BOXING DAY MINI STEAK SUET CRUST PIES

New Years Eve too...

These are a beautiful addition to your Boxing Day or New Years Eve party food, gorgeous light melt in the mouth suet crust pastry filled with slow braised chuck steak in Guinness and roasted bone marrow stock even more flavour is added buy the rustic style allowing the over filled pies to ooze out the delicious deep stock gravy which gets slightly caramelised during the baking adding a whole other level of flavour!  These pies are outstandingly delicious and your friends and family will devour them leaving you with a reputation that you may find you having lots of requests for these gorgeous pies.

Prep time 15 minutes /  Cooking slow 4 hrs (day ahead even better)

Making and cooking the Pies 1 hr 30mins of pleasure

Equipment 3 x 12 mini hole baking trays

Ingredients 

(makes 36)

FOR THE BEST EVER SUET CRUST PASTRY

(This also makes 2 pie top crusts)

330g supreme self raising flour

100g cold butter grated

130g atora suet

Water as needed (150ml+)

1 tsp salt and white pepper 

2 eggs beaten for egg wash

Nan's Braised Steak

2 kg chuck or rump steak 2" square chunks

 1 onion finely chopped

1 stick celery fine chopped

1 carrots finely chopped

2 clove garlic chopped

1 glug of ooil

knob of butter

1 ltr rich beef stock

(homemade recipe below)

3 cans of Guinness 

2 tbsp mustard powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp curry powder

1 bay leaf 

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp butter

Pre heat your oven to 160 C, in a large casserole dish add the olive oil and butter, on a medium heat add the onions and soften for ten minutes, then add the garlic, carrot and celery and soften for a further five minutes, crank up the heat and add the diced rump steak and let the steak catch a little browning off ever so slightly and catching the bottom of the pan creating more flavour, add the Guinness, stock, mustard, cayenne, curry powder and bay leaf, top up with water if needed to cover the meat by a inch, pop on a lid and place in the oven to slowly cook for 3-4 hrs, when your rump steak will fall apart when gently squeezed it's done.  Remove from the oven add the salt, pepper and butter.  Leave to cool before filling your pies.

The pastry will need to rest in the fridge for at half an hour before rolling.  Place all the ingredients except the water in a large bowl and very gently mix so that the ingredients are incorporated evenly, you do not want to over work the mix as this will make it tough in texture and this pastry is the best ever because it is light and crispy with a flakey texture finished off with a hint of almost dumpling flathat soaks up the gorgeous braise stake gravy.  Add the water probably 150ml ish and gently bring the pastry mix together to form a ball, wrap in baking paper and rest in the fridge for half an hour.

Cut 1/3 off your pastry ball, this is for the pie lids, roll out the larger piece of pastry on a lightly floured work top to as thin as you dare, using a standard scone cutter cut 36 circles, roll out the remaining pastry using a half size smaller cutter again cut 36 lids.  Taking your trays line each mini pie hole, brush all the pastry edges with egg wash, fill with a couple of teaspoons of your cold braised steak and press on the pastry lid.  Egg wash the tops of the pies and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, once cooked leave to cool in the tins for a couple of minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool or enjoy hot and fresh.

These pies are great at parties, friends and family gatherings served cold made the day before from the fridge or fresh and warm on the day these are a crowd pleaser.

Homemade Roasted Beef Bone Stock

3 kg beef bones and marrow bones from butchers

2 carrots roughly chopped

2 onions quarterd skin on

6 cloves garlic bashed

1 stick celery bashed

10 whole peppercorns

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs fresh thyme

Water to cover the bones approx 4-6 ltrs

Either left over Sunday roasted beef bones or roast all the bones from the butchers for a hour or so then place in a large casserole dish, add the rest of the ingredients and cover with water, simmer very gently not a excitable bubble for around 4 hours, leave to cool slightly then strain and make sure to spoon out all the bone marrow jelly from the bones in to the strained stock, return to the pan and reduce down to about 1ltr this is a glorious abundance of flavour to add to your braised steak.