Beef and Beer Pie

Serve with garlic mashed potatoes to soak up the sauce from the pie.

Serves about 6

For the filling:

Adapted from Pie by Angela Boggiano

3 ½ tablespoons flour

2 lbs. chunk steak, cut into 1” cubes

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

2 carrots, chopped into 1” cubes

2 teaspoons soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons tomato paste

2 cups beer

1 ¼ cups beef broth

2 teaspoons sugar

Garlic salt

Ground black pepper

Place the flour in a large bowl and season with salt and ground black pepper. Add the cubes of meat and toss well in the flour until evenly coated.

Heat the butter and oil in a large pot until the butter has melted. Add the meat and brown quickly all over for just a minute, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onions and carrots to the pot and fry gently for about two minutes. Return the meat to the pan and add the soy sauce, tomato paste, beer, beef broth, and sugar. Grind in plenty of black pepper and add a little salt. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook very slowly for 2 hours until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened and is glossy. Remove from the heat, place into a 6-cup deep pie dish and leave to cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.

For the crust:

From Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Café (Canada, UK), by Mollie Katzen

1 ½ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

Up to 3 tablespoons cold water

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Cut the butter into slices, add to the processor, and buzz several times, until the mixture is uniform and resembles coarse meal. (If you don't have a food processor, use a pastry cutter or 2 forks instead.)

Continue to process in quick spurts as you add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time. As soon as the dough adheres to itself when pinched, stop adding water and turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gather it gently into a ball. Roll the dough into circle that has a diameter that is two inches greater than that of the pie dish.

To assemble the pie:

Beef and beer pie filling

Pie crust

Egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Place a pie funnel in the center of the pie filling. Cut a hole into the center of the pie dough to make space for the pie funnel.

Place the dough over the pie filling. Crimp the edges decoratively using a fork or your fingers. Brush the egg yolk over the top of the dough.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the crust is crisp and golden.