FLOWER POT KITCHEN: SLOW BRAISED STEAK AND GUINNESS SUET CRUST PIE

11 Mar 2019

SLOW BRAISED STEAK AND GUINNESS SUET CRUST PIE

BEST EVER RECIPE...

Slow braised steak and guinness pie with the most outstanding Marriage Proposal award winning suet crust pastry.

This recipe is very dear to me, firstly it is my most top favorite dinner that my Nan used to make for me, the memories start with the original recipe from my Nan and Nan got it from her mum, it is one of those wonderful recipes of history, I do not know if my Great Granny Rebbeca got this recipe from her mum but I do know my Nan was a great cook who moved with the times hence the curry powder, I won't tell you about Nan's experimental Malibu gravy roast chicken though!

Nan did not make this as a pie, we had this a braised dish with the most creamy buttery mashed potatoes that Nan always put a hint of vinegar in, turns out that the vinegar lowers the absorption of carbohydrates. The very special part of this dinner was my Nan's brown 1950's tea mug that she filled with extra braised gravy stock for me to drink with my meal, I always eat this meal with a spoon, this is so I can get the maximum amount in my mouth each time! Wonderful memories every mouthful :-)

Growing up in a rural, local village pub where my parents sourced and served outstanding honest food, Nan’s braised steak and Guinness was now a pie and suet steamed pudding, this was my parents top selling dish and it is still my mums number one dinner! When I was 18yrs old I made this dish for my now husband as this pie, this was a deal sealer and resulted in a proposal of marriage, 28 yrs later this is still my husbands and my favourite dinner, with or without the unbelivevable suet pastry.

INGREDIENTS

I always make extra for leftovers, double dinners, if your are putting the time in to slow cook, always make extra as this is not only time efficient but also cost effective and you have another dinner to go from the freezer.

(makes 10 portions)

1 kg chuck/braising steak 2" square chunks

700g trimmed weight lambs kidney rough chopped (optional)

2 onions finely chopped

2 sticks celery fine chopped

2 carrots finely chopped

1 glug of ooil

knob of butter

500g rich beef stock

4 cans of Guinness

1 tsp salt and black pepper

2 tbsp mustard powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp curry powder

4 bay leaves

2 tbsp ground black pepper

FOR THE BEST EVER SUET CRUST PASTRY

(This 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

Make the pastry first so that it can rest in the fridge. Place all the ingredients except the water in a large bowl and very gently mix, you do not want to over work the mix as this will make it rubbery 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 texture underneath, that soaks up the gorgeous braise steak gravy. Add the water a glug at a time probably overall 150ml and just crush the pastry mix together, wrap in paper and plonk in the fridge until needed.

FOR THE PIE / BRAISED STEAK FILLING

Heat a deep casserole dish on the stove and melt the butter and ooil, gently fry the onion, celery and carrot until soft, add the diced beef and brown all over, then add all the seasoning from the mustard powder to the black pepper along with the stock and Guinness.

Bring to a gently simmer, pop a lid on, keep the heat ticking over for around 3-4 hrs or pop in the oven or slow cooker until the beef falls apart when you touch it. Lesson learned you can not rush this recipe in a pressure cooker!!! The steak has a tougher texture even though it is falling apart.

Once the steak is cooked you may or may not need to thicken the stock, I struggle with this but I do use a roux and cook it out for approx 20 minutes, I take equal quantities, approx 50g of butter and supreme sponge flour melted together. I spoon half in to the braised steak and gently cook this out, this is generally enough to slightly thicken the stock gravy enough.

Roll out your pastry for the lid, fill your pie baking dish with the gorgeous braised steak Guinness pie filling, egg wash the top of the pie dish, pop on the suet pie crust lid, crimp the sides and egg wash the top, decorate the top of your pie with a hint of personality, egg wash and bake in a pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and hopefully some of the juices have oozed out over the parts of the pastry and created a rich chewy beef braised crust. Serve with roasted potatoes and vegetables or buttery mashed potatoes, enjoy.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.