Beef Red Wine Pies Recipes

Steps:

• If you have time, place the beef in a large bowl with the herbs and star anis and season well with pepper. Pour over all the wine, cover with cling film and chill for up to 24 hrs. The next day sit a colander over another bowl and drain the beef well. Pick out the herbs and star anis and set aside. If you don't have time just start with all the ingredients prepared and ready to cook.
• Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3 - 4. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large casserole until very hot then brown the meat well in batches. For each batch, heat more oil and brown for around 10 mins before transferring to a plate and repeating the process. When all the meat is done add the vegetables and cook for 5 mins until starting to colour then add the herbs and star anis and cook for a minute more.
• Sprinkle sugar over the vegetables, then scatter over the flour and stir together. Cook for a few minutes until starting to brown, stir in the tomato purée then pour over the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with your spoon. Tip in the beef and any juices then crumble in the stock cubes. Pour over just enough boiling water from the kettle to cover the meat and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and bring everything to the boil, stir well, cover and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hrs until the meat is really tender. This can be done up to 3 days in advance and chilled until ready to make the pie or frozen for up to 3 months.
• To make the pie heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Tip the filling into a 2-litre pie or baking dish. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to fit the pie dish with a slight overhang and drape over the dish. Crimp the edges if you are able to and poke a couple of little steam holes in the middle. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake for 30 mins until golden brown. This is goes well with mash and buttered green beans.

Steps:

• For the beef and gravy: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Trim excess fat from the beef and cut it into about 3-inch cubes.
• Measure out all the dry spices (garlic powder, mustard powder, onion powder, salt, celery seed, ginger powder and pepper) and mix together in a large mixing bowl. Coat the beef cubes liberally in the spice mix.
• Bring a saute pan to medium heat and add the oil (a sufficient amount to shallow fry the beef). Fry the beef cubes, 2 or 3 pieces at a time, turning onto each side, until a deep golden brown. Place the browned beef in a deep casserole dish.
• Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the leftover spice mix over the cooked beef (omit this step if all the spice mix was used to coat the beef before cooking).
• Roughly chop the garlic and onion and add to the casserole dish with the beef. Tie the thyme, bay leaves and rosemary together with kitchen string (or you can use one of the thyme sprigs to do this).
• Pour the red wine over the beef (enough to submerge all the beef, and reserving 1/3 cup for later). Wrap plastic film over the casserole dish and then wrap in aluminum foil and ensure a tight seal all around. Place the beef in the oven and cook until tender, about 3 hours.
• Remove the beef and roughly chop into about 1/2-inch cubes. Remove the fresh herbs and discard.
• Place the liquid from the casserole dish, including the onions and garlic, into a food processor and blend until smooth; this will become the gravy for the pies. Return the liquid to a saucepan and bring to a slow boil. Add the cornstarch to the water and whisk. Add to the boiling gravy, whisking while adding to avoid lumps forming. Add the reserved 1/3 cup red wine and cook the gravy, stirring regularly to avoid burning, for about 10 minutes. The gravy should be relatively thick in consistency. Add more cornstarch and water mixture if the gravy is not thick enough.
• Pour the gravy over the chopped beef to liberally coat the beef cubes; you may not need all the gravy you have made. Allow to cool.
• Meanwhile, for the pie dough: Add the flour and salt to an electric food mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on slow speed so the flour doesn't spray out of the bowl, about 1 minute.
• Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add several cubes at a time to the flour with the mixer on slow speed. Mix until pea-size crumbs have formed.
• Mix the water and vinegar together in a small bowl. Change the attachment to the dough hook on the mixer and mix on slow speed while pouring in the water and vinegar mixture. Continue mixing until a dough ball has formed on the hook, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the dough ball, wrap in plastic film and chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough ball and sprinkle liberally with flour, as well as the work surface (countertop). Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is approximately 1/16-inch thick.
• Use a 10-inch ring cutter to cut out circles of dough. Take the dough circles and place into six to eight 4 1/2-to- 5-inch foil pie tins (at least 1-inch deep). Work the dough around to ensure it is neatly covering the pie tin and slightly overlaps the edges.
• For the cheesy potato top: Peel and cube the potatoes. Boil until soft, then drain the water and mash while adding the cubed butter. When at a smooth consistency, add the cheeses and mix thoroughly to incorporate. Add some cream if needed to ensure the mash is of a smooth consistency. Add salt to desired taste.
• Spoon the beef and gravy into the dough-lined pie tins.
• Using a large cooking spoon, spoon the mashed potato over the filled pies, scraping down against the rim of the foil pie tin to ensure a smooth surface of the potato topping.
• Place the pies onto a baking tray and place the oven on fan or convection setting (if available) and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the tray and continue cooking until the pastry is cooked all the way through, 10 to 15 minutes (gently lift the pie out of the foil pie tin to check that the bottom of the pastry is fully cooked).

Steps:

• Slice 1 onion lengthways, and set aside 4 of the best-shaped slices; then finely chop the remaining onions and the garlic.
• Heat half the butter in a pan over a medium heat, add the meat in batches and cook for 5 minutes, turning, until well-browned; trnsfer to a plate and keep warm.
• Heat the remaining butter in the pan and add the onions and garlic, and sauté, stirring, for 5 minutes or until they have softened; stir in the flour and cook, stirring, until it has browned.
• Return the meat to the pan,stir in the stock, worcestershire sauce, red wine and tomato paste and season to taste with the salt and pepper; bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1½ hours or until the meat is tender.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Divide the meat mixture to four individual (about 11cm x 14.5cm) pie dishes.
• Cut the pastry to fit the tops and place an onion slice on each piece of pastry and score a very shallow line with a knife around each slice, to allow the pastry to rise above the onion. From the leftover pastry, cut thin strips to place along the rims of each dish and press the strips onto the rims firmly. Brush the rims with egg, then place the pastry lids on the pie dishes and use a fork to press all around the edges. Cut a small hole in the top to allow the steam to escape.
• Bake for 15- 20 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden.
• Notes: Dried and ground bush tomato is a delicious alternative to tomato paste. On the bottle, it is described as having "a wonderful subtle flavour of delicate caramelised, sun-dried tomato with a slight bitter taste to it". I am now using it in all recipes which require tomato paste.