Beef and Guinness Pie

By sarah_carroll

Ingredients

• 1/3 c plain flour
• 1 kg diced chuck or blade steak
• 140 ml sunflower oil
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 220 g small button mushrooms
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 T sugar
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 300 ml good quality beef stock
• 300 ml Guinness
• 2 T tomato paste
• Leaves from 3 thyme sprigs
• 2 T worcestershire sauce
• Mustard Suet Crust
• 175 g self raising flour, plus extra to dust
• 2 t mustard powder
• 40 g powdered suet mix
• 1 yolk, lightly beaten

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

For pastry, sift flour, mustard powder and 1 t salt into a bowl, then stir in the suet. Stir in 1/2c cold water to make soft dough. Tip onto a floured surface and knead dough gently for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Enclose in wrap and chill for 2 hours.
Filling:
Season flour and add beef tossing to coat. Heat 1/4c oil in casserole over med high heat. Brown beef in 2 batches, set aside.
Increase to high, add half the butter and all the mushrooms to the casserole and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until slightly golden. Remove and set aside with the beef.
Reduce heat to medium high. Add remaining 4 T oil to the pan with the onion and sugar. cook for 15 minutes, stirring, until onion is caramelized. Add remaining butter and garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Stir reserved flour into the onion, followed by the stock, Guinness, tomato paste, thyme and worcestershire sauce. Birng to the boil, stirring, then return beef and mushrooms to the pan. Season, partially cover, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender and sauce has thickened. Cool mixture.
Preheat the oven to 220C.
Spoon beef mixture inot a deep 2 litre pie dish. Push a pie funnel or metal piping nozzle into the centre, if desired.
Working quickly as the pasty will becomevery soft when brought to room temperature, unwrap pastry and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to form a disc that's slightly large than the top of the dish about 8 mm thick. Cut off a thin strip from the edge, brush with a little water and press onto the rim of the dish. Brush with more water . If using a pie funnel, cut a small cross in the centre of the pastry and lay over the dish so that the pie funnel pokes through. Or cut a slit in the middle. Seal pastry edges, trim excess, then crimp the edges to seal. Brush with yolk mixed with a little water. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden, then serve.