A Meat Pie in the English style.
This is something that would have been eaten during the Regency (although without the pyrex baking dish). Dashed good, if I say so myself.
Cut 2 lbs (1 kilo +-) of beef into 1 inch/ 2cm cubes.
Marinate overnight in:
1/2 bottle guiness stout
1 cup red wine
teaspoon dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed.
2 bay leaves.
3-4 hours before eating:
cut up and saute:
2 onions
handful of mushrooms
2-3 carrots
when soft add the marinade, a teaspoon of boullion (or cup of stock) and reduce.
Meanwhile, flour the beef and brown it in a frying pan.
Once the marinade is reduced:
put the vegetables in the bottom of a baking dish, cover with the meat. Use the reduced marinade to deglaze the pan the beef was browned in. (There will be flour that has stuck to the pan, this will dissolve it to thicken the gravy.) Add the deglazings to the baking dish. If the volume is correct, it will just cover the meat.
Bake in a cool oven (300F, 150C) for 3 hours. Use a covered baking dish. (important, you don’t want it to dry out.) The meat should be very tender by this time.
Remove from the oven, place a pie crust over the top (I used Type L biscuit mix here; my sister in law in the UK uses suet dumplings.)
Return to the oven and bake at 375F 180C for 45 minutes until the crust is done.
