Serves 6
The way to a man’s heart? Definitely through this pie. Plenty of meat, delicious pastry and flavourful with a generous amount of mushrooms. Important to buy the correct cut of meat. We found chuck to cook up tender and full of meaty flavour. The flavour will improve if the pie filling is made a day in advance.
Recipe Category

You will need

1 kg beef chuck, cubed, retain bones
Ina Paarman’s Garlic Pepper Seasoning
olive or canola oil
2 large onions, sliced
½ t (2.5 ml) Ina Paarman’s Green Onion Seasoning
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 T (30 ml) flour
2 ½ cups (625 ml) water
2 x 25 g Ina Paarman’s Liquid Beef Stock

4 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
4 sprigs of thyme

250 g mushrooms, sliced
1 T (15 ml) butter
3 T (45 ml) Ina Paarman’s Sun-dried Tomato Pesto or Mushroom Pesto
1 T (15 ml) Worchester Sauce
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman’s Ready To Serve Mushroom Sauce

Ina’s Tip

Egg Wash: Beat 1 egg with a pinch of salt and sugar and paint on pie. Don’t get egg wash on the cut edges of the pastry because it will prevent the pastry from puffing up to its full extent. Add pastry leaves and also brush them with egg wash.

 

Method

Pastry and Pre-Prep

Make your own Sour Cream Pastry or buy Woolworths All Butter Puff Pastry.

We have used our famous Sour Cream Pastry for the pie in the photograph (left over pastry freezes very well).

Prepare meat in advance and leave overnight in the fridge

Cube the meat, reserve the bones.

Use our Garlic Pepper Seasoning as a dry marinade to rub all over the meat, drizzle meat with olive oil, cover and refrigerate.

Next day or 8 hours later

Adjust oven rack to one slot below the middle position.

Preheat oven to 160°C.

Use a medium/large heavy bottomed ovenproof casserole dish with a lid. Brown bones and meat in batches in oil, remove and keep on one side.

Add a little more oil and brown the onions after seasoning them with Green Onion Seasoning.

Add the garlic, stir-fry briefly. Sprinkle the flour over and stir in.

Add water and Beef Stock sachets.

Make a bouquet garni by tying bay leaves, cloves and thyme sprigs in a bunch.

Tie with cotton string ±30 cm long(the string must be long enough to hang over the edge of the pot).

Add the meat back into the pot. Nestle the Bouquet Garni into the sauce and tie the string to the pot handle. Cover with a tight fitting lid and put into the oven.

Bake for 2 ½ hours.

Sauté the mushrooms in butter and 1 T (15 ml) of olive oil.

Add Sun-dried Tomato Pesto or Mushroom Pesto , Worchester Sauce and Mushroom Sauce.

Remove pot from the oven, remove the bones and discard Bouquet Garni. Stir in mushroom mixture, cover with lid and bake for another 30 minutes.

Leave to cool.

Decant into a large cast iron skillet or oven proof pie dish.

Cover with pastry, brush with egg wash. (See Ina’s Tip)

Remember, do not prick the pastry as the steam will help to puff it up nicely. Leave the pastry covered pie to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, or overnight. The pie will freeze well, defrost before baking

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 200°C.

Bake for 35 – 40 minutes.