Tiffanys's Hearty Beef Stew
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
- Cooking Time: 2hr
- Servings: 7
- Preparation Time: 60
- 1/4 c. Olive oil
- 3 medium red onions, peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsps. butter, plus more for greasing
- 2 carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 parsnips peeled and chopped
- 2 Yukon Gold potato's peeled and chopped
- 2 turnips peeled and chopped
- 2 sticks celery - trimmed and chopped
- 4 field mushrooms (portabella) sliced
- 3 lbs. beef brisket or stewing beef, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
- A few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1-pint can Guinness - not lager
- 2 heaping tbsps. flour
- 7 oz of shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 lb. store bought puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten with a fork
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 375f.
- In a large ovenproof pan, heat a olive oil on low heat.
- Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes - try not to color them too much.
- Turn the heat up, add the garlic, butter, carrots and celery and scatter in the mushrooms.
- Mix everything together before stirring in the beef, rosemary, a pinch of salt and a level teaspoon of pepper.
- Fry for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, stir in the flour and add just enough water to cover.
- Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and place in the preheated oven for about 1 1/2 hour.
- Remove the pan from the oven and give the stew a stir.
- Put it back into the oven and continue to cook it for another hour or until the meat is very tender and the stew is rich, dark and thick.
- A perfect pie filling needs to be robust, so if it's still quite liquidly, place the pan on the burner and reduce until the sauce thickens.
- Remove from the heat and stir in half the cheese, then season carefully and leave to cool slightly.
- Cut about a third of the pastry off the block.
- Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll both pieces of pastry out evenly with a floured rolling pin to the thickness of a silver dollar.
- Butter an appropriately sized pie dish, then line with the larger sheet, leaving the edges dangling over the side.
- Tip the stew into your lined dish and even it out before sprinkling over the remaining cheese.
- Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg.
- Cut the other rolled sheet of pastry to fit the top of the pie dish and crisscross it lightly with a sharp knife.
- Place it over the top of the pie and fold the overhanging pastry onto the pastry lid to make it look nice and rustic.
- Brush the top with beaten egg, and then bake the pie directly on the bottom of the oven for 45 minutes, until the pastry is cooked, puffed and golden.