Homemade Steak and Ale Pie with Chips and Brussels Sprouts

Steak and ale pie makes for a delicious, warming meal on a cold winter's night but can equally be enjoyed at any time of year. The variety of different ales which most people will have access to means that the recipe can be varied considerably in taste, simply by switching ales until you find the one that you most prefer. Do, however, make the effort to use a quality, real ale, as run of the mill, supermarket beers are not going to give this dish the intensity of flavour it deserves. Check what supermarkets in your area offer in this respect but also take a look at any micro-breweries which may exist in your geographical area. The real ale used in this particular pie was Tibbie Shiels Ale, made by Broughton Ales, a small brewery in the Scottish Borders. A pie of this size will serve anything from two to four people, depending largely upon the appetite of the diners.

Ingredients

1 lb stewing beef steak
1/2 lb puff pastry
1 large white onion
1 large carrot
1 pint of real ale
2 pints of fresh beef stock
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Beaten egg for glazing

1 large baking potato per person
Brussels sprouts (quantity as desired)
Butter
Pinch of dried nutmeg

Method

Put the olive oil in to a large pot and on to a gentle heat. Add the beef and stir for two to three minutes until browned and sealed. Peel and finely slice the onion and add it to the beef. Season with salt, black pepper, the dried thyme and cook the onion for a few minutes until it glistens and begins to turn translucent. Add the stock, followed by the beer and turn the heat up until the liquid begins to simmer. Note that it may well seem like you have an excessive amount of liquid at this stage but that will reduce considerably. Reduce the heat again and simmer very gently for two hours.

While the beef is simmering, you can use some of the time to start preparing your chips. Peel the potatoes and slice and chop in to chips shapes. Add to a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for five minutes, drain and submerge in cold water for five more minutes. Drain again and lay them in a large plastic dish with a lid. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Pat the chips dry in a clean tea towel and deep fry at 300F/150C for five minutes. Transfer to a plate laid with kitchen paper, cover and allow to cool. Return them to the dried plastic dish and the refrigerator for a further half hour minimum.

When the beef and stock has simmered for a couple of hours, you will see the liquid has been significantly reduced. Top, tail and scrape the carrot and slice it in to quarter inch discs. Add it to the pot and simmer for a further twenty minutes before turning off the heat, covering the pot and leaving the mix to cool. This is very important, as if you try to put pastry on top of hot meat and gravy, the steam will spoil the pastry before it has a chance to cook, causing it to collapse and be soggy.

When the meat is cool (after about an hour), put your oven on to preheat to 400F/200C. Spoon the meat and carrot in to a 10" by 7" pie dish with a slotted spoon. Pour in enough gravy to almost cover the meat.

Roll out the pastry on a clean, lightly floured surface, large enough that it covers the pie dish with a slight overhang all around. Carefully lay it on top and fold and crimp it in place around the edges and under the rim of the dish.

It is not essential but you may wish to sit your pie on a roasting tray, to catch any inadvertent drips. Glaze it with the beaten egg and make a cross or couple of slits in the centre to serve as a steam vent. Put the pie in to the oven for thirty-five to forty minutes, until the pastry is beautifully risen and golden.

It is a good idea to let the steak and ale pie rest for a few minutes when you take it out of the oven, prior to service. This time can be used to prepare the Brussels sprouts and complete the preparation of the chips. Remove any loose or damaged leaves from the sprouts and place them in simmering, salted water for ten minutes. Drain and return to the empty pot with a little butter and nutmeg. Gently swirl them around to evenly coat.

When the sprouts are in the water, the chips can be fried for the second time at 350F/170C, for six or seven minutes. Drain again on kitchen paper and begin plating your meals.

Traditional Scottish Steak and Sausage Pie with a Twist

There are a great many people in Scotland for whom New Year would simply not be New Year without the traditional steak and sausage pie, as pictured above. Steak pie in Scotland is very often considered to be as much of a New Year tradition as whisky. Around the world, of course, there are a great many different foodstuffs associated with New Year and a very popular one is pork. In many countries and cultures, pork is considered to bring good luck for the coming year when it is eaten as part of a New Year meal and this gave me an idea. Steak pie in Scotland is usually comprised of beef steak and beef sausages. What I have done here, however, is a piece of blatant fusion cooking, by making the steak pie with leg of pork steak and pork link sausages.

Steak and sausage pie is frequently served with any of a great many different accompaniments. It can be served with roast potatoes, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, or even chips as in this instance, as well as a wide and varied choice of vegetables. The dwarf green beans which I am also serving as an accompaniment are simply washed and blanched in boiling water for five minutes.

Ingredients

1lb leg of pork steak
4 pork link sausages
1/2lb puff pastry
2 pints fresh chicken stock
1 small beaten egg for glazing
Salt and pepper

Method

If desired, you can have your butcher fully prepare the leg of pork steak for you by chopping it in to bite sized pieces. Alternatively, cut it yourself but do not discard any remaining fat. This is required to keep the meat moist. Put the steak only in to a dry pot and bring it up to a medium heat. This will cause the fat to begin to melt and allow the pork to seal and brown in its own juices. Stir the meat constantly during this process. It should only take two or three minutes.

When the pork is sealed, add the heated chicken stock and bring to a simmer for one hour. After this time, add the pork links for a further half hour's simmering. In order to minimise the chances of the sausages bursting, position them round the edges of the pot and ensure that the stock does not boil. Note that you may be required to add a little boiling water to the pot at this stage to ensure all the meat is covered.

After what will have been a total of one and a half hours simmering, turn off the heat, cover the pot and set it aside to cool for at least an hour. Building the pie when the meat is hot will cause steam to make the underside of the pastry soggy before it has a chance to start cooking.

When the steak and sausage is cool, add it to a 10" by 7" ashet or similarly suitable dish. Add enough stock to almost cover the meat and come within about an inch of the lip of the dish. Put the oven on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6.

On a clean, dry, floured surface, roll out the puff pastry until it is large enough to cover the dish and slightly more. The excess is used to crimp the pastry in place around and over the edges. Beat the egg and use it to lightly glaze the pie, before making two or three slits in the centre to allow steam to escape during cooking.

The pie should be placed on a baking tray and in to the oven until the pastry is risen and golden. This will vary from oven to oven but will generally take anything from thirty to forty minutes. When the pie is cooked, remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool slightly for around ten minutes, while the finishing touches are made to the remainder of the ingredients.

A pie of this size will provide two very generous servings or up to four smaller servings. I hope that you will try either my alternative steak and sausage pie this New Year, or the original version, and add a little bit of Scottish Hogmanay to your New Year celebrations. You may even wish to follow it up with the traditional Scottish malt whisky, raspberry and cream dessert, Cranachan, and a Gaelic coffee!