Our third and final recipe in the "ode to the pub" series is a classic beef, stout and cheddar pie. Make as a family pie or up your pub game by making individual pot pies, the choice is yours. Serve with mushy peas, creamy mash and a frosty stout to say goodbye to winter and hello to spring.
1. Preheat oven to 190C. In a large ovenproof pan heat a glug of oil on a low heat. Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 mins, try not to colour them too much. Turn the heat up, add the garlic, butter, carrots, celery and mushrooms and cook for 3-5 minutes. In a bowl, mix the beef, flour and salt and pepper and toss until the meat is coated. Now add the beef and rosemary to the pan and cook until brown (3-4 minutes), then pour in the stout and enough beef stock to just cover the filling. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and place in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and give the stew a stir before returning to the oven to continue cooking for another hour, or until the meat is tender and the stew is rich and thick.
2. If after 2.5 hours, the stew is still a little runny, you can reduce it on the stove to your desired thickness. When done, remove from the heat and add half of the grated cheese and stir to combine and set aside to cool.
3. For the mushy peas: heat 30g butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add shallot and garlic, stir occasionally until tender (4-5 minutes). Add stock and dried split peas, bring to the boil, reduce heat to medium, simmer until tender (40-45 minutes). Add peas, simmer until tender (1-2 minutes), add vinegar, season to taste. Transfer solids to a food processor (reserve liquid), add remaining butter, pulse, adding a little reserved liquid, until coarsely puréed.
4. Defrost your pastry. Grease your pastry dish with some butter and line the dish with a sheet of pastry. Trim off the excess and use this to make sure there are no gaps. Fill the pastry dish with the pie filling and top with remaining grated cheese. Whisk your egg and brush the exposed sides of your pastry base with egg. Cover your pie with another sheet of pastry, pressing lightly in to the pastry base. Trim any excess pastry so you have a neat, round pie. You can use this excess to decorate your pie. Brush the top of the pie with egg and puncture a couple of slits in to the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. Pop in the oven for 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden and flaky.
5. Serve with the mushy peas, some crazy mash and beautiful local stout, such as the Karma Oatmeal Stout from Hop Nation.
The perfect mid week dinner where you can set and forget! The combination of salty miso and aromatic harissa is so well-balanced and infuses a lot of flavour with very little effort. If you have time to marinate overnight that would be ideal, but 1 hour is delicious too.
Clementine Day of @somethingsiliketocook has kindly shared her recipe for Chicken Pitas. Charred chicken, roasted & pickled onion and garlicky yoghurt all wrapped up in a freshly made pita.
Crispy skin salmon with a zingy salad that comes together in 5 minutes. Perfect for a single meal when you’re strapped for time and impressive enough to cook for a group of friends.
