Treats and things

Meat. The way to a man’s heart. Well, my man’s heart anyway. My Mother-in-law obviously knows her son well, as last week she gave us a pack of steak and kidneys that she picked up on special at the butcher. Kidneys are something I enjoy but don’t often cook, I know they always go well in a hearty pie, so that is just what I made, a big, deep, hearty, wintery, meaty pie, and my hubby loved it! Actually, I really enjoyed it too and I even managed to get my two year old (who has recently decided he doesn’t like meat) to eat some, so I figured it must be good enough to share the recipe (below) 🙂

Steak and Kidney Pie

300g steak, chopped
200g kidney, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2-3 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 slices shoulder bacon, chopped
200g white button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worsteshire Sauce
1 1/4 cups beef stock
3 sheets store bought puff pastry or homemade Shortcrust Parmesan Pastry (here)
1 egg white

Place chopped steak and kidney along with the salt, pepper and flour in a plastic or zip lock bag and shake so that the meat is lightly coated in the flour and seasoning. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil (medium-high heat) and then brown the meat. Transfer browned meat in to a heavy based casserole dish.

In the same frying pan (that the meat was browned in), melt the butter over a low-medium heat and then saute the onion, garlic, oregano and thyme. When the onions are soft and becoming transparent add the bacon and mushrooms and fry for about 3 minutes until bacon is almost cooked and mushrooms have softened. Add the tomato paste and fry for another 2 minutes, then add the Worscetershire sauce and beef stock and stir well. Pour the sauce into the casserole dish over the browned meat. Bring all the ingredients to the boil and then quickly reduce to a simmer for 1.5 – 2 hours (with lid on) until the meat is tender and the sauce is thickened (if desired/required, you could thicken the sauce further with 1.5 tablespoons of cornflour mixed with approx. 1/4 Cup of water).

To assemble the pie:

Heat oven to 190C. When the pie filling is ready, grease a 25cm pie dish (at least 5cm deep) and then line the base and sides with two of the pastry sheets. Pour in the pie filling. Place the last pastry sheet over the top and then pinch around the edges to seal the pie. Brush the top of the pie with the egg white and then prick with a fork. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden.