Beef and Guinness pie recipe - can also be served as a stew with lots of cheesy, mustard mash:
I won't put quantities or volumes as we all have different taste buds and preferences and what I like you may hate so adjust to suit your taste. It is also better to make it the day before and left it sit and infuse overnight.
braising/stewing steak/shin of beef - anything that is suited for long, slow cooking
vegetable/olive/ground nut/rapeseed oil
2 or 3 sliced carrots
large brown onion chopped
garlic cloves roughly chopped
spoon of plain flour
Guinness - preferably the original in bottles, not the cans with the widget
beef stock from your favourite cube
big splodge of tomato puree
dried thyme
splash of orange juice
ground allspice
ground cloves
ground cinnamon - very little needed compared to the other spices, leave out if you want
mushrooms - whole button or big ones quartered
sea salt
cracked black pepper
thickener if required - cornflour/water or the potato starch chef's use
beaten egg or some milk
ready made puff or shortcrust pastry - enough to make a lid plus the bottom if you want one - traditionally this will have just a lid on it but if you want to take to work the next day as a pie slice the bottom is better
heat oil in pan
cook beef until browned in batches
add a bit more oil
gently fry off the carrots, onions and garlic until starting to go soft
stir in the flour and cook of for 2-3 minutes
put the guinness, beef stock and tomato puree in the pan and bring to the boil stirring occasionally until starting to thicken.
return beef to pan
add orange juice, herbs, spices and seasonings to pan and adjust to taste
simmer gently for 2 - 3 hours until beef is cooked and sauce is unctuous and rich
adjust seasoning and thickness of sauce - if just using a top or serving as a stew then you want the sauce thinner than if you are going full on pie mode with pastry top, bottom and sides when you want it really thick so it holds it's shape when you cut a slice when cold the next day, if there is any left that is
preheat oven to medium hot
roll out the pastry to size required size and pieces
put oil in pan
fry mushrooms until browning and just starting to soften
add mushrooms to the rest of the pie filling
line or edge the pie dish
fill dish with the filling and as much juice as you can get in it
top the pie, decorate and brush with the egg or milk
bake in oven until the pastry is golden and the juices are bubbling out the edges - about 20-30 minutes
serve with cabbage, boiled potatoes, mixed veg, gravy etc
enjoy