STEAK AND ALE PIE

By Sube

Make the pie filling a day ahead - it will taste even better.

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsps butter
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 Tbsps all-purpose flour
• 2 cups dark beer (Ale) (1-1/2 bottle of Ale beer)
• 3 Tbsps vegetable oil
• 3.3 pounds beef stewing meat or blade roast, cut into cubes
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 pound button or cremini mushroom, cut in half
• 2 Tsp finely grated horseradish root or 1/2 tsp. horseradish sauce
• 1 pound puff pastry or short crust pastry, (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp water, for egg wash

Preparation

Step 1

In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, melt 2 tbsp. butter over low heat. Add onion and cook gently until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the flour, cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup beef stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a bare simmer, while you cook the beef.

Meanwhle, season the cubes of beef with salt and pepper.

Heat a large fry pan over high heat. Add oil. When oil is hot, add beef in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook beef until well browned on all side, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove beef from pan.

Deglaze the frying with the 1-1/2 bottle of Ale beer, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to incorporate all the pan juices into the liquid. When liquid comes to a boil, transfer to Dutch oven.

Add beef to Dutch oven and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered , until meat is tender and liquid has reduce by half, about 1-1/4 hour to 1-1/2 hours.

While the beef is cooking, saute the mushrooms. Add butter to a large fry pan over medium high heat. When butter starts to sizzle, add mushrooms in batches. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, beef mixture and horseradish sauce to an 8 cup pie dish. Stir well to combine. Let cool before topping with the pastry.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut puff pastry to fit over a pie, about 1-inch bigger than the pie pan. Top the pie with the pastry. Crimp and trim the edges. Brush the pan with the egg wash, Cut a few holes in the pastry to allow the steam to escape. If desired, with any of the pastry trimmings, cut out decorative shapes such as a leaf or beer bottle, to decorate the pie. Brush the pie crust with egg wash.

Bake pie until pastry is golden brown and filling bubbling, about 45 minutes.