Steak and Black Pudding Pie with Pan Roasted Potatoes and Honey Glazed Carrots

This steak and black pudding (blood sausage) pie recipe is one which I devised myself but the concept is not of my creation and I only learned of it through coincidence. About a week ago, a family member of mine visited the small Scottish town of Aberfoyle and happened to go in to a local butcher's shop. This particular shop was selling a variation of the traditional Scotch Pie, incorporating steak and black pudding instead of the more traditional minced/ground lamb. I became the lucky recipient of two of these pies for a taste and I enjoyed them so much, I decided to come up with my own version. Rather than create the smaller, individual pies, however, I thought I would make a puff pastry pie, capable of serving two people.

Ingredients

1/2lb stewing steak
1 6oz black pudding
5oz puff pastry
2 pints fresh beef stock
Beaten egg for glazing

4 medium potatoes

2 large carrots
1 tbsp liquid honey
Pinch of grated nutmeg

Method

The stewing steak will firstly have to be cooked. It should be added to a large pot and quickly browned and sealed over a high heat. The beef stock should be added and brought to a simmer. Different cuts of steak will take different lengths of time to tenderise in this way, from one to two hours. When the steak is tender, the heat should be turned off, the pot covered and the steak allowed to cool for at least half an hour.

While the steak is stewing, the potatoes should be peeled and chopped in to bite-sized pieces. They should be added to a pot of cold water, the water brought to a boil and simmered for around twenty-five minutes until soft. They should then be drained and added to a pot or basin of cold water to cool completely.

When the steak is cooled, the oven should be put on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6. The steak should then be added to a pie dish. The black pudding should be sliced in to 1/2" thick discs and arranged on top as shown. If you can only get slices of larger black pudding, simply chop it in to smaller pieces and arrange it in a similar fashion. Be sure to remove and discard the rind that may still be on it. Enough stock should then be added to come to within an inch of the top of the pie dish rim.

The pastry should then be rolled out large enough to slightly more than cover the pie dish, laid on top and pressed down to seal around the edges. The pie should be glazed with the beaten egg, steam vents cut in the top and placed in to the oven for thirty-five to forty minutes, until the pastry is risen and golden.

When the pie is ready, it should be removed from the oven and left to rest briefly while the carrots and potatoes are cooked. The carrots should be scraped, sliced and chopped in to approximately two inch pieces before being stirred in the mixture of honey and nutmeg in a bowl. They should then be spread on a baking sheet and placed in to the still hot oven for fifteen minutes.

The potatoes should be drained and dried in a clean tea towel. They should then be deep fried in hot oil for eight to ten minutes, until beautifully golden, and drained on some kitchen towel. The dish can then be plated up and served.