Meat & Potato Pie
To serve 4-6 people.
INGREDIENTS
Beef Shin - 600g
Potato - Inch sized cube
Onion - 3 average sized Onion
Red Wine Vinegar - 3 Tbsp
Red Wine - 250ml
Beef Stock - around 1ltr
Worcestershire Sauce - 2 Tbsp
Shortcrust Pastry - 500g
Plain Flour - 2-3 Tbsp
Butter - 1-2 Tsp
Eggs - 1 Egg
Bay Leaves - 2 leaves
Thyme - 4-5 sprigs
INSTRUCTIONS
1. First, Cut the Beef into inch sized chunks, then, dice the Onion fairly fine.
2. Place a Dutch Oven on a high heat, add some Oil, and caramelise the Beef.
3. Once the Beef has some colour, add a splash of red Wine Vinegar, some red Wine, and reduce the liquid by half.
4. Then, dice a quarter of the Potato finely, and 3 quarters, cut into inch sized cubes.
5. Once the Wine is reduced by half, and you have deglazed the pan, pour the Beef and Wine into a container and clean the pan.
6. Add a touch more Oil, and pop in the Onion.
7. Sweat down the Onion until it is nice and soft, but without any colour.
8. Add, around a heaped Tsp of Butter to the Onion and 2 Tbsp of plain Flour.
9. Stir the Flour as you cook it out for 3 minutes, then very slowly add some Beef stock.
10. Pour back in the Beef and Wine.
9. Add the finely diced Potato, some thyme, bay leaves, and bring it to the boil.
11. Then place on a lid, and transfer the Pie filling to an Oven, set to 140 degrees.
12. Slowly cook the Pie filling for 3 hours.
13. After 3 hours, add the rest of the Potato, and cook for a further 30 minutes.
14. After another 30 minutes, remove the Dutch Oven, and leave the Filling to cool for at least 1 hour.
15. Once cooled down, pass the Pie filling through a sieve, taking care not to break up the Meat and Potato.
16. Add the liquid to a small sauce Pan, and turn the heat to medium.
17. Reduce the Sauce/gravy until it is thickened, then add a splash of Worcestershire Sauce, and another splash of Vinegar.
18. Pour the Gravy back in with the Meat and Potato, remove the Herbs, and leave the filling to cool down to room temperature, then, place it into the fridge.
19. Take your Pie dish, liberally Butter the insides and rim, then add a sheet of Pastry to form the base of the Pie, trim the edges but leave a border.
20. Place the Pie dish, with the Pastry base, into the fridge for 60 minutes to completely cool down*
*this is very important, we need the pastry to be chilled, if the butter has melted at all, the pastry will not get as crispy when cooked
21. After 60 minutes, remove the Pie dish, and, very quickly fill the dish with the filling.
22. Brush the rim of the Pastry with Egg wash, then, Lay over the top of the Pastry.
23. Crimp the edge of the Pastry to create a good seal, then return the Pie to the fridge for at least 60 minutes to cool down and set.
24. Pre heat the Oven to 180 degrees, and after at least 1 hour, remove the Pie from the fridge.
25. Brush it in the Egg wash, cut 1-3 small air holes in the top, and place the Pie into the Oven to bake for around 40 minutes*
* we want the pastry nice and golden brown, crisp and flakey