Beef and Red Wine Pies

Tomato sauce/ketchup in an egg cup. Hehehe.

Tomato sauce/ketchup in an egg cup. Hehehe.

I am proud of these babies. Lol. But it would probably take a while for me to bake them again. Not because they were hard to make but just the time  they took from preparation to bake; my little boy said they took 6 hours. I lost track of time. I remember prepping midday and my little boy finally digging in the final product at around 7pm. I supposed its easier to short cut the process by buying ready made short crust and puff pastries, that way the process could have been much easier but as I am a creature of habit and an old school in the kitchen, and so I do everything from scratch; I cooked the filling for 2 hours, after marinating the beef overnight. I mixed, rolled, chilled and blind baked my own short crust pastry and I mixed, rolled, chilled, folded (6 times!) my own puff pastry.  Hence toiling through the best beef pie ever in the kitchen for 6 hours. All the time, my thought bubble was "These (babies) better be good!"

My little boy said they were the best pies he has ever tasted so I reckon all the hard work is worth wait. Those words from my little boy are good enough for me.

He has been urging me to bake meat pies for the longest time, and I have not taken the bait until now. Now I know why; its tough standing, cooking in the kitchen and rolling and folding doughs for 6 hours straight. As I have been whining for some time now about not having much of a challenge in the kitchen, he issued the marching order for me to bake meat pies, I finally took it. Once and for all.

And so my question now is, what's the next challenge.....

Tricks No More:

• Marinate your beef in red wine overnight. This will make your beef so amazingly tender.
• Use the same red wine you marinated your beef in for cooking the filling.
• I suggest you dont use/buy deep dish pie tins ( I did!), trust me it will make your life easier
• When blind baking, use foil instead of baking sheets. I got this trick from Dorie Greenspan. Pie and tarts' base is evenly baked. I couldnt agree more. I only trust the experts.

Make 6

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (60 ml/2 fl oz) old

1.5 kg (3 lb) chuck steak, cubed

2 onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 cup (30 g/l oz) plain flour

1 1/4 cups ( (315 ml/10 fl oz) good-quality dry red wine

2 cups (500 ml/16 fl oz) beef stock

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 carrots, chopped

500 g (1 lb) home-made or bought short crust pastry

500 g ( 1 lb) home-made or bought puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. Lightly grease six metal pie tin measuring 9 cm (3 1/2 inches) along the base and 3 cm (1 1/4 inches) deep.

2. Heat 2 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan and brown the meat in batches. Remove from the pan. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan, add the onion and garlic and stir over medium heat until golden brown. Add the flour and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until well browned. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the combined stock.

3. Return to the heat and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Return the meat to the pan, add the bay leaves and thyme and simmer for 1 hour. Add the carrot and simmer for another 45 minutes, or until the meat and carrot are tender and the sauce has thickened. Season, then remove the bay leaves and thyme. Allow the cool.

4. Preheat the oven to moderately hot 200C (400F/Gas 6). Divide the shortcrust into six and roll out each piece between two sheets of baking paper to a 25 cm (10 inch) square, 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick. Cut a circle from each shortcrust sheet big enough to line the base and side of a pie tin. Place in the tins and trim the edges. Line each pastry shell with baking paper and fill with baking beads or uncooked rice. Place on a baking tray and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the paper and beads and bake for another 8 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly browned. Allow to cool.

5. Divide the puff pastry into six portions and roll each piece between two sheets of baking paper to a square. Cut circles from the squares of a dough, to fit the tops of the pie tins. Spoon some of the filling into each pastry case and brush the edge with some of the beaten egg. Cover with a pastry round and trim any excess pastry, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Cut a slit in the top of each pie. Brush the pie tops with the remaining beaten eggs and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is cooked and golden brown.

Note: You can make a family-size pie using the same ingredients, but substituting a 23 cm (9 inch) metal pie tin. Bake in a moderately hot 200C (400F/Gas 6) oven for 30-35 minutes. Any remaining pastry can be rolled and used to decorate the pie or frozen for later use.

The alcohol content of the red wine dissipates on heating. While it adds a distinct flavour, you can use all stock if you don't like to use wine.