Day 187: United Kingdom and Steak & Ale Pie

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going to the UK! I had a few recipes I knew for tonight. However, I have decided to go the extra mile and make something with the one ingredient I do not like: Beer.
Yes, I know, it might seem weird, but me as a German does not like beer. So here is tonight's recipe: Steak and Ale Pie.

It is a traditional British pie with steak and beef gravy. You can add vegetables like carrots, potatoes and peas into the filling and cover up everything with a nice puff pastry dough.

Usually it is served with salt and vinegar. The quantities vary from person to person. The steak and ale pie is also found in Ireland, where Guinness is used as ale and it even came all the way down under, to Australia and New Zealand. So here comes tonight's pie.

The recipe is quite simple:

1 tbsp oil
500 g braising steak, cut in stripes
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
250 ml strong ale
1 beef bouillon cube
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp thyme
300 g ready puff pastry (2 packages)
1 egg, slightly beaten
pepper
salt

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic for a minute. Add the steak and cook for a few minutes, until no pink spots are visible anymore. Now add the carrots and pour the ale into the pan. Now you can also add more vegetables, if you would like to, like potatoes, mushrooms, peas..
Add the chili, thyme and bouillon. Salt and pepper to your liking.
Now put the mixture into a casserole and if the liquid does not cover the meat and vegetables, add some water. Cook on low heat for approximately 1.5 hours. (I myself used a pressure pot to speed things up).
Now roll out the puff pastry dough and either you make one big pie, or small pies for each. Heat the oven at 180° C.
Pour the filling into the dough and cover with the second dough. Poke a few holes into the pie and brush with the egg. Bake for 20 minutes.
Serve and be careful not to burn yourself with the filling! Enjoy!

I must say that although I do not like beer and that I could taste the flavour of the ale, I enjoyed the pie! My husband loved it and ate more than half of it!


Love,

Raffi