serves
6
prep
30 minutes
cook
2:40 hours
difficulty
Ace
serves
6
people
preparation
30
minutes
cooking
2:40
hours
difficulty
Ace
level
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp lard or butter
- 2 large onions, roughly chopped
- 1 kg beef shin or skirt, cut into 2cm pieces
- 35 g (¼ cup) plain flour
- 150 g beef or pork kidneys, cleaned, trimmed, cut into 1 cm pieces
- 90 g (⅓ cup) passata (puréed tomatoes)
- 250 ml (1 cup) dry red wine
- 750 ml (3 cups) beef or chicken stock, or water
- 60 ml (¼ cup) Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tsp Dijon mustard, plus extra, to serve
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 egg
- carrots and green veg (optional), to serve
Yoghurt cream pastry
- 300 g (2 cups) plain flour, chilled
- 200 g cold unsalted butter, chopped
- 150 g cold plain yoghurt
- 50 ml cold pouring cream
Chilling time 1 hour
You will need 6 x 8 cm x 8 cm individual pie pans or similar for this recipe.
Instructions
To make yoghurt cream pastry, place flour and ½ a teaspoon of salt in a bowl and using your fingertips, rub in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Alternatively, place in a food processor and process to combine. Add yoghurt and cream, and stir or pulse until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.
Heat lard in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 9 minutes or until softened and starting to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Dust beef with flour, shaking off excess. Working in batches, add to same pan and cook, turning, for 6 minutes or until browned on all sides. Make sure you scrape the stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pan as you go, and you may need some more lard to fry it in. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside with onions.
Dust kidneys with flour, shaking off excess. Working in batches, add to same pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside with beef and onions.
In the same pan, add passata and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes or until it just starts to colour, then add wine and bring to the boil, scraping the base of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any stuck on bits.
Return onions and meat to pan with stock, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon and bay leaves. Bring to the boil, turn heat down to low and simmer, stirring often, for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until meat is tender. If the sauce is getting too thick, add another tablespoon or more of water, or cover with a lid. It’s best if this mix isn’t too hot when you fill the pie, but don’t stress too much about it.
Preheat oven to 190°C. Take two-thirds of the pastry and divide into 6 evenly sized balls. Roll out pastry and use to line 6 x 8 cm x 8 cm pie pans or similar. Fill with meat mixture. Roll out remaining pastry and use to cover tops of pies. Pinch edges together to seal and cut a slit in the top to let steam escape. Whisk egg with a splash of water and brush over pie tops. Place towards the bottom of the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until pies are a deep-golden brown. Serve hot with lots of mustard, boiled carrots and green veg.
Photography Alan Benson. Food preparation John McFarlane. Styling Michelle Crawford.
As seen in Feast magazine, September 2014, Issue 35.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
