Steak, Kidney and Vegetable Pie

Steak, kidney and vegetable pie with honey roasted veg and chips

Coming Soon! - World Cup 2014

Next Thursday (June 12th) sees the start of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. 32 nations from around the world will be taking part and here on this blog, I am going to feature many of the cuisines of the participating nations, giving each of them my own little twist. I hope you'll stop by to see some of the dishes I come up with, whether or not you are a fan of the tournament itself.

Steak and kidney pie is a classic English dish but this recipe is a slight variation on the traditional. While vegetables are often included in the pie filling, this recipe sees them included in greater proportion. The pastry used to top the pie is also puff pastry, whereas shortcrust may be more common.

I have to admit that I cheated a little bit with the honey roasted veg served with the pie. They were bought oven ready in a foil dish from the supermarket but you could of course prepare them yourself entirely from scratch. The principal vegetables included were carrot, onions, beetroot and parsnip, with a sprig of fresh rosemary and a small pack of honey glaze also included.

Vegetables for steak, kidney and vegetable pie

Ingredients

1/2 pound diced stewing beef
1/4 pound diced ox kidney
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pint homemade beef stock
1 celery stick, trimmed and chopped
1/2 red onion, peeled and sliced
1 small carrot, trimmed and chopped
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 pound puff pastry (for thicker pastry topping, use 1/2 pound pastry)
Flour for dusting/rolling pastry
Beaten egg for glazing pastry
1 pound pack of oven roasting vegetables
Homemade chips or French fries to serve

Browning steak and kidney for pie

Instructions

Pour the oil in to a large stew pot and gently heat. Add the steak and kidney, seasoning with salt, pepper and the dried thyme. Brown and seal the meat over a medium heat, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon.

Prepared vegetables are added to steak, kidney and beef stock

After two or three minutes and when the meat is evenly sealed, add the carrot, celery, onion and chilli as well as the beef stock. Stir well and bring to a simmer until the steak is tender. The timescale will vary depending upon which type of beef/steak you use but be prepared for it to take at least an hour, possibly significantly longer. When done, turn off the heat, cover and leave to cool completely. What you could do here is prepare the dish to this stage one night, let it cool and refrigerate it for easier dinner preparation the following evening.

Cutting pastry lid for steak, kidney and vegetable pie

Put your oven on to preheat to 210C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Select a pie dish which comfortably holds the pie filling. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface large enough that you can use the dish as a template for cutting the pastry lid to the correct size.

Steak, kidney and vegetable pie filling

Spoon the cooled steak, kidney and vegetables in to the pie dish and lay the cut pastry carefully on top.

Oven ready steak, kidney and vegetable pie

Crimp the edges of the pastry and glaze with beaten egg. Make sure you don't forget to cut two or three small steam vents in the centre of the pastry. Sit the dish on a roasting tray (this helps to contain any potential gravy leaks/spills) and place in to the hot oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

Steak, kidney and vegetable pie

Check the instructions on your veg roasting pack. These veg were required to be roasted for forty-five minutes so were placed in the oven soon after the pie. This allowed them to finish cooking while the pie rested briefly after being taken from the oven.

Honey roast vegetables

The honey and rosemary required to be added to these vegetables shortly before they were ready, carefully being stirred through the veg.

Cutting in to steak, kidney and vegetable pie

This recipe was made to serve two people so the pastry was firstly cut in half before being lifted one half over the other as shown above.

Steak, kidney and vegetable pie filling is plated

Half the filling was lifted to the first serving plate with a slotted spoon before the relevant half of puff pastry was sat on top.

Honey roasted veg are plated with steak, kidney and vegetable pie

Half the vegetables were added to the plate, followed by the homemade chips. This was delicious so if you like steak and kidney pie but are looking for a slight twist on your usual recipe, why not give this a try?

Tucking in to steak, kidney and vegetable pie with roast veg and chips

Steak and Kidney Pasty, Chips and Beans

Homemade steak and kidney pasty with chips and baked beans in tomato sauce

Steak and kidney pie is one of my all time favourite dishes and has been since I was in my teens. It is of course a classic dish - though more specifically an English classic, rather than a British classic, with steak and sausage pie being infinitely more popular in Scotland. I don't like tampering too much with steak and kidney pie as improving on perfection is of course not easy but when I struck on the idea of a steak and kidney pasty, I had to give it a go and I absolutely loved it.

Note that the steak and kidney can be bought ready prepared from most supermarkets, in the UK at least. Alternatively, ask your butcher to prepare it for you .

Beef steak and kidney

Ingredients (Makes 4 pasties)

1lb stewing steak, cubed to 1"
½lb ox kidneys, cleaned and chopped to 1" pieces
Olive oil
½ small white onion, peeled and sliced
1 pint fresh beef stock
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and black pepper
1lb premade and rolled puff pastry
1 beaten egg

Homemade chips and 14oz can/tin baked beans in tomato sauce to serve

Sliced onion is added to browned steak and kidney

Directions

Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in to a large pot and gently heat. Add the steak and kidney and season with salt and pepper. Stir until sealed and evenly browned. Add the onion and stir for a further couple of minutes to soften the onion. Pour in the beef stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for one and a half hours, stirring occasionally and adding a little boiling water periodically, only if required.

Beef stock is added to steak, kidney and onions

When the steak is beautifully tender, turn off the heat, cover and leave to cool completely. If you want, you could at this point pour the mix in to a dish and refrigerate overnight, or for up to a couple of days. This means that you can do the lengthy prep for your pasties one night and make them for dinner the following night.

A plate is used as a template to cut the pastry disc for making the pasty

Use a 10" plate to cut four circles from your pre-rolled puff pastry. Take a quarter of your steak and kidney mix in each instance and add it to half the pastry disc, leaving a border of around an inch.

Cooled steak and kidney is spooned on to one half of the pastry disc

Moisten the border with beaten egg using a pastry brush, fold over the empty half of the pastry and crimp the edge.

Beaten egg is used to seal the edges of the steak and kidney pasty

Lightly oil a baking tray with olive oil and sit the pasties on it. Glaze with more beaten egg and make a slit in the top of each to serve as a steam vent.

Steak and kidney pasty is ready for the oven

Put the tray in to a preheated oven (400F/200C) for about half an hour until the pasties are beautifully golden.

Steak and kidney pasty is removed from the oven

Take the tray from the oven and allow the pasties to rest while you complete the preparation of your chips and gently heat the beans in a saucepan. HP Sauce is a strongly recommended accompaniment though it is of course entirely optional.

HP Sauce is the perfect condiment to add to steak and kidney pasty, chips and beans