegar Braised Red Cabbage, place the ingredients into a medium saucepan. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, over a low heat until just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer the liquid until reduced to a glaze. Season to taste with salt, sugar and vinegar. Cover to keep warm until serving.
- For the Glazed Carrots, peel carrots, then slice tops off leaving 1cm of the stems attached. Rinse these well or if very dirty, soak upside down in a jug of water to allow grit to release from the tops.
- Using a paring knife, steady the tip of a carrot on the chopping board. Turn and shave the tip, whittling away about ¼ off the length, at the same time re-shaping it so you end up with carrots of equal length and pointy ends.
- Combine the carrots, butter, orange juice and salt in a small saucepan over low heat. Cover and simmer until just tender, about 20-25 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer on very low heat until the liquid reduces and forms a syrupy glaze. Shake gently to coat the carrots in the glaze. Remove from heat and season, if required. Garnish with parsley before serving.
- Serve the pie with the mash, cabbage and glazed carrots on the side.
