Cold outside? This pie recipe will fix that!

 

I love making pies on a cold winters night. This Chinese Spiced Beef Pie recipe I have been using for some time, is from Dish Magazine July 2016! I make the pie filling the night before to let the flavours blend. Ingredients include fresh ginger for warmth, soy and oyster sauce for richness. The only pastry is on the top of the pie, a little bit healthier. 

In a former life, I worked with the very talented Dominique Colombie from Paneton bakery, so I like to use the flaky frozen pastry from Paneton, rolled and ready to go. I also like to use the flaky pastry off cuts to decorate the top.

See the image above for last nights pie with a palm tree. Our friends are off to Indonesia for three months so this is how I decorated it for them.

 

Ingredients: 

3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 onions, thinly sliced 

250g firm button mushrooms, quartered

1kg chuck steak or cross grain steak, cut into 3cm pieces

1/2 cup of plain flour

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup oyster sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce

2 whole star anise

2 cups beef stock

 

300g puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

Sesame seeds for sprinkling on top

 

5 cups capacity oven proof dish

 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160°C

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish and add the onions and mushrooms with a good pinch of salt. Cover and cook for 10 minutes until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables to a bowl.

In a large bowl, put the flour in and season well. Toss the beef in the flour, shaking off the excess. 

Add some more oil to your pan and brown the meat in batches, removing to a plate as it's done. Don't let the flour catch and burn!

Return the vegetables to the pan and stir in the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, oyster, soy and sweet chilli sauce, and bring to the boil, scraping the base of the pan to release any sticky bits. Add the star anise and beef stock and return the meat and any juices to the pan and combine. Cover the meat with a sheet of baking paper then cover tightly with the lid.

Braise for 2 hours until the meat is very tender, stirring every 30 minutes. Cool completely before assembling the pie.

 

Preheat the oven to 190°C

Remove the star anise from the filling and discard. 

Spoon the filling into the pie dish.

Roll the pastry out and cut a top that is 2cm larger than the pie dish, then cut thin strips with the scraps of the pastry, 

Brush the edges of the pie dish with egg and lay the pastry strips around the rim, pressing them on to stick.

Brush the border of the pastry top with egg then place egg side down over the top of the meat. Use the prongs of a fork to press the edges together to seal. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden and the filling is hot.

 

Serves 6.