These steak and shiraz pies were influenced by English baker and pastry artist, Julie Jones. They are baked in Silverwood ‘Simple Simon’ molds and are filled with chuck beef slow-cooked in shiraz wine with vegetables. The pastry decorations on top of the dough are not too difficult to make and will give an ‘old-fashioned Charles Dickens’ look to your table. If you’re not a fan of decorating pie dough, just simplify and make the dough and delicious meat filling.
Ingredients
For the hot water pastry:
- •450 grams (3.5 cups) all-purpose flour
- •7.5 ml (1.5 teaspoons) kosher salt
- •1 egg
- •113 grams (4 oz) salted butter, cubed
- •75 grams (1/3 cup) vegetable shortening
For the pie filling:
- •.45 kilogram(1 pound) chuck steak or NY strip steak
- •All-purpose flour, as needed
- •Vegetable oil, as needed
- •1 onion, diced
- •1 carrot, diced
- •3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- •375 ml (1.5 cups) Shiraz or other red wine
- •500 ml (2 cups) beef stock
- •Several sprigs fresh thyme
- •2 bay leaves
- •120 ml (½ cup) green peas (optional)
- •Salt and pepper to taste
- •Corn flour, if needed
- •1 egg, for making egg wash with water or milk
Preparation
- For the hot water pastry: Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the egg; mix with a fork or wooden spoon. Heat the butter and shortening in a saucepan until the ingredients are melted. Bring to a boil for twenty seconds then gradually pour the mixture in a steady stream into the dry ingredients. Mix vigorously using a spatula or wooden spoon until dough starts to form a thick paste. Cover the bowl and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for several minutes until the dough forms a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
When ready to use the pastry, roll the dough out to between .3 to .6 cm (1/8 to 1/4 inch) thick- the thinner the better! Cut out the tops and bottoms according to the shape of your pie molds. For the sides, cut out strips long enough for a 1.3 cm (1/2 inch) overlap when fitting the dough into the mold — mine were about 18 cm (7 inches) long and 4 cm (1.75) inches high. If making a traditional 23 cm (9-inch) pie, cut out pieces big enough to cover the bottom and top of the pie.
For the pie filling: Chop the steak into large cubes. Dust with a little flour and shake to remove the excess. Heat several tablespoons of vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or large pot. Brown the steak pieces over medium high heat on the stove top for several minutes. Transfer to a dish.
Add the diced onion, carrot, and garlic to the Dutch Oven (or pot) and cook until tender (3 – 4 minutes). Add steak back into the pot with the veggies, then add the wine and beef stock, thyme and bay leaves. Bring the liquid to a soft boil, reduce the heat, cover the pot with a lid and let simmer on low heat for 1.5 – 2 hours or until the meat falls apart and is easy to shred. If necessary, add more stock to the pot to ensure the ingredients are fully covered by the cooking liquid.
About 10 minutes before the meat is fully cooked, add peas (optional) to the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Strain the meat and vegetables from the cooking liquid. Separate the meat and shred it using a fork to ‘mash’ the meat fibers. Place the shredded meat and cooked veggies into a bowl and set aside.
Pre-heat the oven to 180° C (350° F). Return the cooking liquid to the stovetop and let simmer until the sauce reduces to about 1/2 of the original volume. If required, add a bit of corn flour paste to the liquid to thicken it further. Combine the sauce with the reserved meat/veggie mixture until the mixture is very moist and slightly ‘runny.’ Press the bottom and side pastry pieces into your molds, overlapping the side pieces about 1.3 cm (1/2 inch)- pinch end pieces together. Brush a little egg wash on the rims of the pies to form a little ‘glue’ to hold the tops. Add the meat filling to the molds and cover with the top pieces- decorate tops accordingly. Brush the dough lightly with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with a little water or milk).
Bake for 30 minutes then remove pies from oven and carefully remove the pies from their molds. Brush egg wash on the sides. return to oven and bake a further 15 minutes until the pie is golden brown and the dough is cooked through.